Bruce Kenneth Nestande (January 28, 1938 – July 9, 2020) was an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

who served as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

California State Assemblyman and

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

Supervisor.

Early life

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Nestande was drafted by the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 sea ...

but opted to attend college on an

Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in al ...

scholarship instead. He graduated from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

in 1960 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in economics and political science, and he later went on to earn his J.D. from

Lincoln Law School of Sacramento Lincoln Law School of Sacramento is a private, for-profit law school in Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize ...

. Upon graduating from the University of Minnesota, Nestande was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

in 1960. During his Marine service, he served four years on active duty, including fourteen months with an infantry battalion in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. He retired from the

Marine Corps Reserve The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. It is the largest command, by assigned p ...

in 1972, having attained the rank of captain. In 1966, Nestande became the inaugural director of the full-scale replica building of

Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers. The structure forms the centerpi ...

Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park located in Buena Park, California, owned and operated by Cedar Fair. In 2015, it was the twelfth-most-visited theme park in North America and averages approximately 4 million visitors per year. It features 40 ...

Buena Park, California Buena Park (''Buena'', Spanish for "Good") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census its population was 84,034. It is the location of several tourist attractions, namely Knott's Berry Farm. It is about 12 mi ...

Political career

He was a special assistant to

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Ronald Reagan from 1971–1972, State Field Director of Operations for the California

Committee for the Re-Election of the President The Committee for the Re-election of the President (also known as the Committee to Re-elect the President), abbreviated CRP, but often mocked by the acronym CREEP, was, officially, a fundraising organization of United States President Richard Nix ...

in 1972, and Executive Director of the

California Republican Party The California Republican Party (CAGOP) is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in the U.S. state of California. The party is based in Sacramento and is led by chair Jessica Millan Patterson. As of October 2020, Republicans repre ...

from 1972–1973. Nestande returned to Reagan's office in 1974 but left after less than a year when he was elected to the California State Assembly to represent the 70th District in

. He quickly climbed in the legislative leadership, becoming Assembly Minority Whip in his second term, and then Minority Caucus Chairman (the second-ranking position in the Assembly Republican leadership) in his third term. During his three terms in the Assembly, he served as Chairman of the

Human Resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ...

Committee and the Select Committee on Veterans Affairs. He was also a member of the

Criminal Justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

Housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether i ...

and

Community Development The United Nations defines community development as "a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems." It is a broad concept, applied to the practices of civic leaders, activists ...

Committee; the Ways and Means Committee; and the Resources,

Land Use Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long ...

and

Energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

Committee. Rather than seeking a fourth Assembly term in 1980, Nestande successfully sought election to the

Orange County Board of Supervisors The Orange County Board of Supervisors is the five-member governing body of Orange County, California along with being the executive of the county. Membership The Board consists of five Supervisors elected by districts to four-year terms by the ...

, defeating incumbent Edison Miller. As a result of the 1980 campaign, Miller sued Nestande for defamation. Nestande won

summary judgment In law, a summary judgment (also judgment as a matter of law or summary disposition) is a judgment entered by a court for one party and against another party summarily, i.e., without a full trial. Summary judgments may be issued on the merits of ...

against Miller, who appealed, but the California Fourth District Court of Appeal unanimously confirmed Nestande's victory. Nestande won re-election to the Board of Supervisors in 1984. From 1984–1988, Nestande was a member of the

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Advisory may refer to: * Advisory board, a body that provides advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation * Boil-water advisory, a public health directive given by government to consumers when a community's drinking wat ...

. During his tenure on the Board of Supervisors, Nestande helped launch a number of transportation projects, including the Toll Roads of Orange County. He also helped push for the construction of

Prado Dam Prado Dam is an earth-fill dry dam across the Santa Ana River at the Chino Hills near Corona, California in Riverside County with the resulting impounded water creating Prado Flood Control Basin reservoir. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers buil ...

Riverside County Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Uni ...

. In the November 1986 election, Nestande unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Secretary of State

March Fong Eu March Kong Fong Eu ( Kong; March 29, 1922 – December 21, 2017) was an American politician. She was a member of the California State Assembly and went on to serve as Secretary of State of California. Early life and education Eu was born March ...

and would resign from the Board of Supervisors less than three months later, in January 1987. In 1994, he was campaign chairman for

Michael Huffington Michael Huffington (born September 3, 1947), is an American politician, LGBT activist, and film producer. He was a member of the Republican Party, and a congressman for one term, 1993–1995, from California. Huffington was married to Arianna H ...

's bid to unseat incumbent U.S. Senator

Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she wa ...

, which Huffington narrowly lost to Feinstein by 1.9%.

Personal life

Nestande moved from

Orange, California Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before 1920. While many other ...

to nearby

Newport Beach Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island draws ...

, after divorcing his long-time wife, Beverly. His older son, Barry, a former attache to the Congo, served the last eight years of his life as the Chief of Staff to John J. Benoit (during Benoit's tenure as State Assemblyman, State Senator, and Riverside County Supervisor) and was recognized as one of California's top political strategists. His younger son,

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

, a former Chief of Staff to Congressman

Sonny Bono Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono (; February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and politician who came to fame in partnership with his second wife Cher as the popular singing duo Sonny & Cher. A member of the Republica ...

and

Congresswoman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

Mary Bono Mary Bono (née Whitaker and formerly Mary Bono Mack, born October 24, 1961) is an American politician, businesswoman, and lobbyist who served Palm Springs and most of central and eastern Riverside County, California, in the U.S. House of Repres ...

and owner of the political consulting firm of Nestande & Associates, was elected to the Assembly in 2008 to succeed Benoit, who vacated his Assembly seat to enter the

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

. Nestande's daughter-in-law, Gina (Brian's wife), was elected to the

Palm Desert Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census. The city has been ...

City Council in 2016 and became Mayor in 2019. In 2007, Nestande pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DUI and

hit and run In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions. Additional obligation In many jurisdictions, there may be a ...

charges as well as charges of filing fraudulent insurance claim. The plea agreement was in exchange for prosecutors dropping felony charges. He was sentenced to 6 months in jail and three years probation.

References

External links

Join California Bruce Nestande
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nestande, Bruce 1938 births 2020 deaths University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni Lincoln Law School of Sacramento alumni Republican Party members of the California State Assembly Orange County Supervisors Politicians from Minneapolis Military personnel from Minnesota Baseball players from Minnesota Kansas City Athletics players California politicians convicted of crimes 20th-century American politicians United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War