Matthew Edward Gonzalez (born June 4, 1965) is an American politician, lawyer, and activist. He served on the

San Francisco Board of Supervisors The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco. Government and politics The City and County of San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, being simultaneously a c ...

from 2001 and 2005 and was president of the Board. In 2003, Gonzalez, running as a member of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

, lost a race for mayor of San Francisco to Democrat

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California fr ...

. In the 2008 presidential election, Gonzalez ran for vice president as the running mate of candidate

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the Un ...

. , he works as the Chief Attorney at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office.

Early life and education

Matthew Edward Gonzalez was born in

McAllen, Texas McAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States, and the 22nd-most populous city in Texas. It is located at the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, on the Mexico–United States border. The city limits extend ...

. His father, a division chief for the international tobacco company

Brown & Williamson Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation was a U.S. tobacco company and a subsidiary of multinational British American Tobacco that produced several popular cigarette brands. It became infamous as the focus of investigations for chemically enhancing ...

,Guthrie, Julian. ''The San Francisco Chronicle'' Sunday, December 7, 2003 moved the family to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, and

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, before resettling in McAllen when Gonzalez was eleven years old. After graduating from

McAllen Memorial High School McAllen Memorial High School is one of five high schools serving the McAllen, Texas area as a part of the McAllen Independent School District. It houses over 2,000 students from grades 9-12. Prior to the establishment of Memorial High School, th ...

, he attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, from which he graduated in 1987. In 1990, he earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (Stanford Law or SLS) is the law school of Stanford University, a private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world. Stanford La ...

Career

Gonzalez began working as a

trial lawyer A lawyer is a person who Practice of law, practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different Jurisdiction, legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney at law, attorney, barrister, canonist, canon l ...

at the Office of the Public Defender in San Francisco in 1991. Gonzalez served one term on the

from 2001 to 2005. He was elected president of the board in 2003. After losing the mayoral election in 2003, he chose not to seek re-election.

Run for District Attorney

Gonzalez entered politics when he ran for San Francisco

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

in 1999. He campaigned to halt political corruption and marijuana prosecutions. Gonzalez lost to incumbent

Terence Hallinan Terence Hallinan (December 4, 1936 – January 17, 2020) was an American attorney and politician from San Francisco, California. He was the second of six sons born to Progressive Party presidential candidate Vincent Hallinan and his wife, Vivian ...

. In a field of five candidates, he finished third with 20,153 votes (11 percent of the total).

Board of Supervisors

Election

A system of electing supervisors by district rather than citywide took effect in 2000. At the urging of Supervisor

Tom Ammiano Tom Ammiano (born December 15, 1941) is an American politician and LGBT rights activist from San Francisco, California. Ammiano, a member of the California Legislative LGBT Caucus, served as a member of the California State Assembly from 2008 to ...

, Gonzalez moved from his home in the Mission District to run for supervisor in newly made

District 5 District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to: Europe * District 5 (Zürich) * District 5, Düsseldorf * V District, Turku * District 5, an electoral district of Malta * District 5, a police district of Malta * Palma-Palmilla, also known ...

. In early November, shortly before the run-off election, Gonzalez switched party affiliations from the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

to the nascent

. His opponent, Juanita Owens, tried to capitalize on many Democrats' ill feelings toward the Green Party in the wake of Ralph Nader's involvement in the acrimonious 2000 presidential election, but Gonzalez won the run-off election. He was part of a slate of candidates who wanted to change the direction of city policy, in opposition to the "

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

machine A machine is a physical system using Power (physics), power to apply Force, forces and control Motion, movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to na ...

," a Democratic Party political machine that had dominated local politics for over 30 years behind Mayor Willie Brown, the Pelosi family, and other Democrats.Shaw, Randy. ''Beyondchron'' (January 3, 2005), His supporters saw his election as a turning point in local politics.Reed, Christopher. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', December 7, 2003. Wildermuth, John. ''The San Francisco Chronicle'' December 16, 2003, Matt Gonzales, SF member of Board of Supervisors, 2003 (1)

On the board

Gonzalez's critics considered him a stubborn and willful ideologue, though supporters noted his commitment to stand firm on principles over politicking. When the Board put forth a

resolution Resolution(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Resolution (debate), the statement which is debated in policy debate * Resolution (law), a written motion adopted by a deliberative body * New Year's resolution, a commitment that an individual mak ...

commending San Franciscan Congresswoman

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

for being elected

House Minority Whip Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are ele ...

and being the first woman to hold that position, Gonzalez was the only board member who voted against it. Gonzalez said that supervisors should not issue commendations for winning partisan political positions and that he had written a personal note to Pelosi congratulating her, as she had done him for being elected board president.Wildermuth, John; Gordon, Rachel; Chronicle Political Writers; November 12, 200
"Mayoral hopefuls come out swinging in debate—Gonzalez questions Newsom's spending"
'San Francisco Chronicle''Mayoral Runoff Debate (November 11, 2003
"Mayoral Debate"
'Commonwealth Club Archives'' Gonzalez refused to meet with Brown during his first two years on the Board of Supervisors, saying he did so to avoid being subject to Brown's influence rather than as a matter of disrespect. Two sources reported that Gonzalez defied Brown by walking out of the mayor's State of the City address in 2002. However, Gonzalez later told ''

SF Weekly ''SF Weekly'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper founded in the 1970s in San Francisco, California. It was distributed every Thursday, and was published by the San Francisco Print Media Company. The paper has won national journalism awards, ...

'' that he was never in attendance.

As board president

In January 2003, Gonzalez was elected president of the Board of Supervisors after seven rounds of voting, most of which had Gonzalez vying for a majority vote with supervisors

Aaron Peskin Aaron Dan Peskin (born June 17, 1964) is an American elected official in San Francisco, California. He serves as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing District 3, and is currently Dean of the Board. He was elected in ...

and Sophie Maxwell. When Peskin dropped out Gonzalez emerged the winner, counting among his supporters conservative Board member Tony Hall, who said when asked why he voted for Gonzalez, "Gonzalez is a man of integrity and intelligence who will carry out his responsibilities fairly and impartially." Gonzalez hosted monthly art exhibits in his City Hall office. At the last reception,

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

artist

Barry McGee Barry McGee (born 1966) is an American contemporary artist. He is a well known graffiti artist, and a pioneer of the Mission School art movement. McGee is known by his monikers: Twist, Ray Fong, Bernon Vernon, and P.Kin. Life and education Barry ...

spray-painted "Smash the State" on the walls of the office as part of his exhibit."Lelchuk, I. ''San Francisco Chronicle'' on the web, December 10, 2004. Gonzalez told the press that he knew his office would be repainted for the next occupant.

Campaign for mayor

In August 2003, Gonzalez ran for mayor of San Francisco in a bid to replace outgoing two-term mayor Willie Brown. On a ballot with nine candidates, Gonzalez finished second in the primary election on November 4 behind

, a Democrat and fellow member of the Board of Supervisors who had been endorsed by Brown. Gonzalez received 19.6 percent of the total vote to Newsom's 41.9 percent. Because none of the candidates received a majority, a

run-off election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resu ...

was held on December 9. Gonzalez faced a difficult run-off election; only 3 percent of voters in San Francisco were registered to the Green Party, the party to which he belonged. Although Gonzalez was endorsed by several key local Democrats, including five members of the Board of Supervisors, national Democratic figures, concerned about Ralph Nader's role in the 2000 presidential election, campaigned on Newsom's behalf.McCarthy, Kevin. ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'', December 5, 2003.

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow 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 was ...

, and

all campaigned for Newsom. Gonzalez said about his candidacy, "They're scared, not of a Green being elected mayor, but of an honest person being elected mayor." Newsom won the runoff race by a margin of 11,000 votes, capturing 53 percent of the vote to Gonzalez's 47 percent.

Return to private life

Following the mayoral contest, Gonzalez announced he would not seek re-election to the Board of Supervisors. He left office when his term ended in January 2005. He was succeeded by

Ross Mirkarimi Rostam Mirkarimi (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician and the former sheriff of San Francisco. Prior to being sheriff, he served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, where he represented District 5. Mirkarimi is a co-founder o ...

, a

member and community activist who had also worked on Gonzalez's campaign. Gonzalez then opened law offices with fellow

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

alum Whitney Leigh. In May 2005 Gonzalez sought unsuccessfully to overturn the contract of San Francisco school Superintendent

Arlene Ackerman Arlene C. Ackerman (January 10, 1947 – February 2, 2013) was an American educator who served as superintendent of the District of Columbia Public Schools, San Francisco Unified School District, and Philadelphia Public Schools. Education Acke ...

. His law firm brought suit against a San Francisco hotel for not paying its workers the minimum wage; two

wrongful death Wrongful death claim is a claim against a person who can be held liable for a death. The claim is brought in a civil action, usually by close relatives, as enumerated by statute. In wrongful death cases, survivors are compensated for the harm, l ...

suits against Sacramento police for using

taser A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...

s; against the city of San Jose and

Ringling Brothers Circus Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows is a circus founded in Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States in 1884 by five of the seven Ringling brothers: Albert, August, Otto, Alfred T., Charles, John, and Henry. The Ringling brothers were sons of a Germa ...

for interfering with

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been ...

rights of protestors; and against Clear Channel in a naming rights dispute over the locally owned San Francisco

Warfield Theatre The Warfield Theatre, colloquially referred to as The Warfield, is a 2,300-seat music venue located in San Francisco, California. It was built as a vaudeville theater and opened as the '' Loews Warfield'' on May 13, 1922. History In the 1920s, T ...

. It has also been involved in examining the

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

attack on the Yale

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

group ''The Baker's Dozen'' in

Pacific Heights Pacific Heights is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It has panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Bay, the Palace of Fine Arts, Alcatraz, and the Presidio. The Pacific Heights Residents Association defines the neig ...

2008 presidential election

In January 2008, Gonzalez, along with several other prominent

members, launched Ralph Nader's 2008 Presidential Exploratory Committee to support a possible Nader candidacy. On February 28, 2008, four days after announcing his presidential bid, Nader named Gonzalez as his running mate for the 2008 presidential election. Nader announced that he and Gonzalez would not seek the Green Party nomination but would run as independents. On March 4, 2008, Gonzalez announced that he had left the Green Party and had changed his voter registration to independent. The change, he said, was to accommodate states, including

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

and

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, that did not allow members of political parties to run as independents. On October 18, 2008 Gonzalez and Nader held a large protest on

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

following the passage of the

Troubled Asset Relief Program The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is a program of the United States government to purchase toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President G ...

. Their opposition to the bailout was a key issue of the Nader/Gonzalez campaign, in contrast to the Democratic and Republican Party candidates who supported the bill. Gonzalez participated in the

third party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a Veh ...

vice-presidential debates, along with Constitution Party vice-presidential candidate Darrell Castle and

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

Wayne Allyn Root Wayne Allyn Root (born July 20, 1961) is an American conservative television and radio host, author, activist, conservative political commentator and conspiracy theorist. He is the host of two new television shows, daily at 7 PM ET on Lindell TV ...

, held in Las Vegas, on November 2, 2008. The event was hosted by Free and Equal.org and Free & Equal Elections (FREE), an organization of political parties, independent citizens and civic organizations formed to promote free and equal elections in the United States.

Public Defender's Office

Jeff Adachi Jeffrey Gordon Adachi (August 29, 1959 – February 22, 2019) was an American attorney, pension reform advocate, and politician who served as the Public Defender of San Francisco from 2003 to 2019. Early life and education Adachi was the ...

appointed Gonzalez as Chief Attorney in the Public Defender's Office in February 2011. In 2012, Gonzalez took a month-long unpaid leave of absence to act as co-counsel for a corporation in its $16 million lawsuit against San Francisco. This was a civil suit, and as such was not a violation of the San Francisco Public Defender's office rules of ethics, which states in part, "No employee may provide legal advice or legal representation...to any person or entity other than in the employee's official capacity." The case involved Cobra Solutions, a minority-owned business, that had been wrongfully suspended from being able to bid on city information technology contracts. The article “How Business Was Done,” by Luke Thomas, published in 48 Hills, February 14, 2012, explained the key features of the litigation. Gonzalez defended José Inez García Zárate in the

Kate Steinle Kate name may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American autho ...

homicide trial. The trial received national media attention because the defendant was an undocumented immigrant who had previously been deported five times. Zarate, 45, was found not guilty of assault with a firearm but was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Zárate was sentenced to time already served. After the death of Jeff Adachi on 22 February 2019, Gonzalez served briefly as head of the public defender's office until an interim head, Manohar ‘Mano’ Raju, was named. Mano was appointed Public Defender on March 11.Eskenazi, Joe (March 22, 2019
"Manohar ‘Mano’ Raju to succeed Jeff Adachi as Public Defender."
Mission Local. (Retrieved December 8, 2020.)

References

External links

The Matt Gonzalez Reader
Gonzalez's blog
Gonzalez's Nader/Camejo 2004 Campaign Kick-Off Rally Speech
a speech delivered on July 16, 2004
Matt Gonzalez and Rosa Clemente respond to Biden-Palin Debate
Response to only televised 2008 U.S. Vice-Presidential Debate, Democracy Now! October 3, 2008.
Speech at the 2004 Green Party national convention
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. June 26, 2004
Matt Gonzalez - Natl Latino Congreso Matt Gonzalez interview at the 2008 National Latino Congresso in Los Angeles, CA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez, Matt 1965 births Living people 2008 United States vice-presidential candidates 21st-century American politicians Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area Activists from Texas American anti-war activists American democracy activists American political activists American politicians of Mexican descent American social democrats California Greens California Independents Columbia University alumni Green Party of the United States politicians Lawyers from San Francisco Peace and Freedom Party politicians Peace and Freedom Party vice presidential nominees People from McAllen, Texas Politicians from San Francisco Public defenders San Francisco Board of Supervisors members Stanford Law School alumni