As a resident of
Fresno, Bustamante was elected to the
California State Assembly in a special election in 1993, and became the speaker of the Assembly in 1996. indicating he opposed the recall.
2006 insurance commissioner election Bustamante was the Democratic nominee for
California insurance commissioner in 2006. In his official candidate statement, he said "I want to become an example to others to lead healthier lives by losing weight myself. Obesity in California costs $7.7 billion a year." Bustamante claimed to have shed 43 pounds, to a weight of 235 pounds, by means of diet and exercise. He easily won the June 6, 2006, Democratic primary, receiving 70.5% of the vote and defeating his challenger, John Kraft. Bustamante received 1,606,913 votes to 674,309 for Kraft. Many political analysts believed that Kraft, who ran a low-key campaign in which he took no campaign contributions, received those votes as a protest for Bustamante's behavior during the 2003 recall election. However, Kraft planned to actively campaign for Bustamante in the general election, and donated a significant portion of his fortune as an heir to
Kraft Foods to Bustamante's campaign. Bustamante ran against Republican
Steve Poizner in November. Bustamante announced that he would not be returning insurance industry contributions to his campaign, a position criticized by Poizner and campaign ethicists. Bustamante also failed to meet a deadline to submit a campaign statement to voters. According to the
Field Poll, on November 3, 2006, Bustamante trailed Poizner by 9%. and lost to Poizner by 12% in the general election. It was speculated that Bustamante would run for the U.S. House of Representatives in
California's 21st congressional district in
2012, but ultimately he did not run. == Personal life ==