| DIGGING UP CALIFORNIA'S LATINO PAST |
| Written by Maria Elena Salinas |
| Monday, September 08 2003 |
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| Vote "no," then "yes." That's the message behind the Democratic campaign to reject the recall of California Gov. Gray Davis and at the same time vote for Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante to replace him, just in case. It's not as complicated as it sounds. Even if California voters cast a "no" vote on the recall, they can still choose a replacement. If the recall fails, Davis stays. But if it's successful, then Bustamante wants voters to elect him, as opposed to the other 134 candidates, making him the first Latino governor in California in 128 years.
In digging up California's past, you find some similarities between Romualdo Pacheco, the first and only Hispanic governor of California since it became a state in 1850, and Bustamante. They are both descendants of Mexican immigrants. They were both born in Central California - Pacheco in Santa Barbara and Bustamante in the small town of Dinuba. They are both fluent in Spanish and English, and move comfortably between Hispanic and American cultures. They both served in state government - Pacheco in the state Senate, Bustamante in the Assembly. And they were both elected to the post of lieutenant governor.
After that, things begin to change a bit. Their upbringings were in two different socio-economic backgrounds. Pacheco was the son of a prominent California family when the state was still a Mexican territory. His father passed away when he was only 5 weeks old, and he was raised by his mother and stepfather and was educated in Honolulu. Bustamante comes from a lower-middle-class family. As farmworkers, his parents went from vineyards to orchards and packing plants while he struggled to get through Tranquility High School before studying meat cutting at Fresno City College and eventually political science and public administration at Cal State, Fresno.
In 1825, Pacheco's father became an aide to then-Gov. Jose Maria Echeandia. In the 1960s, Bustamante's father opened the first barber shop in Dinuba. Pacheco became an excellent seaman and an experienced horseman; Bustamante played football and wrestled. Pacheco's expertise with the lasso made him the only California governor known to have roped a grizzly bear. Bustamante's political activism got him a job as an intern for a local congressman in Washington, D.C.
Although Romualdo Pacheco was active in the Democratic Party, he changed his allegiance to the short-lived Union Party in the early 1860s. Eventually he campaigned as a Republican. For now, Bustamante is sticking to the Democratic Party, although his allegiance to Gov. Davis was short-lived.
It is doubtful that Cruz Bustamante would hope to one day rope a grizzly bear, especially since they are on the endangered-species list. But he might want to follow in Pacheco's footsteps in some of his other accomplishments.
Romualdo Pacheco was elected to the House of Representatives four times. The first time, he won by a margin of one vote. His opponent contested the race, and five months into his term, the House Committee on Elections sided with his opponent. He was elected again the following year and was re-elected twice. During the 47th Congress - according to data in the Library of Congress - Pacheco chaired the Committee on Private Land Claims, becoming the first Hispanic to chair a standing committee in Congress.
Pacheco's last political post was as a special envoy in charge of maintaining diplomatic relations with Central America. At the end of his service he returned to California, where he died in 1899.
Before Bustamante starts playing any kind of role in national politics and international diplomacy, he would have to make it through what is, for now, the biggest challenge of his political career. Like Romualdo Pacheco, he would like to go from being lieutenant governor to governor of California. Pacheco automatically got the job in 1875, when the governor at that time, Newton Booth, was elected to the Senate. Bustamante has a tougher job ahead of him. He has to count on California voters. He especially will need Democrats to vote "no," then "yes." |
