Right: Bustamante enjoys a victorious moment after the Nov. 3 elections with his wife, Arcelia, and their daughter.

Alum Cruz M. Bustamante
elected California lieutenant governor

by Tom Uribes

When Cruz M. Bustamante was a student senator at Fresno State in the mid-'70s, student government here was "polarized," but he is credited with breaking through and bringing people together - a skill that has helped lead him to the state's second highest office.

Bustamante was elected California's lieutenant governor on Nov. 3, and he now heads an impressive delegation of Fresno State alumni elected to serve the state.

Bustamante and Secretary of State Bill Jones, who won re-election two weeks ago, fill two of the state's top constitutional seats with Fresno State alumni.

Bustamante studied public administration at Fresno State from 1973 to 1977. Jones received a bachelor of science in agribusiness in 1971.

This distinction for the university is further padded with the reelection of State Senator Jim Costa, a 1974 grad, and the election of Charles Poochigian, a 1972 grad, to replace out-going State Senator Ken Maddy, a 1957 grad.

Newcomers Sarah Reyes, a 1974 grad, will fill Bustamante's 31st District State Assembly seat, and Mike Briggs, a 1985 grad, will go to the 29th Assembly District.

Now Fresno State alums can point to Sacramento with a different kind of pride.

"The fact that we have these people in office now indicates that Fresno, and Fresno State are going to play an integral role in the political development of California," said Robert Perez, a criminology professor who has been active in local politics and helped raise funds for Bustamante's campaign.

He said Fresno has long been considered "a political black hole."

"It was once thought that a Fresno candidate could not win statewide election and that the valley did not have much political clout," he said. "But we have had two speakers of the assembly [former city councilman Brian Setencich and Bustamante], Bill Jones and now Cruz as lieutenant governor."

Bustamante's triumph marks the highest a Fresno State alum has ascended in state government - an accomplishment rooted in his days here more than 20 years ago.

A transfer student from Fresno City College in fall, 1973, Bustamante participated in the Chicano Student organization, MEChA, and was a student senator. He also served on the board of directors of the then-Fresno State College Association (now the California State University, Fresno Association).

Amid the turbulence of the 1970s, the young Latino student from San Joaquin -- a 1979 graduate of Tranquillity High School - worked Fresno State's student senate with firmness but diplomacy, according to 1975-76 Collegian editor

Jim Guy, currently night editor at The Fresno Bee.

"It was a very polarized student government with of lot of conservative students on one side and minority students and radical white students on the other side," Guy said. "But Cruz was able to work with everybody even then. There were guys on both sides who hardly talked to each other and he was able to talk with everybody."

Outreach counselor Delma Garcia grew up with Bustamante in San Joaquin, though he was two years younger.

"We're so proud of him, yet it's not surprising," Garcia said. "If you knew his parents, you'd understand. They were very active in the community, setting up teen clubs, and they instilled that in all their kids."

Manuel Olgin, a staff member in Career Development, knew Bustamante when they were at FCC and transferred here at the same time.

"He was active in the Associated Students," Olgin said. "I remember when he ran on a slate for election."

Bustamante and his wife, the former Arcelia De La Pena, have three daughters, Leticia, Sonia, Marisa, and a grandson, David.