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| Matt Gonzalez is a native of McAllen, Texas.
He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in New
York City in 1987 where he majored in both political theory and comparative
literature. He won the George William Curtis Prize in Oratory his senior
year.
In 1990 he received his Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School. He was an editor of the Stanford Law Review and served as a research assistant to Dean Paul Brest on constitutional law matters. He published “The Demise of Due Process: Murray Against Giarratano” in the Stanford Humanities Review (Fall/Winter 1990) concerning a capital defendant’s right to legal counsel in state habeas corpus proceedings. After law school, from 1991-2000, Mr. Gonzalez was a trial lawyer at the Office of the San Francisco Public Defender where he handled all types of misdemeanor and felony cases including numerous life-in-prison matters. In 2000 Mr. Gonzalez was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first member of the Green Party to win elective office in San Francisco. Two years later, he was elected by his colleagues to serve as president of the 11-member body. In December 2003 Mr. Gonzalez narrowly lost the mayor’s race in San Francisco, garnering over 47% of the vote. Mr. Gonzalez is widely credited with promoting progressive values during the campaign. Mr. Gonzalez has received numerous awards including the 2000 Lawyer of the Year award from the San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association, the 2003 In Defense of Animals Guardian Award, and the 2004 Bert Corona Award from California’s Mexican American Political Association. He has delivered numerous public addresses including the 2003 commencement address at the San Francisco Law School; the 2004 Robert D. & Leslie-Kay Raven Lecture on access to justice at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law; the 2005 commencement address at the New College of California School of Law; the 2006 commencement address at San Jose State University's Justice Studies Department; and the 2007 keynote speech at the 24th annual Lorenzo Patiño Banquet at the University of California, Davis School of Law. On February 28, 2008 Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader named Mr. Gonzalez as his vice presidential running mate on an Independent ticket.
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