No. 20: Capitol Weekly’s Top 100

20. Charles Munger Jr.

Stanford physics professor, good-government backer, big league Republican donor and possessor of one of the world’s great collections of bow ties, Charles Munger Jr. is a singular figure in the formation of California public policy. The son of billionaire investor Warren Buffet’s business partner, Munger was one of the chief backers — to the tune of $12 million — of the 2010 initiative that created the Citizens Redistricting Commission, which removed the Legislature’s power to gerrymander legislative and congressional districts. He also pushed successfully for a state constitutional amendment that increased legislative transparency by requiring bills to be in print for 72 hours before being voted on. Munger likes to point out that back in 2006, a Democratic U. S. senator wrote a similar bill. Who was the senator? Barack Hussein Obama. Munger promises to be on the political scene in California for years to come, backing what he perceives to be needed reforms and serving as a de facto counterpoint to Democratic-oriented billionaire Tom Steyer.

Updated Aug. 15, 2018