page_title: Steve Poizner
section_title: Public service and civic affairs
hierarchical_section_title: Steve Poizner / Public service and civic affairs
caption_attribution_description: English: Gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner at CPAC in Washington, D.C..
context_page_description: Stephen Leo Poizner is an American businessman, technology entrepreneur and former Republican California Insurance Commissioner and Gubernatorial candidate. Poizner also ran as an independent candidate at November 2018 race for Insurance Commissioner of California to reclaim his seat for second term as well as to be first independent state officeholder in California, only to lose against Democrat Ricardo Lara.
  Poizner has been a Silicon Valley high tech entrepreneur, founding and selling SnapTrack, Inc., Strategic Mapping, Inc, and EmpoweredU. In 2001, following privately held SnapTrack's sale for $1 billion to Qualcomm, Poizner served a year as a White House Fellow in the National Security Council. Starting one week before the September 11, 2001 attacks, Poizner held the position of Director of Critical Infrastructure Protection, and was involved in developing Homeland Security programs relating to cybersecurity and emergency response communication protocols.
context_section_description: From 2001 to 2002, Poizner served as a White House Fellow where he worked in the National Security Council Office of Cyberspace Security, serving as Director of Critical Infrastructure Protection. In this capacity he developed strategies for protecting critical infrastructure against cyber-terrorism and developed an emergency communications plan for national security and emergency response personnel. Starting one week before the September 11, 2001 attacks, Poizner was responsible for issues such as emergency communications planning for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and protecting Internet, banking system and power grids from cyber attacks.
  In 2004, Poizner ran unsuccessfully for the California State Assembly against Democrat Ira Ruskin, a Redwood City Councilman, in the 21st district, losing by 5,884 votes out of 190,120 votes cast in 2004.
  In 2006, Poizner ran for the office of California Insurance Commissioner. He ran unopposed in the Republican primary on June 6, and won the general election on November 7 by defeating Democrat Cruz Bustamante, then Lieutenant Governor of California, by a 12.4% margin.
  In 2006, Poizner became a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations after being nominated by former Secretary of State George Shultz.
  In late 2007, Poizner led the effort to defeat Proposition 93,  a term limit removal initiative. As Chairman of the No on 93 campaign, Poizner contributed $2.5 million of his own money, secured No on 93 endorsements from over forty newspaper editorial boards, and appeared on talk radio across the state. Proposition 93 was defeated by 54% to 46% on February 5, 2008.
  In May 2008, President George W. Bush appointed Poizner to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel.
  On September 15, 2008, Poizner announced his candidacy for Governor of California.
  In May 2009, Poizner successfully campaigned against Proposition 1A (a $10 billion tax increase) during the California state special elections, 2009. Proposition 1A was defeated by a margin of 65.6% to 34.4% on May 26, 2009.
  On March 1, 2010 Poizner officially became a candidate for Governor of California.
  On June 8, 2010, Poizner was defeated in the Republican primary by former CEO of eBay Meg Whitman, who was later defeated by Democratic candidate Jerry Brown in the general election.  "During his unsuccessful run for governor as a Republican, Poizner bemoaned the influence of undocumented immigrants and vowed to block them from receiving “taxpayer-funded benefits.”  He supported ending in-state college tuition for undocumented students, called for the California National Guard to deploy to the Mexican border, and endorsed a controversial Arizona law that allowed police to detain people they thought were undocumented. He even argued that public schools should refuse to enroll undocumented children." 
  In early 2014, Steve Poizner was inducted into the Silicon Valley Engineering Council Hall of Fame.
  In September 2016, the San Diego Union Tribune reported that Steve Poizner has joined UC San Diego's Rady School of Management as its inaugural entrepreneur in residence.
  Poizner declared his candidacy for a nonconsecutive second term as California State Insurance Commissioner in 2018.
caption: Poizner speaking at CPAC
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