Bill Campbell (California politician)

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

William J. Campbell (born April 8, 1942) is a Republican politician from California. He was a California State Assemblyman from 1996–2002, Assembly Republican Leader from 2000–2001, and a member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors from 2003–2013.

Early life and education

Born in Los Angeles, Campbell grew up in Pico Rivera. Campbell earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Loyola Marymount University and a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.

Career and politics

After initially working as an engineer, Campbell and his wife founded BIMA Corporation, a company that specialized in Taco Bell franchises.

In 1996, Campbell was elected to the represent eastern Orange County's 71st District in the State Assembly with 71% of the vote. He was re-elected with 69% of the vote in a three-way race in 1998 and 67% of the vote in a four-way race in 2000. Campbell served as Assembly Republican Leader from 2000 to 2001. During his time in the Assembly, he also served as Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and was a member of the Banking and Finance Committee, the Education Committee, and the Utilities and Commerce Committee.

In 2002, Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer won 73% of the vote to replace the term-limited Campbell. Campbell, in turn, won 75% of the vote in the 2003 special election to fill the vacancy on the Board of Supervisors left when Spitzer resigned to become an Assemblyman. Both men suffered criticism for their apparent job swap, which required changing Orange County from a general law county to a charter county to allow an election to fill the supervisoral vacancy under the county charter instead of having then-Governor Gray Davis fill the vacancy by appointment under general law. However, this controversy seemed to have little effect on the election results, as 53% of County voters approved the creation of the charter and 3/4 of the voters supported the two men in their respective districts.[1][2] Indeed, Campbell was unopposed for re-election to a full four-year term on the Board of Supervisors in 2004. In 2008, he won 80% of the vote in his bid for a second full four-year term. In 2012, Spitzer won 67% of the vote in his bid to return to the Board to replace the term-limited Campbell.

Campbell served as Chairman of the Board of Supervisors from January 4, 2005–January 9, 2007 and from January 11, 2011–January 10, 2012.

Personal life

Campbell and his wife, Mary, have lived in Villa Park for over a quarter of a century. They have three adult sons, Patrick, Chris, and Brian, and one granddaughter.

External links

California Assembly
Preceded by California State Assemblyman
71st District
December 2, 1996 – November 30, 2002
Succeeded by
Todd Spitzer
Party political offices
Preceded by California State Assembly Republican Leader
November 9, 2000 – March 26, 2001
Succeeded by
Dave Cox
Political offices
Preceded by Orange County Supervisor
3rd District
February 4, 2003 – January 7, 2013
Succeeded by
Todd Spitzer
Preceded by Chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors
January 4, 2005 – January 9, 2007
Succeeded by
Chris Norby
Preceded by Chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors
January 11, 2011 – January 10, 2012
Succeeded by
John Moorlach