Joel Ventresca

Joel A. Ventresca is a retired airport administrator and perennial candidate. A Democratic Party (United States), he has run several political campaigns in the U.S. State of California. Ventresca ran unsuccessfully to become mayor of San Francisco in 1995 San Francisco mayoral election, 1999 San Francisco mayoral election, and 2019 San Francisco mayoral election, earning 0.61, 0.71, and 7.40 percent of the vote, respectively. He also ran for San Francisco treasurer in 1997, garnering 34% of the vote.
He is running in the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election as one of nine Democrats campaigning to recall California's governor, Gavin Newsom. He is the only Democrat in the race who has previously ran for elected office.
Ventresca describes himself as a Progressivism. He is a longtime resident of San Francisco, California and was appointed Environmental Commissioner of the city and county by Angela Alioto.
== Early life ==
Ventresca grew up in Evansville, Indiana, as one of 11 children. In his youth, he says he was inspired when Robert F. Kennedy campaigned in Indiana, calling him "a model progressive who believed that the government could make social change, quickly and fairly." Ventresca first traveled to San Francisco when he was 11, and moved to the area for college, drawn to the place by his great-grandfather being a California Gold Rush. He ended up graduated from the University of San Francisco.
== Business career ==
Ventresca worked in multiple positions at San Francisco International Airport for 30 years, including as an administrator. Ventresca was a member of the Service Employees International Union. He retired in 2018. He currently earns an income based on pension and retirement earnings.
== Political career ==
Ventresca worked for the George McGovern 1972 presidential campaign of George McGovern. He then joined the Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood Council, and became a board member of San Francisco Tomorrow, an environmental group. 
In 1995, Ventresca ran in the 1995 San Francisco mayoral election, finishing behind the eventual winner, Willie Brown (politician), incumbent mayor Frank Jordan, and three other candidates. He earned 0.59% of the vote and did not advance to the runoff election.
In 1997, Ventresca ran to become the San Francisco treasurer, after the seat was left open by Mary Callanan. Ventresca finished second of three candidates, earning 34% of the vote and losing to then-member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Susan Leal.
In 1999, Ventresca once again ran for mayor in the 1999 San Francisco mayoral election. He improved on his 1995 margin, earning 0.71 of all votes cast, and finished ninth of eighteen candidates and did not advance to the runoff election.
After a 20-year break from running for public office, upon his retirement from working at the San Francisco International Airport, Ventresca ran in the 2019 San Francisco mayoral election. Although running as a nonpartisan, he was endorsed by the San Francisco Green Party. He received 7.40% of the vote, finishing behind incumbent mayor London Breed and social worker Ellen Lee Zhou.
=== 2021 California gubernatorial recall election ===
Ventresca is a candidate in the upcoming 2021 California gubernatorial recall election. He is one of nine Democrats in the race, and the only Democrat running with previous political and electoral experience. On his campaign website, he describes himself as "the most qualified Democrat on the ballot to replace the current governor". Ventresca describes himself as further to the left than Gavin Newsom, citing him as a "corporate, establishment, insider Democrat".
Major aspects of his campaign include free health and education from "cradle to grave" for everyone in California. He also is campaigning on raising the minum wage to $16 an hour, using government programs to end California's homelessness problem, ending mass incarceration, and reducing the gap between the rich and the poor. On July 24th, 2021, in a debate hosted by Yes California, Ventresca said his top three priorities are the economy, opening schools, and "following the science".
== Personal life ==
Joel Ventresca met fillipino-born Tess Manolo, a teacher at Francis Scott Key Elementary School, when she was working as a treasurer on one of his political campaigns. The two were married in 1994, and she died in 2005 from complications from heart surgery. Joel is a father to three non-biological children from Manolo's previous marriage.
 
Category:1952 births
Category:American politicians
Category:People from Evansville, Indiana