GOP guv-hopeful Steve Poizner says he's insurance commissioner "24 hours a day, seven days a week."
But that's not the job voters will likely see on the ballot come June 8.
Poizner, who was elected to the insurance commissioner post in 2006, has proposed listing just "businessman" as his ballot designation this year.
"It's the most appropriate designation for his career since he started two successful companies in California and ran those companies for over 20 years," said Poizner spokeswoman Bettina Inclan, who noted that Poizner often touts his work in elected office when stumping on the campaign trail.
Ballot designation rules don't require that a candidate list every job they have, but allows him or her to describe in up to three words positions that take "substantial involvement of time and effort such that the activity is one of the primary, main or leading professional, vocational or occupational endeavors of the candidate" in the last year.
So what was Poizner's principal gig in 2009?
"Developing and writing a book for commercial sale," he wrote in his ballot designation paperwork.
His work on "Mount Pleasant," his new memoir about his time volunteering at a San Jose high school, included "negotiating a book deal with the publisher, securing a co-author, and planning a marketing campaign for the book," he wrote.
The proposed ballot designation gives him virtually the same job title as Republican rival Meg Whitman, who lists "businesswoman." Her paperwork states that the title refers to her continuing income from consulting work for eBay and Random House and managing her "business interests."
Poizner included "businessman" as one of his "primary, main or leading professions" for his 2006 insurance commissioner bid.
But he apparently had a little more difficulty deciding what to list during his 2004 Assembly run.
That year he tried several three-word combinations, including "Technology Executive/Teacher" and "Teacher/Entrepreneur/Reformer," before settling on ""Teacher/Entrepreneur/Father."
This year, he joins a growing field of candidates highlighting work other than their elected duties when crafting a ballot designation. As we reported earlier this week, a handful of legislators are emphasizing their second jobs when describing their work to voters.
PHOTO CREDIT: Steve Poizner announces Aug. 27, 2009, that he will file a lawsuit to stop the proposed sale of $1 billion State Fund assets. Hector Amezcua/Sacramento Bee.
Latest posts:
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.