Bill Busick

William Wesley Busick^[1] (May 26, 1904 – June 28, 1974)^[2] was an American labor organizer and Socialist Party functionary who served as state chairman of the Socialist Party of California from 1930^[3] to 1932.^[4][5][6] He ran against Republican Clarence N. Wakefield for State Assembly in 1930, polling 38% of the vote, the best showing of any Socialist candidate in the state.^[7] He was one of the leaders of a 1937 sit-down strike at the Douglas Aircraft Company plant in Santa Monica.^[8]

Bill Busick
Busick in 1937
Chairman of the Socialist Party of California
In office September 27, 1930 – c. June 1932
Preceded by	Cameron H. King
Succeeded by	Chaim Shapiro
Personal details
Born	(1904-05-26)May 26, 1904 Elyria, Ohio, U.S.
Died	June 28, 1974(1974-06-28) (aged 70) Alameda, California, U.S.
Political party	Socialist
Education	Oberlin College
Occupation	Labor organizer, restaurant owner

Twenty years later Busick, now a restaurant owner and taxpayers' rights advocate, returned to politics when he ran a write-in campaign for governor of California in the 1966 election. Running as an independent Democrat, he presented himself as a protest vote against incumbent governor Pat Brown, who he claimed did not have the confidence of his party.^[9]

Fred Okrand, former legal director of the ACLU of Southern California, remembered Busick as "a dynamic speaker, very articulate, [who] carried himself very well."^[10]