Charles Quackenbush (born April 20, 1954) is an American former

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

law enforcement officer A law enforcement officer (LEO), or police officer or peace officer in North American English, is a public-sector or private-sector employee whose duties primarily involve the enforcement of laws, protecting life & property, keeping the peace, ...

. A Republican, he served as Insurance Commissioner of California from 1995 to 2000 and as a

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

man representing the 22nd District, from 1986 to 1994.

Background and political career

Quackenbush was born on April 20, 1954, in Tacoma, Washington. As a child, he grew up in a military family and after graduating

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

on a full ROTC scholarship, he joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and rose to the rank of Captain as a helicopter pilot. In 1982, he left the military to join the family business in Silicon Valley. He was elected as a Republican to the California Assembly in 1986. In

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

he was elected insurance commissioner, effectively applying considerable campaign contributions from various insurance companies. He won re-election in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Resignation

:''Note: For a timeline of the events associated with this section see'' In early 2000, Cindy Ossias, then a senior lawyer for the California Department of Insurance (CDI), charged the Department with corruption. After the

1994 Northridge earthquake The 1994 Northridge earthquake affected Greater Los Angeles, California, on January 17, 1994, at 04:30:55 PST. The epicenter of the moment 6.7 () blind thrust earthquake was beneath the San Fernando Valley. Lasting approximately 8 seconds ...

, it was alleged that Quackenbush allowed insurance companies to compensate their clients much less than the actual damages. In exchange, the insurance companies set up special "educational funds". Those funds were used to create television commercials in which Quackenbush appeared as a basketball referee with

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

in a

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uniform. While couched as public service announcements, suspicions rose that main idea behind the commercials was to increase Quackenbush's name identification, which is critical for electoral success in California statewide races. In addition to the educational funds, those same insurance companies contributed to his wife's unsuccessful 1998 assembly campaign, as well as his children's football camps. On June 28, 2000, Quackenbush announced his resignation (to become effective on July 10). In February 2002, an 18-month investigation conducted by federal, state and Sacramento County prosecutors ended with prosecutors declining to press charges against Quackenbush, as they felt the evidence was not strong enough.

Life after insurance commissioner

After resigning as California's insurance commissioner, Quackenbush moved to Hawaii, where he was "doing political and military intelligence consulting". Quackenbush then moved to Florida and in 2005 became a

sheriff's deputy A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is commonly ...

Lee County, Florida Lee County is located in southwestern Florida, United States, on the Gulf Coast. As of the 2020 census, its population was 760,822. In 2022, the population was 822,453, making it the eighth-most populous county in the state. The county seat ...

. In 2007 he was suspended for accepting free food. While working as a sheriff's deputy in February 2008, Quackenbush shot and critically wounded a suspect who was reported as resisting arrest. He was placed on paid leave during the investigation of the shooting, a standard practice for the agency. In September 2016, he resigned, after making several racially controversial Facebook postings. At the time of his resignation from the Sheriff's Department, he also served as the vice-chair of the Lee County Republican Executive Committee and his wife was running for the Lee County school board.

References

External links

The Downfall of California’s Insurance Commissioner
''Insurance Journal'', July 2000
Quakenbush's commercial with Shaquille O'Neal on California Revealed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quackenbush, Chuck Living people American politicians of Dutch descent University of Notre Dame alumni United States Army officers United States Army aviators Republican Party members of the California State Assembly California insurance commissioners American deputy sheriffs 1954 births Hawaii Republicans Florida Republicans 20th-century members of the California State Legislature