Hyssop Rhododendron Clematis
From Usgs
Hyssop Rhododendron ("Hys") Clematis (born November 27,1978) is the current Governor of the West Coast.
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| US Senator | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In Office: 2017 - 2023 | ||||
| Preceded by | Elizabeth Rosenbaum | |||
| Succeeded by | Erwin Bronson | |||
| 5th Governor of the West Coast | ||||
| In Office: 2023 - Present Lieutenant(s): Leonard Kona | ||||
| Preceded by | Alexander Hughes | |||
| Succeeded by | Incumbent | |||
| Born | November 27, 1978 (age 46) San Francisco, California | |||
| Political Party | Democratic Party | |||
| Spouse | Single | |||
| Religion | United Church of Christ | |||
Contents |
Early Childhood
Hyssop Rhododendron "Hys" Clematis was born on November 27, 1978 to Jesse Clematis and LeAnne Fairfield, a recently married couple who met each other during the Human Be-In and started "dating" with each other during the Summer of Love, at the California Pacific Medical Center. A notable point is that Hys was born only hours before the assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk[1]. Both Jesse and LeAnne were avid supporters of Moscone and Milk and were friends of Milk and fellow Supervisor Carol Ruth Silver. If Hys was born only hours later when the news was being spread, Hys' name would have been Harvey.
Though the Clematis' were friends with many San Francisco politicos, in Hys' early childhood the Clematis' did not have much money and barely could afford their place in the Tenderloin (a San Francisco neighborhood) along with raising Hys. However in 1982, with Jesse just starting to work as resource manager in Bank of America's SF headquarters and LeAnne working as a sous chef at the renown Fleur de Lys, the family was increasingly able to enjoy an upper middle class lifestyle and moved to a small house in Belmont. Despite the new money, Jesse and LeAnne's political roots and activism led Hys to live a life that had few lavish excesses. Hys was always encouraged to read at San Francisco's many independent bookstores, especially the famous City Lights, and to be environmentally friendly. Their family was notable in establishing one of the Bay Area's first community composts.
Another notable thing in young Hys' life was the death of openly gay SF Supervisor Harvey Milk, as Jesse and LeAnne had explained to Hys about the significance of his birthday and of both Milk and Moscone. The Clematis family went to Supervisor Milk's resting place when Hys' was 7 and Hys' was consumed on learning anything he could on life of Harvey Milk. Though he did not quite grasp the complete meaning, Milk's famous taped saying "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door" left a lasting impression when Hys came across it.
Youth Years and Early Political Life
In 1992 the Clematis household moved to a new house in Half Moon Bay. At Half Moon Bay High School Hys excelled in the social sciences, though had some trouble in life science subjects. He also was active in his school's tennis team, student council, and QuizKids (the school's quizbowl team). At about the same time he came out as gay (initially just to himself, parents, and a few close friends). At the age of 13 (when he was still in middle school) he volunteered heavily for Clinton's Presidential Campaign over his disgust of Republican Party, especially Reagan for his discriminatory policies toward the LGBT community including the AIDS crisis and the turning of the 80's into the "decade of greed." He graduated on the honor role in 1996 and decided to enroll at the University of California, Santa Barbara (after being rejected from his first choice school, UCLA), despite a full-ride scholarship to San Francisco State as well as acceptance into his parent's alma mater, UC Berkeley.
At UCSB he initially majored in Sociology, but during the course of his first year he added economics. As a college student - when not involved in activism - he worked in various coffee shops, including a 6 month stint as a barista at Starbucks. Upon graduation he landed an internship and eventually a job at Wells Fargo and returned to San Francisco. Concentrating on his job and social life, he took a little break from activism in 2000. With George W. Bush's controversial win in 2000, he was convinced that he needed to be politically active again to stop the alarming regressivism that would assuredly come from a Bush administration and Republican congress. He became actively involved in the 2002 elections to ensure a Democratic victory (esp. in California) and by 2004 he became chief of staff to Supervisor Tim Daly. Two years later he ran for Daly's District 6 seat when Daly ran for State Assembly. Hys won, albeit in a very close race.
San Francisco Board of Supervisors and West Coast Legislature
On the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Hys' continued Daly's strong advocacy for affordable housing and smart growth. He struck deals with developers of One Rincon Hill to build a residential tower near Gap's new Mission Bay headquarter if a certain percentage of units were available as affordable housing. He has opposed Chamber of Commerce efforts to increase parking lots in the city in favor of more money and investment for MUNI as well as improvements for CalTrain and the Trans Bay Terminal facility. He also successfully lobbied for more MUNI routes to South Beach and Mission Bay. Hys' also pushed for a composting program for Union Square and SOMA (at least for area restaurants). In 2010 Hys' ran for a seat on the WCO legislator and won. In the regional legislator he was instrumental in passing the WCO Dignity with Death Act and helped defeat a bill to repeal WCO civil unions.
Senate (2017-2023)
He was appointed by Governor David Cromartie to fill the large shoes of Senator Elizabeth Rosenbaum in 2016 when she resigned. Like Rosenbaum, a well known liberal bulldog, Clematis has been outspoken as a new senator. As a member of the judiciary committee, Clematis has been a liberal advocate confronting the conservative Republicans in the committee on issues such as voting and election reform. He also participated in a press conference with Senators Breaux and Cheshire on the issue of Senator Vandenberg's discussions with the Israeli Prime Minister that increased Middle East tensions and may have violated the Logan Act. [2]
He has also been an outspoken supporter of LGBT equality, working closely with the Human Rights Campaign, the environment, and women's rights.
2018 Election
In the 2018 California Senatorial Election Clematis started off in the polls with a 26 point lead over his opponent, Representative James R. Jackson from Stockton. Much of this lead was cited as being due to many Californians' lack of knowledge of Jackson and Republican accusations that Jackson was "too liberal," perhaps due to Jackson's relative similarity to Clematis on issues such as GLBT rights. With more name recognition and slightly more effective campaigning, Jackson narrowed the poll deficit to 9 points. However, Clematis' sharper attacks in the last weeks of the campaign and more effective ads broadened that gap and final results showed Clematis winning by more than 14 points. This landslide victory was contributed by the high turnout of Democrats who voted for Clematis by a 96%-4% margin.
2022 Election
In late 2020 Hys declared his candidacy to challenge incumbent Governor Alexander Hughes.
Early polls had Hys down 2 points behind Hughes. By the middle of the campaign, Hys had bounced ahead, accumulating a 2.5% advantage. He won the election by 2.7%, despite heavy support of Independents for Governor Hughes (though Hys won undecided independents). The election saw heavy funding by the Democratic Party.
Governor
Hys started his term by appointing Erwin Bronson to replace him in the United States Senate as well as introducing a bill to require new regional buildings to be environmentally friendly.
During his tenure he also has helped pass laws banning insurance discrimination, enacted a sales tax exemption for textbooks, gave money to expand light rail and improve lower income house, among other things.
Criticisms
Clematis has been criticized for a various number of things. Many Republicans and Conservatives criticize Clematis for being "too liberal," citing his support for same sex marriage, a guest worker program approach to solving immigration, refusal to support drilling in ANWR, among other things. Others criticize Clematis for his more bombastic attitude and approach in the senate. In the 2018 election Jackson attacked Clematis for this, stating that Clematis has not won many Republican friends and thus could hinder needed solutions for California. However, his staff has blunted those criticisms by citing the various bills of his that are moving along the Senate and House. The far left have also criticized Clematis for his tacit support of the war in Venezuela.
The GLBT community also has strong reactions to Clematis. While some believe that the governor is a positive influence as well as great ally and speaker when it comes to promoting LGBT equality, others believe he is too brash, outspoken, and an example of why many right of center Americans are hesitant in supporting GLBT equality.
Despite these criticisms, Clematis remains relatively popular.
Private Life
Hys is married to former Senator Jaime Elzar-Toledo and they have been together has a couple since 2013.
At the Human Rights Campaign's 2018 Election Victory Party at San Francisco's Westin St. Francis hotel, Clematis dropped on his knees as he was scheduled to deliver his victory speech and "popped the question" to Elzar-Toledo. Elzar-Toledo accepted the proposal. With the passage of West Coast Proposition 106, same sex marriage was legally recognized as law. Thus the couple could legally marry.
Hys and Jaime married on July 8, 2022 [3] at the Ferry Building in San Francisco.
Hys is also a devout Christian and member of the United Church of Christ.
External Links
| Preceded by Elizabeth Rosenbaum | California Senator 2017-2023 | Succeeded by Erwin Bronson |
| Preceded by Alexander Hughes | West Coast Governor 2023-present | Succeeded by Incumbent |
