Jim Brulte

James L. Brulte (born April 13, 1956) is an American politician, former state legislator, and former chairman of the California Republican Party, having served from March 3, 2013 to February 24, 2019. Serving three consecutive terms as chairman, Brulte set the record for the longest tenure as chairman in the history of the state party. He was also the first, and currently remains the only, freshman to ever serve as a party leader in both houses of the California State Legislature.

Early life and education

Brulte served in the California Air National Guard and was chosen as "Outstanding Airman of the Year" for the United States and its territories. He graduated from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). Brulte is married to the former Superintendent of Capistrano Unified School District, Kirsten Vital Brulte.

Political career

He was elected to the Assembly in 1990 to represent San Bernardino County's 65th District, and was re-elected from the 63rd District in 1992 and 1994. In 1995, as the Majority Leader in the Assembly, Brulte was unable to prevent a Democrat from being elected Speaker of the Assembly. When term limits forced Brulte out of the Assembly, he ran for the State Senate's 31st district in 1996, winning the election with 56% of the vote. He was re-elected in 2000 with 59% of the vote. Brulte retired from the Senate in 2004 due to term limits. During his time in the State Senate, he served as Vice Chair of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee.

Brulte considered running for the State Board of Equalization in 2006; however, he decided not to run against Michelle Steel, the eventual victor.

Following the 2010 and 2012 election results in California, Brulte was widely encouraged to run for the chairmanship of the California Republican Party and was elected chairman on March 3, 2013. Coincidentally, Brulte was born in Glen Cove, New York as was his predecessor, Tom Del Beccaro.

Although out of office for almost two decades, in 2022 Brulte partnered with former California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner to bring the medical community and the legal community together to craft a legislative solution to end the decades long medical malpractice wars. Their compromise was enacted into law by the legislature and resulted in eliminating the need for an already qualified ballot initiative.

Electoral history

External links

• on C-SPAN