Arthur A. Torres[3](born September 24, 1946) is an American former politician who served as a member of theCalifornia State Legislature.He is the vice chair of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, the governing board of theCalifornia Institute for Regenerative Medicine(CIRM). CIRM, established in 2005 following the passage of Proposition 71, is charged with allocating US$3 billion toCaliforniauniversities and research institutions to support and advance stem cell research. He is acolon cancersurvivor and serves on the board as a patient advocate.
Art Torres | |
|---|---|
 Torres in 2019 | |
| Chair of theCalifornia Democratic Party | |
| In office 1996–2009 | |
| Preceded by | Bill Press |
| Succeeded by | John L. Burton |
| Member of theCalifornia State Senate from the24thdistrict | |
| In office December 6, 1982 – November 30, 1994 | |
| Preceded by | Alex P. Garcia |
| Succeeded by | Hilda Solis |
| Member of theCalifornia State Assembly from the56thdistrict | |
| In office December 2, 1974 – November 30, 1982 | |
| Preceded by | Charles H. Warren |
| Succeeded by | Gloria Molina(redistricted) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 24, 1946[1] Los Angeles,California,U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Yolonda Nava (divorced)[2] |
| Domestic partner | Gonzalo Escudero |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence | San Francisco |
| Education | University of California, Santa Cruz(BA) University of California, Davis(JD) |
He is also a member of theBoard of Regents of the University of California.[4]
Torres served as the chairman of the California Democratic Party from 1996 to 2009.[4]He was the firstLatinoin the California Democratic Party to have been nominated for statewide office when he won the Democratic primary forinsurance commissionerin1994.He is openly gay. He is the father of a son and daughter.
Early life and education
Torres graduated fromMontebello High Schoolin 1964. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from theUniversity of California, Santa Cruzand aJuris DoctorfromUC Davis School of Law.He was a John F. Kennedy teaching fellow at theHarvard Kennedy School.
Career
In 1972, Torres was defeated in his first election for a seat in theCalifornia State Assemblyby 615 votes. Soon after the election, he became the national legislative director for theUnited Farm Workers,AFL-CIO,at 25 years of age.
Two years later, Torres won a seat in the California State Assembly, where he served for the next eight years. In 1982, he was elected to theState Senate,unseating incumbentAlex P. Garciaafter an extremely bitter Democratic primary.[5]
Torres served in the State Senate for another twelve years, from 1982 to 1994. He served as chairman of the Insurance Committee, Assembly Health Committee, Senate Joint Committee on Science and Technology, the Joint Committee on Refugees, the Senate Committee on the Entertainment Industry, and he was the founding chairman of the Senate Toxics Committee. Torres co-authored legislation that created theMuseum of ToleranceinLos Angeles,and the California Clean Water Act.
The first "Restroom Equity" Act in the United States was passed in California in 1989, introduced by Torres after several long waits for his wife to return from the bathroom.[6]
In 1994, Torres was nominated for insurance commissioner, making him the first Latino Democrat nominated for a statewide office in California history. Torres would eventually be defeated byRepublicanAssemblymanChuck Quackenbush.
On January 14, 1995, speaking at theUniversity of California, Riversideto a group composed mainly of Latinos Torres said thatProposition 187,passed by voters months prior, was "the last gasp of white America in California."[7]
Torres served as a German Marshall Fund Fellow and delivered a paper on Western European immigration issues. He was appointed by the United States Senate, by the late US senator Edward M. Kennedy, to the Commission on International Migration and Cooperative Economic Development, which presented its recommendations on immigration reform to then-President George H. W. Bush in 1990.
Torres served as president of the Kaitz Foundation, dedicated to bringing more people of color into management within the cable television industry through the Kaitz Fellowship program. The foundation provided grants to minority oriented motion picture and cable television associations. The Kaitz Board was composed of a majority of the top CEOs in the cable television industry.
Torres is a member of the board of "One Legacy", an organ transplant foundation in Los Angeles, and the Latino Community Foundation, serving the Bay Area and headquartered in San Francisco. He has served on the board of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the San Francisco Ballet, "Heal the Bay" in Santa Monica, and the advisory board ofThe Princeton Review.[8]
In 2017, San Francisco MayorEd Leeappointed Torres to theSan Francisco Municipal Transportation Agencyboard of directors.[9]He was confirmed unanimously by theBoard of Supervisors.[10]
Personal life
Torres was formerly married to Yolonda Nava, a television newscaster and talk show hostess.[6]
In March 2006, Torres had surgery to removecancerfrom his colon. The operation was successful, but it prevented him from chairing the 2006 California State Democratic Convention in late-April. FormerSan FranciscoMayorWillie Lewis Brown Jr.and first vice-chair Alexandra Gallardo-Rooker substituted for Torres as convention chair.[11]
Torrescame outas a gay man in 2009, thanking his longtime partner Gonzalo Escudero at a farewell speech to the California Democratic Party.[12]
See also
References
- ^Amy L. Unterburger, Jane L. Delgado (1991).Who's Who Among Hispanic Americans.Gale Research.ISBN9780810374515.
- ^Behrens, Leigh (February 7, 1988)."STATE LINES UP FOR 'EQUITY'".Chicago Tribune.
- ^"Arthur A Torres".California Birth Index.
- ^ab"Board of Regents – Art Torres".Regents of the University of California.Archivedfrom the original on August 12, 2020.RetrievedJuly 1,2020.
- ^"Art Torres: Biography".
- ^abBanks, Taunya Lovell (1990–1991). "Toilets as a Feminist Issue: A True Story".Berkeley Women's Law Journal.6(2).UC Berkeley:263–289.
- ^Mikkelson, David (May 7, 2013)."Hispanic Leaders Speak Out!".Snopes.RetrievedJanuary 7,2018.
- ^"Regent Emeritus Art Torres | Board of Regents".
- ^"Mayor appoints former state Sen. Art Torres to replace retiring SFMTA board member".sfexaminer.
- ^"Art Torres confirmed as newest member of SFMTA board – SFBay:: San Francisco Bay Area News and Sports".sfbay.ca.
- ^"Chairman's Corner".California Democratic Party.April 26, 2006. Archived fromthe originalon July 2, 2006.
- ^"Former Dem chair Torres comes out".Bay Area Reporter.April 29, 2009.RetrievedApril 30,2009.