X-Nico

24 unusual facts about Pete Wilson


Benjamin Thurman Hacker

In the early 1990s, at the request of then-Governor Pete Wilson, Hacker served for two years as director of the California Department of Veterans Affairs and then rejoined USAA as regional vice president and general manager of its western region.

California Proposition 209

It was later endorsed by Governor Pete Wilson, and supported and funded by the California Civil Rights Initiative Campaign, led by University of California Regent Ward Connerly.

California Review

Milton Friedman, George Will, Jack Kemp, Arthur Laffer, Alexander Haig, Jack Wheeler, Pete Wilson, and George Gilder all agreed to give the California Review exclusive interviews.

California Space Authority

The California Space and Technology Alliance was established in 1996 as a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization to foster development of space industry and was officially recognized by the state when Governor Pete Wilson signed Assembly Bill 1475 into law in October 1997.

California State Summer School for the Arts

By 1992, Governor Pete Wilson signed legislation to enable the program to accept a limited number of students from outside California, thereby making it a national program.

Camarillo State Mental Hospital

Pete Wilson, then-governor of California, announced in January 1996 plans to close down the hospital by July 1997, citing low patient numbers and rising costs per patient.

Daily Nexus

In 1995, the Daily Nexus filed suit against California Governor Pete Wilson and the UC Regents, alleging that the regents had illegally conspired during phone conferences to line up support for the cancellation of Affirmative Action.

Kevin V. Ryan

In 1996, while serving as a member of the Violent Gang Suppression Unit, Ryan was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson to serve as a Judge on the San Francisco Municipal Court.

Kristin Smart Campus Security Act

The bill was written and sponsored by Democratic state Senator Mike Thompson, and was approved 61-0 in the California Legislature and signed into law by then-Governor Pete Wilson on August 19, 1998.

Lead21

New Century Leadership Council (NCLC), as it was called at the time, launched the new organization at the home of Silicon Valley veteran Ellen Hancock, with former California Governor Pete Wilson as guest-of-honor.

Legal document assistant

On September 30, 1998 Governor Pete Wilson signed California State Senate Bill SB1418, regulating the legal document preparation profession in the State of California, and creating a new formal title, Legal Document Assistant (LDA).

Mark Albrecht

He was the Legislative Assistant for National Security Affairs to US Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif) from 1983 - 1989.

Marsy's Law

Nicholas was the main organizer and sponsor of the campaign to pass Marsy's Law, whom former California Governor Pete Wilson called the "driving force" behind the constitutional amendment.

Mas alla de los Gritos

These bands that emerged during the early 90’s were politically resistant to border brutality, Chican@/Latin@ identity in the barrio, transborder struggles, Pete Wilson and the passing of Prop 187, NAFTA, the uprising of the Zapatista army in Mexico, Xenophobia, the Berkeley Pro-Affirmative Action Rally, police brutality, discrimination and racism amongst other social issues.

Raza Odiada

Raza Odiada (which translates in English as "Hated Race") is a song critical of Pete Wilson and his opposition to illegal immigration and to racial preferences.

Richard Dickerson

Following retirement in 1993, Dickerson was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson to the Shasta County Board of Supervisors, and later he was elected to serve a four-year term.

Robert H. Tourtelot

Tourtelot was first appointed to the CHRB by the Governor of California in October 1993, and was reappoined to the Board by Governor Pete Wilson in July 2001.

Russell Gould

He was a member of California Governor Pete Wilson's administration, as Secretary of Health and Human Services (1991 - 1993) and as the Director of Finance (1993 to 1996).

San Diego Film Commission

Created in 1976 by mayor Pete Wilson, it was originally called the San Diego Motion Picture and Television Bureau.

Self-deportation

In 1994, William Safire described its usage by California governor Pete Wilson's immigration strategy, exemplified by Proposition 187, which prevented illegal aliens from using a variety of state social services.

Ted Lempert

He had more than 70 other bills signed by Governors George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson and Gray Davis.

Treble in Trouble

#"Abner Louima v. Gov. Pete Wilson" (written and originally performed by Ted Leo and The Sin Eaters)

Tricia Hunter

After her second election loss, she was appointed Special Assistant to the Health and Human Services Agency and to the California Medical Assistance Commission by Governor Pete Wilson.

Walter R. Nickel

In 1989 when Dr. Nickel died, then-Senator Pete Wilson eulogized him on the floor of the Senate and placed his obituary in the Congressional Record.


CALFED Bay-Delta Program

The coordination program was created in 1994 by Governor Pete Wilson and federal Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt following a decade of chaotic disputes between the state of California, the federal government, environmental groups, agricultural interests, and municipal water services.

California Environmental Protection Agency

Cal/EPA was created by Governor Pete Wilson by Executive Order W-5-91 in 1991, following on a "Big Green" initiative Wilson proposed during the 1990 state gubernatorial elections, promising a cabinet-level agency to oversee state environmental regulations and research.

California gubernatorial election, 1990

The Republican nominee, Senator Pete Wilson, narrowly defeated the Democratic nominee, former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein, who would later go on to win Wilson's Senate seat.