Washington: Former Indian-American US Treasury official Neel Kashkari, architect of the bank bailout during the 2008 financial crisis, plans to run for Governor of California with a pledge to create jobs and improve public schools.
"Today, the gift of a good education and the opportunity it creates are out of reach for millions of struggling Californians," he said in a keynote speech on Tuesday at the 2014 Sacramento Business Review at California State University, Sacramento.
"That's why I'm running for governor: To create jobs and give kids a quality education. Jobs and education. That's it. That's my platform," said Kashkari, 40, a Republican, according to his website.
But unseating Democratic Governor Jerry Brown Brown, "a popular Democratic incumbent who is widely expected to run for re-election, will be an uphill battle for Kashkari, a political novice," according San Jose Mercury News
Right now, Kashkari's only Republican challenger is California assembly memmber, Tim Donnelly, a tea party favourite and staunch social conservative.
"In the coming weeks, Kashkari's favourability among the state's Republican and independent voters will be tested, as will his ability to raise enough money to be competitive against Brown, who has already amassed a campaign war chest of $17 million," Mercury News said.
Kashkari, a first-generation American whose parents emigrated from India 50 years ago, was appointed to the Department of Treasury in 2006 by then Republican President George W. Bush.
"When the financial crisis erupted, he worked to bring together lawmakers from both parties to write and pass landmark legislation to prevent widespread economic collapse," his website claimed.
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