Charles Munger, Jr.

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Charles Munger Jr.
Charles Munger.jpg
Basic facts
Organization:Spirit of Democracy
Role:Chair
Location:Palo Alto, Calif.
Affiliation:Republican
Education:•University of California at Berkeley (Ph.D., atomic physics, 1987)
Website:Official website



As of 2019, Charles T. Munger Jr. was an experimental physicist at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. The son of billionaire Charles Munger—vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway—the younger Munger also advocated in California ballot proposition politics, having sponsored and supported two separate measures related to redistricting in 2008 and 2010.

Career

Charles Munger Jr. earned a Ph.D. in atomic physics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1987. He was an experimental physicist and worked at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.[1][2]

He was a board member of The Lincoln Club of Northern California and a member of the board of overseers at the Hoover Institution, a think tank at Stanford University.[1][3]

Activism

In 2003, Munger joined the Curriculum Development and Materials Commission for the California State Board of Education. He served in that position until 2007.[1]

Active in local Republican politics, Munger has served as chair of the Santa Clara County Republican Party. He is chair of Spirit of Democracy, a political action committee that supports candidates around California. According to the organization's website, Munger "is responsible for selecting candidates and approving every independent expenditure done on their behalf, including television, radio, and direct mail."[1][4]

Common Cause gave Munger its National Civic Leadership Award following his efforts supporting California Proposition 20, Congressional Redistricting Initiative (2010).[1]

Redistricting reform

See also: Redistricting in California

Munger has been particularly active in donating to campaigns related to redistricting in the state of California. According to The New York Times, his interest in redistricting dates to his experience in 2004 as a campaign volunteer for Steve Poizner's (R) campaign for State Assembly. Munger started out "attaching addresses to envelopes." Luis Buhler, who ran the campaign, said that Poizner's loss was "a formative experience" for Munger: "He saw in that race that the way that district was drawn prevented the election of a man he thought was much better qualified. That was really the first time he realized how it all worked."[5] Of his work with redistricting in the state, Munger told Bloomberg, "I’m doing this to try to ensure voters have fair districts where representatives will compete for offices. Elected politicians are picking the voters, voters aren’t picking their representatives."[6]

His interest in redistricting led Munger to contribute $12,157,441 to Proposition 20, a 2010 ballot measure aimed at redistricting in the state. Susan Shafer, a spokesperson for the Proposition 20 campaign, said, "He’s a physicist by trade, but he’s extremely interested in this issue."[7] Of his decision to donate to the measure, Munger told a reporter for The New York Times, "I would’ve been very welcome in Republican circles if I decided to go chuck 10 million in a bunch of races up and down the state to fight for Republican control of Congress. It isn’t a worthy ambition compared to doing this."[5]

Political activity

Elections, 2016

See also: United States Senate election in California, 2016

In January 2015, Business Insider listed Munger as one potential Republican candidate in the 2016 election for the U.S. Senate, to represent California. However, in February 2015, the Los Angeles Times listed Munger as a notable Republican who would be "sitting the race out" as a candidate.[8][9]

Carly Fiorina

See also: Carly Fiorina presidential campaign, 2016

Charles Munger donated $100,000 to Conservative, Authentic, Responsive Leadership for you and for America, a super PAC that supported Carly Fiorina's (R) 2016 presidential campaign.[10]

California's State Assembly District 66 race

See also: California races we're watching, 2016

On October 26, 2016, the Los Angeles Times reported that Munger contributed $1.4 million to a super PAC called the Spirit of Democracy California, which, in October, spent at least $1.1 million on ads opposing former state Rep. Al Muratsuchi (D) in his California State Assembly District 66 race against incumbent state Rep. David Hadley (R).[11]

California's State Assembly District 16 race

See also: California races we're watching, 2016

In California's State Assembly District 16, incumbent state Rep. Catharine Baker (R) ran for re-election against Cheryl Cook-Kallio (D) in the 2016 general election. The Los Angeles Times reported on October 28, 2016, that Munger had contributed $965,455 to oppose Cook-Kallio. The contribution was reportedly made through the Spirit of Democracy California.[12]

Ballot measure activity

Note: Ballotpedia tracked Charles Munger Jr. as a ballot measures influencer through 2016. You can send information about this influencer’s current involvement with ballot measures to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Overview of ballot measure support and opposition

The following table details Charles Munger Jr.'s ballot measure stances available on Ballotpedia:

Ballot measure support and opposition for Charles Munger Jr.
Ballot measure Year Position Status
California Proposition 54, Public Display of Legislative Bills Prior to Vote 2016 Supported[13]  ApprovedaApproved
California Proposition 30, Sales and Income Tax Increase 2012 Opposed[14] Approveda Approved
California Proposition 32, the "Paycheck Protection" Initiative 2012 Supported[15] Defeatedd Defeated
California Proposition 40, Referendum on the State Senate Redistricting Plan 2012 Supported Approveda Approved
California Proposition 27, Elimination of Citizen Redistricting Commission 2010 Opposed Defeatedd Defeated
California Proposition 20, Congressional Redistricting 2010 Supported[16] Approveda Approved
California Proposition 11, Creation of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission 2008 Supported[17] Approveda Approved
California Proposition 93, Amendment to Term Limits Law 2008 Opposed[18] Defeatedd Defeated
California Proposition 77, Rules Governing Legislative Redistricting 2005 Supported[19] Defeatedd Defeated
California Proposition 60, Political Party Election Rights Act 2004 Opposed[20] Approveda Approved

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Munger married Charlotte Lowell in 1989. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Lowell is an attorney with the law firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom.[2]

Munger is one of eight children of Charles Munger, the billionaire vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway.[21]

Munger is the brother of Molly Munger, an attorney in Pasadena, Calif., who led the charge on Proposition 38, which would have raised taxes to provide additional money to the state's public school districts. Molly Munger contributed over $44 million to promote Proposition 38.[22][23][24]

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Charles Munger Jr. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Charles Munger, Jr. - Google News

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Spirit of Democracy, "About Charles T. Munger Jr.," accessed January 27, 2016
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 California Watch, "The Rainmakers: California's top political donors, 2001-2011," accessed January 27, 2016
  3. ↑ Hoover Institution, "Board of Overseers," accessed January 27, 2016
  4. ↑ Spirit of Democracy, "About the Spirit of Democracy," accessed January 27, 2016
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 New York Times, "Tackling Redistricting With Money and Zeal," October 7, 2010
  6. ↑ Bloomberg, "Berkshire Billionaire's Son Battles Soros on California Ballot," October 15, 2010
  7. ↑ California Watch, "Wealthy donor's passion project is redistricting - but will voters care?" October 17, 2010
  8. ↑ Business Insider, "A Whole Bunch Of People Might Run For California's Open Senate Seat," January 9, 2015
  9. ↑ L.A. Times, "In California's U.S. Senate race, GOP again sees only slim chance," February 8, 2015
  10. ↑ FEC, "Conservative, Authentic, Responsive Leadership for you and for America FEC Form 3X," accessed January 27, 2016
  11. ↑ Los Angeles Times, "GOP mega-donor is spending more than $1 million in coastal L.A. County Assembly district," October 26, 2016
  12. ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Republican donor Charles Munger Jr. throws nearly $1 million into Assembly race after Obama endorsement," October 28, 2016
  13. ↑ The Mercury News, "Three rich Californians stake claims on statewide ballot," September 18, 2016
  14. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Munger, Charles," accessed June 25, 2015
  15. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Small Business Action Committee PAC," accessed June 25, 2015
  16. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Yes on 20," accessed June 25, 2015
  17. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Yes on 11," accessed June 25, 2015
  18. ↑ California Secretary of State, "No on 93," accessed June 25, 2015
  19. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Yes on 77," accessed June 25, 2015
  20. ↑ California Secretary of State, "No on 60," accessed June 25, 2015
  21. ↑ Sacramento Bee, "Prop 11 backer pours more cash into a new redistricting push," January 13, 2010
  22. ↑ Sacramento Bee, "Molly Munger changes tax initiative to address budget deficit," December 23, 2011
  23. ↑ Capitol Alert, "Molly Munger pledges to put her money into qualifying tax hike," February 6, 2012
  24. ↑ Pasadena Sun, "Pasadena attorney rethinks public school funding," February 1, 2012
v • e
Influencers
MainInfluencer Project Badge.png
By state
Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Charles_Munger,_Jr.&oldid=8290225"