By MICHAEL R. BLOOD
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — The presidential contest is dominating national headlines, but the toughest campaign in California might be two years away.
The race to replace Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018 is emerging as a potentially historic competition that could bring the state its first Asian governor.
State Treasurer John Chiang has quietly let it be known he’s “interested” in the race.
The son of immigrants from Taiwan, Chiang spent eight years as state controller and defied an order from then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to cut the pay of more than 200,000 state workers.
Another time, he suspended state legislators’ salaries because they missed a deadline for passing a budget.
Chiang is just the fifth Asian American elected to statewide office in California.
Ruth Bayang contributed to the report.