This is an archive of a past election.
See http://www.smartvoter.org/ca/state/ for current information.
Marin, Sonoma County, CA June 6, 2006 Election
Smart Voter Full Biography for Mike Halliwell

Candidate for
United States Representative; District 6; Republican Party

This information is provided by the candidate

Mike Halliwell's opening statement at an April 29 debate (Marin Comcast Channel 26) sponsored by the League of Women Voters gives some of his political background: "Marin and Sonoma County have a long history of representation by progressive Republicans, and I have ties in this area going back to that era. In 1964 Marin County led California in opposition to Prop 14 that tried to overturn the Rumford Act's protections against discrimination in housing. Pete McCloskey and I were strong opponents of Prop 14, and when I became a Republican nominee for the State Senate in 1970 I worked with Marin County's progressive Republican Assemblyman Bill Bagley to write a strong Civil Rights plank for the State GOP platform. I was a Reform Coalition running mate of State Senate candidate Peter Behr in 1970, that is we both supported Reform Coalition State Senate leader Howard Way who improved public accountability by eliminating graveyard committees that killed bills without recorded votes. I was defeated by Old Guard Democrat Ralph Dills, whose lobbyist connections made it possible for him to outspend me by an 8 to 1 margin. My campaign slogan was 'Dills Kills Pollution Bills' because Dills played such a prominent role in favoring development projects which polluted San Francisco Bay, and our side ended up winning this fight when Peter Behr was elected and helped to replace Old Guard State Senate leader Jack Schrade with a Reform Coalition Democrat, James Mills. Senator Behr was appointed by Mills to the Bay Conservation and Development Commission and he had a successful career enacting several pro-environment measures, including a Wild Rivers Bill and strict controls on land fills in San Francisco Bay."

In the May 21, 2006 Marin Independent Journal Richard Halstead notes: "Halliwell, who considers himself to be a progressive Republican in the mold of Theodore Roosevelt, worked his was through college laboring in the University of California at Los Angeles's food service. He earned his bachelor's, master's and doctorate in sociololgy at UCLA. He taught sociology at California State University at Long Beach for 36 years, beginning as an assistant professor in 1968. In the May 10, 2006 Petaluma Argus-Courier Corey Young notes that in 1970 "reformer Republican" Mike Halliwell ran for the state Senate. Halliwell's State Senate campaign is discussed by Dick Rodda's "Maverick in GOP Stable" in the August 16, 1970 Sacramento Bee.

In 1982-1987 Mike Halliwell fought (in Halliwell v Eu, East.Dist.Calif. 82-LKK-147)against the imposition by the Rose Bird California Supreme Court of the gerrymandered districts rejected by Propositions 10, 11 and 12. In his May 21 Marin IJ article Halstead notes that "Halliwell [still complains about] congressional redistricting in 2001. He says the new districts contributed to political polarization and the defeat of his friend [and Cal State University President], former Rep. Steve Horn, a liberal Southern California Republican."

In the May 21, 2006 Santa Rosa Press Democrat Guy Kovner notes: "Halliwell retired in 2004 after 36 years as a political sociologist at California State University Long Beach, and he moved to Rohnert Park for access to Marin County's public health campaign against breast cancer." Halstead's May 21 article notes that in the 2004 6th CD campaign "[Halliwell] also assisted Santa Rosa real estate appraiser Paul Erickson [as Press Secretary]."

Halstead's May 21 article observes: "Much of Halliwell's interest in health care springs from his wife's brush with cancer. She was diagnosed with a deadly form of breast cancer in 1991 and has undergone years of chemotherapy and hormone treatments to prevent a recurrence following surgery. Halliwell has worked closely with her to research available treatments." The May 18, 2006 Marin Independent Journal notes another connection between cancer and Mike Halliwell's political priorities: "Halliwell, a veteran of North Bay politics, is itchiing for a fight [to vindicate] Assemblyman Bill Filante, whose [congressional] campaign [in 1992] was derailed by brain cancer that claimed his life soon after the election."

Bill Filante was 63 when he died, but his ideals did not die with him. Halliwell is the same age now, and he hopes to complete the campaign Filante never had a chance to.

Next Page: Political Philosophy

Candidate Page || Feedback to Candidate || This Contest
June 2006 Home (Ballot Lookup) || About Smart Voter


The League of Women Voters does not support or oppose any candidate or political party.
Created from information supplied by the candidate: May 31, 2006 12:23
Smart Voter   <http://www.smartvoter.org/>
Copyright © League of Women Voters of California Education Fund   http://ca.lwv.org