Assemblyman sets sights on the Senate

Alicia Robinson

John Campbell has been interested in politics since he was a child

stuffing envelopes for Barry Goldwater’s 1964 presidential campaign.

Forty years later, after four years in the state Assembly, Campbell

says he still has work to do in Sacramento and hopes to accomplish

that as the 35th District state senator.

The 70th District assemblyman faces GOP opponents Ken Maddox and

Joe Snyder in the March 2 primary.

His fascination of politics led him to volunteer for campaigns for

years, and eventually wanted to try his own skills in the field.

“I’m a student of history and I believe strongly that people of

accomplishment should use their talent and their experience for the

betterment of our system of government,” he said.

Another long-held interest of Campbell’s is business, which

absorbed his energies until he was elected to the Assembly. He worked

as an accountant and spent 25 years handling the finances and

management of auto dealerships.

His knowledge of accounting has been a great benefit as a

legislator as he has had to make budget decisions, he said.

The skills he learned in the auto business also have their place

in government. He specialized in starting up dealerships and turning

them around when they weren’t making money, so he had to adjust his

expenses when revenue wasn’t coming in, he said.

Car dealers also have to be able to negotiate and get along with

people, as do legislators, Campbell said.

While he has passed some bills during his tenure in the Assembly,

Campbell said his biggest accomplishment was playing the “loyal

minority” as vice chairman of the budget committee, pointing out what

was going wrong with the state’s finances.

“My job was to get the message out to the people about what the

Davis administration was doing to the budget and the economy,” he

said.

“I feel that the recall was the ultimate expression that we were

successful in getting that message out,” he said.

Campbell says he enjoys the intricacies of dealing with

legislators on both sides of an issue as well as constituents,

lobbyists, and other members of government.

“I think the most exciting part is when you are at the point of

some action that is going to make some major change in law or in

governance,” he said.

“It’s like six-dimensional chess at that point.... The art of

putting that together I find fascinating.”