Arthur Torres
Encyclopedia
Art Torres is a United States Democratic Party
state senator. He is the Vice Chair of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
(CIRM). CIRM, established in 2005 following the passage of Proposition 71, is charged with allocating US$3 billion to California
universities and research institutions to support and advance stem cell research. He is a colon cancer survivor and serves on the Board as a patient advocate.
Torres served as the Chairman of the California Democratic Party from 1995 to 2009. He was the first Latino
in the California Democratic Party to have been nominated for statewide office when he won the Democratic primary for insurance commissioner
in 1994. He is openly gay. He is the father of a son and daughter.
in 1964 where he was the ASB President his senior year; he was a classmate of actor Edward James Olmos
. He holds a Bachelor's
degree
from UC Santa Cruz
and a Juris Doctor
from University of California, Davis School of Law (King Hall). He also served as a John F. Kennedy teaching fellow at Harvard University
's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
by 615 votes. Soon after the election, he became the national legislative director for the United 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 the State Senate
, unseating incumbent Alex Garcia
after an extremely bitter Democratic primary.
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 the Museum of Tolerance
in Los Angeles
, and the California Clean Water Act.
In 1994, Torres was nominated for insurance commissioner, making him the first Latino Democrat nominated for a state-wide office in California history. Torres would eventually be defeated by Republican
Assemblyman Chuck Quackenbush
.
Torres found himself in the midst of controversy when on January 14, 1995, speaking at the University of California, Riverside
to a group composed mainly of Latinos, Torres said that Proposition 187
, passed by voters months prior, "was the last gasp of Conservative white America in California."
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 comprised by a majority of the top CEOs in the cable television industry.
Senator 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 of The Princeton Review.
from his colon. The operation was successful, but it prevented him from chairing the 2006 California State Democratic Convention in late April. Former San Francisco
mayor Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. and 1st Vice-Chair Alexandra Gallardo-Rooker substituted for Torres as convention chair.
Torres came out as a gay man
in 2009, thanking his longtime partner Gonzalo Escudero at a farewell speech to the California Democratic Party.
California Democratic Party
The California Democratic Party is the state branch of the Democratic Party in the state of California, headquartered in Sacramento. It is chaired by veteran Democratic politician and former United States Representative John L. Burton, who succeeded Art Torres in April 2009. It is the majority...
state senator. He is the Vice Chair of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine was created by California's Proposition 71 , which authorized it to issue $3 billion in grants, funded by bonds, over ten years for embryonic stem cell and other biomedical research. It is claimed to be the world's largest single backer of...
(CIRM). CIRM, established in 2005 following the passage of Proposition 71, is charged with allocating US$3 billion to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
universities and research institutions to support and advance stem cell research. He is a colon cancer survivor and serves on the Board as a patient advocate.
Torres served as the Chairman of the California Democratic Party from 1995 to 2009. He was the first Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
in the California Democratic Party to have been nominated for statewide office when he won the Democratic primary for insurance commissioner
Insurance commissioner
Insurance commissioner is an executive office in many U.S. states, some in the state cabinet. The office differs state by state:...
in 1994. He is openly gay. He is the father of a son and daughter.
Early life and education
Torres graduated from Montebello High SchoolMontebello High School
Montebello High School is a secondary school of the Montebello Unified School District, located in Montebello, CA.Montebello High School has an enrollment of approximately 3400 students and a staff of 121 teachers...
in 1964 where he was the ASB President his senior year; he was a classmate of actor Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos is an American actor and director. Among his most memorable roles are William Adama in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, Lt...
. He holds a Bachelor's
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
from UC Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...
and a Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from University of California, Davis School of Law (King Hall). He also served as a John F. Kennedy teaching fellow at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Political activity and public service
In 1972, Torres was defeated in his first election for a seat in the California State AssemblyCalifornia State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
by 615 votes. Soon after the election, he became the national legislative director for the United Farm Workers
United Farm Workers
The United Farm Workers of America is a labor union created from the merging of two groups, the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee led by Filipino organizer Larry Itliong, and the National Farm Workers Association led by César Chávez...
, AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
, 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 the State Senate
California State Senate
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...
, unseating incumbent Alex Garcia
Alex Garcia
Alex García is a Cuban Nuevo Latino chef who helped popularize a version of Cuban food at several New York City restaurants and on the Food Network. Born in Havana, García attended Northeastern University in Massachusetts where he earned a degree in hotel and restaurant management. García later...
after an extremely bitter Democratic primary.
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 the Museum of Tolerance
Museum of Tolerance
The Museum of Tolerance , a multimedia museum in Los Angeles, California, USA, with an associated museum and professional development multi-media training facility in New York City, is designed to examine racism and prejudice in the United States and the world with a strong focus on the history of...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, and the California Clean Water Act.
In 1994, Torres was nominated for insurance commissioner, making him the first Latino Democrat nominated for a state-wide office in California history. Torres would eventually be defeated by Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Assemblyman Chuck Quackenbush
Chuck Quackenbush
Charles "Chuck" Quackenbush is a Florida law enforcement officer and former California Republican politician. He served as Insurance Commissioner of California from 1995–2000 and as a California State Assemblyman representing the 22nd District, from 1986–1994.- Background and political career :As...
.
Torres found himself in the midst of controversy when on January 14, 1995, speaking at the University of California, Riverside
University of California, Riverside
The University of California, Riverside, commonly known as UCR or UC Riverside, is a public research university and one of the ten general campuses of the University of California system. UCR is consistently ranked as one of the most ethnically and economically diverse universities in the United...
to a group composed mainly of Latinos, Torres said that Proposition 187
California Proposition 187 (1994)
California Proposition 187 was a 1994 ballot initiative to establish a state-run citizenship screening system and prohibit illegal aliens from using health care, public education, and other social services in the U.S. State of California...
, passed by voters months prior, "was the last gasp of Conservative white America in California."
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 comprised by a majority of the top CEOs in the cable television industry.
Senator 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 of The Princeton Review.
Personal
In March 2006, Torres had surgery to remove cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
from his colon. The operation was successful, but it prevented him from chairing the 2006 California State Democratic Convention in late April. Former San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
mayor Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. and 1st Vice-Chair Alexandra Gallardo-Rooker substituted for Torres as convention chair.
Torres came out as a gay man
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
in 2009, thanking his longtime partner Gonzalo Escudero at a farewell speech to the California Democratic Party.