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Derek Cressman, Western States Regional Director of Common Cause, stated, “Common Cause California absolutely agrees that improving California’s system of representation so that there is a stronger connection between legislators and constituents and a greater opportunity to hold our elected officials accountable is an important goal.”
Howard Kaloogian, Chairman of the sponsor of the Tea Party Express, Our Country Deserves Better PAC, said, “Moving government to a more local level decreases the influence of narrow special interests and empowers We the People. This initiative accomplishes that positive change and more.”
Biography of John Cox
John Cox, 55, was born, raised and educated in Chicago.
His mother, Priscilla, raised John on her own after his real father walked out on them both shortly after John’s birth. She taught in the public schools while they lived on Chicago’s tough south side in a small apartment.
John’s mother later remarried, and his stepfather, Thomas Cox, was a lifelong postal employee. Both parents often spoke of the waste and inefficiency in the public school system and in the post office – both government-run monopolies.
From these modest beginnings, John went on to successful careers as an attorney and accountant. He went on to found an investment advisory firm, a real estate management company and a venture capital firm.
In the 1990′s, John led the investment group that purchased Jays Foods, a major regional food manufacturer, saving over 600 local jobs. He recruited and led a team of managers who turned a $17 million loss into a $3 million profit in less than a year.
He is a longtime Republican activist, serving as president of the Cook County Republican Party and helped with former Housing Secretary Jack Kemp’s presidential run in Illinois in 1988. He was one of the original members of the Club for Growth with Larry Kudlow and Steve Forbes.
He ran for the GOP nomination in the 10th Congressional District in Illinois in 2000; the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate in 2002. In March, 2006, he entered the race for the 2008 Republican nomination for president. He participated and performed ably in two debates with major candidates for the nomination, was on the ballot in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and California but was denied entrance to the debates and forced to end his campaign.
He has served on a local school board, a zoning board and on the boards of charities such as the American Cancer Society, Boy’s Hope/Girls Hope and United Charities.
John has also been on the board of the USO and FireWorks for Kids Foundation and currently sits on the board of the Restorative Justice Mediation Project in San Diego, California.
John is the father of four daughters; Sarah, Stephanie, Shannon and Julianne. He and his wife, the former Sarah Hall, reside in Chicago and Rancho Santa Fe, California.
He is the author of Politics, Inc., which urges changing American politics by encouraging the election of statesmen rather than career politicians. Toward that end, he has founded an organization to educate the voters of California about the need to reduce substantially the size of Assembly districts and remove the influence of money from campaigns in that state.