John Chiang (California politician)

Chiang was born to Taiwanese parents who immigrated to the United States. Chiang's father, Chiang Mu-tung (江牧東), a Pingtung County native of Hakka descent from Neipu,^[2] relocated to the United States in 1950 to pursue graduate studies at Cleveland State University, after graduating with a degree in chemical engineering from National Taiwan University.^[3] Chiang's mother, Shen Yin-hsiang (沈吟香), was a Tainan native, who studied abroad in Japan before immigrating to the United States to pursue further studies.^[3] Chiang's parents met at the University of Notre Dame, and soon married.^[4]

Chiang was born in New York City on July 31, 1962 and grew up in the Chicago suburbs.^[5] He attended Carl Sandburg High School where he served as student body vice-president alongside student body president Dave Jones. Lifelong friends, Chiang and Jones would run again together in 2010 on the California Democratic slate, with Chiang winning reelection as State Controller and Jones being elected Insurance Commissioner, and again in 2014, with Chiang being elected State Treasurer and Jones winning reelection as Insurance Commissioner. Both would go down in defeat in the 2018 primary, with Chiang coming in fifth place for Governor of California and Jones coming in third place for State Attorney General of California.

Chiang graduated with honors with a degree in finance from the University of South Florida and has a J.D. degree from the Georgetown University Law Center. His decision to pursue law was influenced by his maternal grandfather, Shen Rong (沈榮), who was a prominent lawyer in Taiwan.^[4]

In 1987, Chiang moved to Los Angeles, where he got involved with the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley and the West LA Democratic Club.

Chiang began his career as a tax law specialist for the IRS. He worked as an attorney for then-California State Controller Gray Davis, and also worked on the staff of California Senator Barbara Boxer.

In 1997, Chiang was appointed to the California Board of Equalization after incumbent Brad Sherman resigned, having been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1998, Chiang was elected to the office; he was re-elected to a second four-year term in 2002-2006. He was Chair for three years and represented the Fourth District, primarily serving southern Los Angeles County.

Chiang ran for California State Controller in 2006. He won the Democratic primary with 53% of the vote, defeating State Senator Joe Dunn. In the general election, he defeated Republican state assemblyman Tony Strickland by over 870,000 votes. Chiang took office on January Monday 8, 2007.^[6]

Chiang ran for a second term in 2010. He was unopposed in the Democratic primary. In the general election, he had a rematch with Strickland, who had been elected to the state senate in the intervening period. Chiang defeated Strickland again, by more than 1.8 million votes.

Chiang was elected California State Treasurer in 2014, defeating Republican businessman Greg Conlon by more than 1.2 million votes, 58.8% to 41.2%.^[24] He was officially sworn into office specifically on January Monday 5, 2015, formally succeeding the retiring term-limited Democratic incumbent Bill Lockyer.^[25] Chiang did not run for reelection in 2018.

On May 17, 2016, Chiang announced his intentions to run for Governor of California in 2018.^[1] In polls conducted in January and February 2018, he only garnered 11% support. He was eliminated in the jungle primary when he placed fifth with 655,920 votes (9.4%).

Chiang has two younger brothers, Roger and Bob, and one sister, Joyce, who was murdered in 1999.^[26] Chiang is a Roman Catholic and cites his faith for his opposition to the death penalty.^[27] In 2016, he and his wife separated after a decade of marriage. They had no children together.^[28]