Businessman and former Republican Gubernatorial nominee Bill Simon, Jr., has endorsed Meg Whitman in her campaign for the Republican nomination for Governor. Simon will serve as a Co-Chairman of Whitman’s campaign, and as a Senior Policy Advisor.
"Meg Whitman’s success in business crew from her conservative fical principles and solutions-based leadership," says Simon about Whitman. "Meg believes lower taxes and smaller, more efficient and effective government will generate jobs and bring prosperity back to California. Her beliefs and experience make her the best candidate to lead California’s economic recovery."
Simon’s endorsement is most significant because in his campaign for Governor in 2002, he ran in both the primary and general elections as an unubashed conservative, endearing himself to many of the State GOP’s grassroots activists.
In the 2008 GOP Presidential primary, Simon was in the top brass of the campaign of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, for whom he used to work as a federal prosecutor, and with whom Simon is very close. Simon’s "conservative star" did tarnish when he was criticized by conservatives for following the lead of Giuliani and endorsing Senator John McCain in the primary after Giulaini dropped out of the race.
Simon is Co-Chairman of William E. Simon and Sons, and investment firm he co-founded in 1988 with his father, the late William E. Simon, a former U.S. Treasury Secretary.
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