Neel Kashkari, a former US Treasury official appointed by George W Bush and entrusted with the management of the 2008 financial crisis, has announced his plan to run for Governor of California, the country’s most populous State.
As a Republican, Kashkari will have his task cut out in a State that is a traditional Democratic bastion. The incumbent Democratic Governor, Jerry Brown, is expected to seek re-election. Unseating Brown “will be an uphill battle for Kashkari, a political novice”, commented the San Jose Mercury News. The 40-year-old Kashkari is not the only Republican to enter the race. There is another party challenger in Tim Donnelly, a member of the California Assembly and touted as a Tea Party favourite.
“Today, the gift of a good education and the opportunity it creates are out of reach for millions of struggling Californians...That’s why I’m running for governor: To create jobs and give kids a quality education. Jobs and education. That’s it. That’s my platform,” he said. Kashkari’s middle-class parents emigrated from India 50 years ago. But Kashkari himself is said to be a multimillionaire now, living in laguna Beach in los Angeles’ Orange County.
He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering at the University of Illinois and moved to California in 1998 to work as a design engineer at TRW in Redondo Beach. Kashkari also worked for Goldman Sachs.In 2006, President Bush appointed him to the Department of Treasury. As the financial crisis erupted in 2008, Kashkari, by then an Assistant Secretary of Treasury, negotiated with congressional leaders of both parties to write and pass landmark legislation to prevent a widespread economic collapse.
Although questions have been raised on the bailout of top US banks, Kashkari has argued that the programme he implemented not only has recouped all the money spent, but also has made a $13 billion profit for taxpayers to date. “For his leadership, Neel received the Alexander Hamilton Award, the (Treasury) Department’s highest honour,” says his newly-launched website.
“If we could get Republicans and Democrats to work together in Washington, DC, then I know we can get them to work together in Sacramento (the California capital),” Kashkari said in a statement. “If we could break the back of the worst economic crisis our country has faced in 80 years, then I know we can break the back of the crisis that is destroying opportunity for California families and kids.”
In preparation for his political plunge, Kashkari had quit last year his job as an investment banking executive and began travelling across California and interacting with potential donors and community organizations.