The 72-year-old state treasurer and one of the longest-serving state officeholders says he will retire from politics and not run for state controller, as had been widely anticipated, in 2014. The Oakland native and resident of Hayward, who says he’s not sure yet what he’ll do with the $2.2 million in his campaign war chest for a controller race, made the announcement this morning.
He says the situation with his wife, Nadia Lockyer, the former Alameda County supervisor who faces a meth possession charge and is wrapping up a stint in residential rehab in Southern California, had nothing to do with his decision.
Excerpt from Mercury News post by Josh Richman:
"I'm looking forward to family reunification," Bill Lockyer said. "We've been to Southern California regularly during the last several months and Nadia calls every evening to talk to Diego and I, but obviously we'd like to spend more family time together."
It has been a difficult time but not without a silver lining, he said.
"One of the consequences of Nadia's bad choices is that I had an opportunity to spend time with my son that I probably wouldn't have had otherwise," he said. "On Memorial Day, Diego and I went rafting down the American River — that was a lot of fun for us both, the first time for him. I'm contemplating an Israel trip in the fall, which to me is the most interesting place on the planet, so I'm excited about sharing that. Diego says waterpark, Disneyland, so that's his list."
