David Cruz Thayne

Born in Manchester, New Hampshire, Thayne quickly relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah, with his mother, Gladys Cruz Thayne, a Uruguayan immigrant, and adopted father, David Blaine Thayne, a foreign language and ESL high school teacher.{{cite web |url=http://www.davidcruzthayne2012.com/bio.html |title=David Cruz Thayne for Congress 2012 California Congressional District 26 | A Biography of David Thayne |publisher=Davidcruzthayne2012.com |date=2011-08-15 |accessdate=2011-10-08 |archive-date=2011-11-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123210157/http://www.davidcruzthayne2012.com/bio.html |url-status=dead }} He has eight brothers and sisters: Ana, Silvia, Debbie, Divina, Dave, Trisha, Troy, and Tim. As a result of his family, Thayne continues to be a fluent Spanish speaker. In his youth, Thayne became heavily involved with Utah's youth soccer team and also qualified to play for the 6th division of a Uruguayan professional soccer club: Club Nacional de Football. His grandfather had played professionally for the same club, and two of his uncles had played professionally for Danubio F.C.

Thayne quit soccer at age 13 and began playing tennis for Cottonwood High School, eventually becoming Utah's 4a high school state champion in singles.{{Cite news| first=Tom| last=Wharton| title=Bengal Netters Take State| work=Salt Lake Tribune| date=May 14, 1989| page=6D}} Partly the result of not reaching his tennis peak until late in high school, David was presented with scholarship opportunities predominantly at local Utah universities and thus opted for a professional tennis career instead, a career that would last eight years.{{Cite web |url=http://www.maliburacquetclub.com/pros/pros.swf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2011-10-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425064757/http://www.maliburacquetclub.com/pros/pros.swf |archive-date=2012-04-25 |url-status=dead }}

While a junior in high school, Thayne met and began dating a sophomore in his math class named Katie Smith. After dating for several years, Thayne and Smith married in 1993 at ages 22 and 21 respectively; they now have four children.{{cite web |url=http://dct2012.com/bio |title=A Biography of David Cruz Thayne |publisher=dct2012.com |accessdate=2012-04-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419003850/http://dct2012.com/bio/ |archive-date=2012-04-19 |url-status=dead }}

Following his tennis career, Thayne involved himself in Utah politics, becoming campaign manager and later chief of staff for then State Senate Minority Leader Scott Howell. Howell, later the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate against Orrin Hatch in 2000, had won tough election fights in Republicans districts in 1990 and 1992 and was targeted for defeat in 1996, the year Howell appointed Thayne campaign manager.{{Cite news| last=Sprangler| first=Jerry| title=GOP Bearing Down on Moderate Howell| date=October 5, 1996| work=Deseret News}}{{cite web |url=http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=1896&kaid=104&subid=210 |title=100 To Watch: Scott N. Howell |publisher=DLC |date=2000-08-01 |accessdate=2011-10-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406085838/http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=1896&kaid=104&subid=210 |archive-date=2012-04-06 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite news| last=Dillon| first=Lucinda| title=Howell aims to let voters in Utah know of his values| date=September 13, 2000| url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/782437/Howell-aims-to-let-voters-in-Utah-know-of-his-values.html| access-date=September 15, 2011| archive-date=March 4, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055734/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/782437/Howell-aims-to-let-voters-in-Utah-know-of-his-values.html| url-status=dead}} Despite attacks that Howell was hiding his party and governing philosophy from the voters, Howell won with a 54 to 46 percent margin.{{Cite news| title=Incumbent's 'Change' Is No Good| date=September 27, 1996| work=Deseret News| page=A21}}{{Cite news| title=State Senate| work=Deseret News| date=November 6, 1996| url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/522981/STATE-SENATE.html| access-date=September 15, 2011| archive-date=November 10, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171110172001/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/522981/STATE-SENATE.html| url-status=dead}} His win in Utah's conservative 8th district, as reported by the Deseret News, had many state Republican lawmakers grumbling about the one that got away.{{Cite news| last1=Rocher| first1=Lisa Riley| last2=Spangler| first2=Jerry| title=Republicans Gain a Seat in the State Senate| work=Deseret News| date=November 6, 1996| url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/522980/REPUBLICANS-GAIN-A-SEAT-IN-THE-STATES-SENATE.html| access-date=September 15, 2011| archive-date=March 4, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070233/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/522980/REPUBLICANS-GAIN-A-SEAT-IN-THE-STATES-SENATE.html| url-status=dead}}

After serving as Howell's Chief of Staff over the next two legislative sessions, Thayne became campaign manager for Steven B. Wall, a Salt Lake City attorney running as a Democrat in Utah's 9th State Senate District. Ultimately, Wall lost the election against Republican incumbent Steven Poulton, 52% to 47% (11,582 votes to 10,334 votes).{{Cite news| last1=Van Eyck| first1=Zack| last2=Fidel| first2=Stever| title=Democrats, Women Make Strides in the Utah Senate| work=Deseret News| date=November 4, 1998| url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/661056/Democrats-women-make-strides-in-the-Utah-Senate.html?pg=2| access-date=September 15, 2011| archive-date=October 18, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018171042/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/661056/Democrats-women-make-strides-in-the-Utah-Senate.html?pg=2| url-status=dead}}

Following his management of Wall's campaign, Thayne moved permanently to southern California in 1998, where he began a tennis instruction business.{{Cite news| first=Timm| last=Herdt| title=Westlake Village Man Announces Plans to Run for New 26th District| url=http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/aug/17/westlake-village-man-announces-plans-to-run-for| access-date=2011-09-15| archive-date=2012-02-04| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204121352/http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/aug/17/westlake-village-man-announces-plans-to-run-for/| url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.davidcruzthayne2012.com/bio.html |title=David Cruz Thayne for Congress 2012 California Congressional District 26 | A Biography of David Thayne |access-date=2011-09-15 |archive-date=2011-11-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123210157/http://www.davidcruzthayne2012.com/bio.html |url-status=dead }} Over the next decade, Thayne would use that start to develop a comprehensive business network, becoming a dealmaker and consultant while also producing three tennis documentaries: 50,000 Balls, Somay Ku: A Uganda Tennis Story and Behind These Walls.{{Cite web| publisher=Internet Movie database (IMDB)| title="Somay Ku: A Uganda Tennis Story"| url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1045885/}}{{Cite web| publisher=Internet Movie Database (IMDB)| title="50,000 Balls"| url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2047662/}} Somay Ku: A Uganda Tennis Story won the award for Best Documentary at the 2008 Malibu Film Festival and later debuted on the Tennis Channel.{{Cite web| publisher=Internet Movie Database (IMDB)| title=Malibu Film Festival| url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000417/2008}}{{Cite web| publisher=RealTVFilms| title=Tube Mogul, Celebrity Video Interviews: Malibu Film Festival, an interview with David Thayne and Rex Miller| url=http://www.realtvfilms.com/blog/?tag=david-thayne}}{{Cite web| title=Somay Ku: A Uganda Tennis Story: Trailer|website = YouTube| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqoZ00R2WDk}} 50,000 Balls received official selections from the Rome International Film Festival and the Newport International Film Festival, won Best Documentary and Best Feature at the Northern California Film Festival, and debuted on ESPN Classic in June 2009.{{Cite web| title=50,000 Balls, Press Release| url=http://www.50kballs.com/pdf/50KBALLSPRESSRELEASE.pdf| access-date=2011-10-14| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425064746/http://www.50kballs.com/pdf/50KBALLSPRESSRELEASE.pdf| archive-date=2012-04-25| url-status=dead}}{{Cite web| first=Colette| last=Lewis| date=May 8, 2008| title=A Conversation with Documentary Filmmaker Tom Pura| work=Tennis Recruiting Network: A Special Feature| url=http://www.tennisrecruiting.net/article.asp?id=531}}{{Cite web| title=50,000 Balls: Media| url=http://www.50kballs.com/media/| access-date=2011-10-14| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425064754/http://www.50kballs.com/media/| archive-date=2012-04-25| url-status=dead}}

On August 18, 2011, Thayne announced his candidacy for Southern California's newly drawn 26th congressional district, a district that many political commentators believe will be a race between the Democratic nominee and the 26-year Republican incumbent Elton Gallegly, if he chooses to run.{{cite press release |url=http://www.davidcruzthayne2012.com/david_cruz_thayne_press_release.pdf |title=David Cruz Thayne press release |accessdate=2011-10-08 |archive-date=2011-12-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111203062909/http://www.davidcruzthayne2012.com/david_cruz_thayne_press_release.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{cite news|last=Blake|first= Aaron|title=Incumbents Lose, Democrats Win with California Redistricting Proposal|newspaper=The Washington Post|date= June 10, 2011|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/incumbents-lose-democrats-win-with-california-redistricting-proposal/2011/06/10/AGYXoIPH_blog.html}} Two weeks before officially declaring his candidacy, Thayne added political consultant Garry South, named the "Carville of California" by The New York Times , to his campaign team as chief strategist.{{cite web |url=http://www.davidcruzthayne2012.com/ |title=David Cruz Thayne for Congress 2012 California Congressional District 26 | Friends of David for Congress |publisher=Davidcruzthayne2012.com |date=2011-08-15 |accessdate=2011-10-08 |archive-date=2011-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020185819/http://www.davidcruzthayne2012.com/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=http://www.garrysouthgroup.com/about/ |title=Bio of Garry South |publisher=Garry South Group |accessdate=2011-10-08}}

In addition, prior to his run for office, he was known primarily just as David Thayne. However, in an attempt to sway the district's Latino demographic, he added the maiden name of his mother, "Cruz," to the name he was running under.

{{Reflist|2}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thayne, David Cruz}}

Category:1971 births

Category:Utah Democrats

Category:Living people

Category:Sportspeople from Manchester, New Hampshire

Category:Businesspeople from Salt Lake City

Category:California Democrats

Category:American people of Uruguayan descent

Category:Candidates in the 2012 United States elections

Category:Cottonwood High School (Murray, Utah) alumni