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LWV League of Women Voters of California
California State Government November 5, 2002 Election
Smart Voter Full Biography for Tom McClintock

Candidate for
State Controller; State of California

[photo]
This information is provided by the candidate

Tom McClintock is the foremost spokesman in California on conservative fiscal policy and state government waste. As the political columnist Dan Walters writes, "[McClintock has] consistently been one of the very few legislators who has been right about what California is experiencing." The Wall Street Journal said of McClintock, "Mr. McClintock remains about the only man in California who has consistently projected correctly the magnitude of the budget crises of the 1990s." The Orange County Register added, "Tom McClintock has consistently been among the most accurate forecasters of the effects of state tax and spending policies."

Tom McClintock was first elected to the California Legislature in 1982 at the age of 26. Within two years, he became Assembly Republican Whip, a leadership position he held for five years.

In 1984, Tom McClintock was named one of five outstanding young Californians by the California Jaycees, and received the civilian Medal of Merit from the Ventura County Peace Officers Association for rescuing an elderly man from a condominium fire.

In 1987 he jointly authored the Mello-Condit-McClintock Tax Rebate Act, which returned $1.1 billion of tax over-collections to the taxpayers of California. In 1992, he also authored California's current lethal injection death penalty law.

After leaving the Assembly in 1992, McClintock served as Director of the Center for the California Taxpayer, a project of the National Tax Limitation Foundation. He also won the 1992 Republican nomination for California's 24th Congressional seat and narrowly lost the General Election to Congressman Tony Beilenson.

After another close election in the 1994 Controller's race, McClintock was named Director of Economic and Regulatory Affairs for the Claremont Institute's Golden State Center for Policy Studies, a position he held until his return to the Assembly in 1996. In that capacity McClintock wrote and lectured extensively on state fiscal policy, privatization, bureaucratic reform and governmental streamlining. His commentaries on California public policy have appeared in every major newspaper in California.

In 1996, McClintock was overwhelmingly returned to the State Assembly from the 38th Assembly District. He served two terms before his election in 2000 to the State Senate.

Throughout his tenure in the state legislature, McClintock has won high praise for his leadership on state budget issues, and his expertise in parliamentary law have made him a powerful player in Assembly floor debates. Since 1975, McClintock has been a registered parliamentarian with the National Association of Parliamentarians.

McClintock graduated Cum Laude from UCLA in 1978, earning a B.A. degree in Political Science. He served as Chief of Staff to Senator Ed Davis until joining the Assembly in 1982.

Tom McClintock and his wife, Lori, have two children, ages 9 and 11.

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: August 15, 2002 19:26
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