Cruz Miguel Bustamante (born January 4, 1953) is an American politican. He is currently the Lieutenant Governor of California and a member of the Democratic Party.
Bustamante was born in Dinuba, California and attended but did not graduate from Fresno City College. He was elected to the California State Assembly in a special election in 1993. He became the Speaker of the Assembly in 1996. He has served as the Lt. Governor since 1999. He was the first Latino elected to statewide office in California in more than 120 years and the highest-ranking Latino officeholder in the United States. He earned his bachelor's degree from the California State University, Fresno in 2003.
He was the most prominent Democrat to run in the 2003 California recall election, however Bustamante placed second to Arnold Schwarzenegger by approximately 1.3 million votes. Bustamante has had an apparently icy relationship with Governor Gray Davis during his tenure. They reportedly had not talked in months before the recall election approached.
Bustamante drew some criticism during the election for his involvement with the Chicano organization MEChA in the 1970s.
With his wife Arcelia, Bustamante has three daughters.
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