Al Checchi

As of 2011, Checchi is a registered independent, critical of both major parties.

Checchi ran against Lieutenant Governor Gray Davis and US Congresswoman Jane Harman. Checchi led in early polls. Checchi outspent Davis by $33 million and Harman by $25 million. He set a new record at the time for spending in a California gubernatorial race. Checchi came in second in the Democratic primary held on June 2, 1998, with 12.49% of the vote.

Checchi first worked at Marriott Corporation where he rose quickly due to clever financing for hotel developments at home and abroad. In his 30s, he helped the Bass brothers of Texas acquire a 25% stake in Disney, earning a reported $50 million in the process. In 1989, Checchi helped organize a $3.65 billion leveraged buyout of Minnesota-based Northwest Airlines, investing about $12 million in the transaction. From 1989 to 1993, he served as co-chairman of Northwest Airlines. Checchi's critics claim he moved the company near bankruptcy, forced $800 million in union concessions, and worked to gain $837 million in state and local bonds, subsidies and tax credits, while earning $32 million for his outside firm. Checchi counters that he protected the company from asset strippers and he helped triple the value of Northwest Airlines stock. He amassed a net worth of around $700 million.

Checchi attended Amherst College in Massachusetts because he heard it was the most difficult to get into; he graduated in 1970 with an American studies major. He completed a Master of Business Administration at Harvard School of Business.

Alfred Attilio Checchi (born June 6, 1948) is an American businessman who was a candidate for Governor of California in the 1998 gubernatorial election, losing to fellow Democrat Gray Davis in the June 1998 primary. Checchi finished in second place in the Democratic primary, capturing 12.49% of the vote. He ran as a New Democrat and called for increased spending on education. He set a new record at the time for spending in a California gubernatorial race, spending over $40 million of his personal fortune. Checchi had previously enjoyed success in various business ventures, most notably serving as co-chairman of Northwest Airlines. He attended the Harvard School of Business. Checchi is married to his wife Kathryn and has 3 children.

Checchi was born on June 6, 1948, near Boston, Massachusetts. His grandfather ran the Elba Fruit Market, a grocery in Calais, Maine. Checchi is of Italian heritage. He was raised in the suburbs of Washington D.C. to middle-class parents where he attended Our Lady of Good Counsel. Checchi's father was the No. 3 man in the Food and Drug Administration from 1946 to 1960, and later ran an investment firm. Checchi began to think of running for public office when he was 12. At the age of 14, Checchi saw Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.