Steve Poizner

Steve Poizner
File:Poizner.JPG
6th California State Insurance Commissioner
Incumbent
Assumed office January 8, 2007
Preceded by	John Garamendi
Personal details
Born	(1957-01-04) January 4, 1957 Houston, Texas
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Carol Poizner
Profession	California Insurance Commissioner

Stephen L. "Steve" Poizner (born January 4 1957) is a California businessman and Republican politician, who was elected State Insurance Commissioner of California in January 8 2007. Prior to his political career, Poizner worked in the Silicon Valley as a high tech entrepreneur; founding both SnapTrak, Inc. and Strategic Mapping, Inc.

In 2001, following privately held SnapTrak's sale for $1.0 billion dollars to Qualcomm, Poizner served a year as a White House Fellow in the National Security Council. Starting one week before the September 11, 2001 attacks, Poizner held the position of Director of Critical Infrastructure Protection, and was involved in developing Homeland Security programs relating to cybersecurity and emergency response communication protocols.

Background and early life

Born in Houston, Texas, Poizner was named "Outstanding Male Student" at the University of Texas when he became valedictorian while earning his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Texas in 1978. He was named an Arjay Miller Scholar at Stanford University when he earned a MBA from Stanford Business School in 1980.

Two years after Poizner graduated from Stanford, the national Jaycees organization sued the Palo Alto Jaycees chapter for admitting female members. Poizner, in coordination with other Jaycees chapters around the country, led the Palo Alto Jaycees in their legal defense of their efforts to admit women against the national organization's wishes, and the case eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Poizner and the Palo Alto chapter, along with its fellow groups in other communities, won the suit and struck a blow against gender discrimination in service clubs.

Business career

Entrepreneur and businessman Steve Poizner has started and run innovative technology companies in Silicon Valley for over 20 years.

Following his graduation from Stanford with an MBA, Poizner served for several years as a management consultant with the prestigious consulting firm the Boston Consulting Group.

In 1983, Poizner founded and served as chief executive officer of Strategic Mapping Inc., a software company that developed a program to display geographic data on digital maps for purposes of information analysis. Poizner built Strategic Mapping from two employees in 1983 to about 160 in 1995, when he sold it for $35 million

In 1995, Poizner founded SnapTrack, Inc., which developed first of its kind GPS based tracking technology, and served as its chief executive officer until he sold the privately held company to Qualcomm in 2000 for a reported $1.0 billion.

It is believed that Mr. Poizner has a net worth near $1 billion.

Community service

In 2001, Poizner co-founded EdVoice, an educational non-profit organization dedicated to improving public schools and serving the interests of K-12 children in California.

From September 2002–June 2003, he served as a volunteer teacher in San Jose's Mount Pleasant High School. Teaching 12th grade American Government, Poizner received Rookie Teacher of the Year Honors.

In 2003, Poizner co-founded the California Charter Schools Association.

Political career

From 2001 to 2002, Poizner served as a White House Fellow where he worked in the National Security Council Office of Cyberspace Security, serving as Director of Critical Infrastructure Protection. In this capacity he developed strategies for protecting critical infrastructure against cyber-terrorism and developed an emergency communications plan for national security and emergency response personnel.

In 2004, Poizner ran for the California State Assembly against Democrat Ira Ruskin, a Redwood City Councilman, in the heavily Democratic 21st District, losing by 5,884 votes out of 190,120 votes cast in 2004. He spent $5 million of his own money to fund his campaign.

The following year, Poizner was nominated by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be a member of the California Public Utilities Commission. He was unable to accept the appointment however, due to complications from his financial holdings.

In 2005, Poizner joined his ally Governor Schwarzenegger in the unsuccessful campaign for Yes on Proposition 77 in the November 8, 2005 California Special Election. A strong advocate of political reform, Poizners support of Prop 77, a redistricting reform effort, drew widespread praise for bringing to public light the problems of gerrymandering, and has in turn lead to an increased bi-partisan interest in reforming this systematic process.

In 2006, Poizner ran for the office of California Insurance Commissioner. He ran unopposed in the Republican primary on June 6, and won the general election on November 7 by defeating Democrat Cruz Bustamante, then Lieutenant Governor of California, by a 12.4% margin. ^[1] Poizner and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger were the only Republicans elected in California statewide races.

In 2006, Poizner became a life member in the influential foreign policy organization Council on Foreign Relations.

In late 2007 and early 2008, and keeping with his past political reform minded efforts, Poizner took the lead in the effort to defeat Proposition 93, a term limit removal initiative. As Chairman of the No on 93 campaign, Poizner contributed $2.5 million of his own money, secured No endorsements from over 40 of the states largest newspaper Editorial boards, and appeared on talk radio across the state. Proposition 93 was defeated by a 46% Yes 54% NO vote on February 5th. Newspapers following the defeat of Prop 93 noted the tremendous boost to Poizner's political resume for his likely run for Governor in 2010.

Poizner is widely regarded as the de facto Republican nominee for California Governor in 2010.

Personal

Poizner holds a Black belt in Shotokan karate

A resident of Los Gatos, California, Poizner and his wife, Carol, have one daughter, Rebecca. Steve comes from a very interesting and noted family in America. He has a sister and two brothers, one of whom, Jerry Poizner, is deceased. Steve's sister, Sharon, is a well-known professor of epidemiology at a major university in Texas. Steve's brother, Howard Poizner, is retired; he was a well-known researcher on brain functioning for many years and was a co-author of the noted book, "What the Hands Reveal about the Brain." Steve's deceased brother, Jerry, was a lifelong resident of Israel.

External links

• Official California Department of Insurance biography
• Official Campaign Site
• Tech Titans for Governor
• Poizner's businesslike style pays political dividends
• Term limits backers shot themselves in the ballot box
• A look at who might run for governor of California
• Qualcomm Acquires Wireless Location Leader SnapTrack