Gov. Newsom’s Key Staff Picks: Daniel Zingale

Daniel Zingale, a political strategist and civil rights activist is Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pick as a Senior Adviser on Strategy and Communications. Zingale has deep ties in California politics, and the Democratic Party. Zingale served as Senior vice president and chief political strategist at the California Endowment, was a founding director of the California Department of Managed Health Care – the regulatory agency overseeing health plans in the state, was chief of staff to then-California First Lady Maria Shriver and senior advisor to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and was Cabinet secretary to Gov. Gray Davis.

In a November 20 op ed at CalMatters, Zingale offered then Gov-elect Newsom some “disruptive ideas:”

• Issue a California passport–one that could function like a REAL ID card but carry the added value of a sense of belonging.
• Induct Colin Kaepernick into the California Hall of Fame. His induction would provoke deeper thinking about patriotism.
• Rename the rose garden The Rose Bird Garden after the late and notoriously under-appreciated former chief justice of the California Supreme Court, the first female in that role.
• Erect a Statue of Liberty West, one that welcomes immigrants from east and south.
• As you’re filling vacancies at CalTrans, consider applicants who are trans, and for other top jobs too.
• Next Halloween, turn the Governor’s Mansion into a haunted house. Enlist those guys from Queer Eye to help.

“And through it all, please stay handsome. Moisturize!”

Zingale, a strong advocate for the Affordable Care Act, said in a recent op ed in the Sacramento Bee, “Millions more have coverage today, and our state’s health indicators are on a positive trend.”

That’s good news,” he added. “And if we finish the job of closing the coverage gap – including no longer demanding that immigrants have documents from Washington, D.C., to qualify for Medi-Cal – universal coverage can be a reality.”

Zingale is a strong proponent of Gov. Newsom’s desire to restore the Obamacare mandate, and universal coverage for all people living in California.