California State Treasurer

With relaxed confidence, Matthew Fong leans back in his chair and jokes that he has two secret weapons in the state treasurer's race: his mother and O. J. Simpson. O. J. helps him because the famous defendant's murder trial will so capture voter interest that fewer people may pay attention to a last-minute barrage of anti-Fong television ads from his Democratic opponent, Phil Angelides. "My strategy?," he quips. "I'm rooting for O. J. Simpson. . . . The more O. J.'

Reporting from Sacramento -- Matthew Kipling Fong, a former California state treasurer who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1998, died Wednesday at his home in Pasadena after a long bout with skin cancer. He was 57. Fong, a Republican, was the scion of a political family with deep roots in state politics. His mother, March Fong Eu, a Democrat, was elected to the state Assembly in 1966 and served as California's secretary of state from 1975 to 1994. She was later appointed U.S. ambassador to Micronesia by President Clinton.

Pilot Environmental Loan Project for Small Businesses: By the end of January, California State Treasurer Kathleen Brown expects to offer loans averaging $100,000 each to small businesses, particularly in the South Coast Air Quality Management District, that are expected to have difficulty meeting the costs of new air-pollution regulations.

Claude Parrish likes to say he's been named treasurer of just about everything he's been involved in, from the Echo Park Coin Club to the Republican Party of Los Angeles County. But the 59-year-old Parrish, a member of the powerful if obscure state Board of Equalization, faces his toughest treasurer run yet in his November matchup against state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer. Before spending eight years as the state's top law enforcement official, Lockyer, 65, was a fixture in the Legislature, serving from 1973 to 1998 and spending his final four years as Senate president pro tem. A Democrat with funds remaining from past campaigns, he has more than $10.5 million at his disposal.

Gov. George Deukmejian used the radio waves Saturday to lobby the Legislature for confirmation of his state treasurer nominee, Republican Rep. Daniel E. Lungren of Long Beach. "Dan Lungren has represented the Long Beach area in the House of Representatives for nearly 10 years," Deukmejian said. "During that time he has earned one of the best records in the Congress for fiscal responsibility.

Pat Buchanan, the former presidential adviser and conservative Washington commentator, campaigned in Southern California Tuesday for his sister Angela's bid to be state treasurer with the message that she is a true Republican running against "a member who just joined the church." "Bay (Angela's nickname) is the future leader of the conservative movement," Buchanan said. "It's a statewide elected office and once (voters) make that decision, you've got a leader of your party, no question about it."

Back in 1974, an obscure Oakland assemblywoman captured the office of secretary of state by capitalizing on a single issue to defeat better-financed and better-known rivals. March Fong Eu drew attention to herself through a widely publicized campaign to rid the state of pay toilets and gained a firm grip on the secretary of state's office that she still maintains. On Thursday, state Sen. David A. Roberti appeared ready to take a page from Eu's 20-year-old political playbook.

Capping weeks of speculation, state Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti on Thursday announced that he intends to run for state treasurer, casting himself as a new-style Democrat who seeks to "downsize" government. Roberti, a political powerhouse and a proven fund-raiser, is likely to be a major contender to succeed Kathleen Brown, who is expected to run for governor.

He cajoled, he pleaded. And when that didn't work, Gov. George Deukmejian rolled out his latest weapon Saturday in his battle to win confirmation for treasurer-nominee Rep. Daniel E. Lungren: an endorsement from Chris Unruh, widow of the former Democratic treasurer. The surprise announcement during Deukmejian's keynote address to the state Republican convention here drew wild applause from the 1,200 delegates and left the Republican governor with a sly smile on his face.

Not since the Great Depression has California been forced to issue IOUs in place of checks to pay what it owes to government workers, county welfare agencies, doctors and hospitals, and others who provide government with needed products and services. But the state will have little choice but to do just that Wednesday unless Gov. Pete Wilson and the Legislature are able to reach agreement on handling a record $10.7-billion shortfall by adopting a budget for the new fiscal year that begins July 1.

California Treasurer-elect Bill Lockyer on Monday chose a former De La Rosa & Co. investment banker to take charge of handling bond sales for the state, which is the largest issuer of tax-free municipal bonds in the U.S. Paul Rosenstiel, 56, was picked by Lockyer to direct the treasurer's public finance unit.

After bowing out of his anticipated run for governor, Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer is aiming for election as state treasurer, a job he sees as less stressful. If the campaign is any indicator, the treasurer's position should be downright tranquil. Lockyer, a fixture in Democratic politics, is running against Claude Parrish, a little-known Republican who has served on the state Board of Equalization since his election in 1998.

Two GOP officeholders want the right to challenge Democratic state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer in November for the job as California's treasurer -- in effect, the state's head banker, charged with overseeing tens of billions of dollars in borrowing every year. Lockyer, forced out of his current office by term limits, is unchallenged. Other Democrats cleared the field when he decided not to run for governor, and to use his sizable war chest for a treasurer run instead.

Republican P. Gregory Conlon has what might be the perfect resume to run for state treasurer--if only he could roll back the clock about two years. A former president of the California Public Utilities Commission, Conlon was one of the architects of the state's energy deregulation scheme, hailed at the time but widely viewed now as a costly train wreck. Before that, he spent 30 years with Arthur Andersen--that's right, the accounting firm at the center of the Enron financial scandal.

PHIL ANGELIDES Angelides served as chairman of the state Democratic Party from 1990 to 1993. He won the party's nomination for state treasurer in 1994, but angered some fellow Democrats with his hard-hitting ads against a rival in the primary campaign. He lost that race to current state Treasurer Matt Fong. * Party: Democratic * Occupation: Real estate developer * Age: 45 * Residence: Sacramento * Education: Graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor of arts degree in government.

Candidates in "down ballot" races struggle to create ads that stand out. Three experts discuss ads in the race for state treasurer between Democrat Phil Angelides and Republican Curt Pringle. Barbara O'Connor, director, Institute for the Study of Politics and Media at Cal State Sacramento The Angelides ad linking Pringle to the poll guard scandal is very crisp and understandable.

The Race: Republican primary for treasurer. Whose ads?: Incumbent Thomas W. Hayes and challenger Angela M. (Bay) Buchanan. Hayes, former state auditor general appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian to fill the unexpired term of the late Jesse M. Unruh, is running for his first four-year term. His 30-second commercials portraying him as a good manager began airing this week, with emphasis on stations serving voter-rich Southern California. Buchanan, former U.S.

Angela M. (Bay) Buchanan, seeking the Republican nomination for state treasurer, released a personal credit report Tuesday that shows she pays her bills on time. Then she demanded an apology from her June primary election opponent, Treasurer Thomas W. Hayes, for making her credit history a campaign issue. "They have leaked that I have a bad credit rating. I have never had a bad credit rating," Buchanan said during a breakfast meeting with Times reporters.

A political incident that targeted Latino voters in Orange County a decade ago has emerged as a key point of attack in the state treasurer's race. Democratic candidate Phil Angelides has begun airing a TV ad blasting Republican foe Curt Pringle for the 1988 episode, in which Pringle's Assembly campaign and the Orange County Republican Party placed uniformed security guards at Santa Ana polling places.