Thunder Parley

Thunder Parley earned a bachelor's degree from Pepperdine University in 2001. Parley's career experience includes working as a software engineer.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a professional problem solver who believes leadership is defined by where you run when things break. While career politicians run for power or run from responsibility, I am running toward the problems. My path was forged by initiative. In high school, when only typing was offered, I taught myself C programming. That drive brought me to California at 18 with a one-way ticket and $50. It got me into Pepperdine where I tutored my own class as a freshman. I graduated into the tech recession after 9/11. I know the fear of watching doors slam shut and see that same anxiety in our students today.

I spent two decades in Silicon Valley fixing complex systems. I watched the state I love start working against the hardest working people. We are trapped in a cycle where government spending grows every year while results get worse. The Affordability Crisis crushes seniors, veterans and working families while stealing the futures of our youth. We cannot trust the people who broke this system to fix it. I am frustrated watching politicians protect legacy interests while ignoring the damage they cause.

I live the same reality you do. I do not have a trust fund. I pay the same out-of-control electricity, insurance and property tax bills forcing young adults to flee the state. I am running to end the mismanagement and lead California toward a future we can actually afford. California does not need another polished politician. It needs a hands-on leader who works for you.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Attacking the Affordability Crisis

California does not have a revenue problem. We have a spending addiction. We recently paid Arizona over $150 million to take our excess electricity while our own bills reached record highs. This is the reality of a government where spending exploded by 63% while working families were pushed to the brink of an affordability cliff. I am running to stop this mismanagement and restore financial discipline for the people paying the bills. I will fight for cost of living protections that provide economic security for seniors and the middle class to keep our neighborhoods stable. It is time to lead California toward a future we can actually afford.Public Health and Safety

Neighborhood instability is an economic crisis driving away jobs and investment. We have a mental health and addiction crisis in our streets that drives away customers and spikes security costs until local shops close. These shuttered windows and rising insurance rates act as a hidden tax on every working family. Real compassion for our most vulnerable neighbors requires building the right infrastructure including psychiatric beds and recovery facilities. I will prioritize street safety and the restoration of basic order so small businesses can thrive and families feel secure. We must stop funding what does not work and start protecting the shared economic lifeblood of our communities.Education and Economic Mobility

Education is the engine of economic mobility, but progress has stalled. While local schools close due to declining enrollment, we funneled $4.1 billion into coordinators and consultants instead of the classroom. Nearly 2/3 of our students fail basic math. When students graduate without the skills to earn a living, they cannot afford California. This failure forces them to flee the state, breaking apart families. I will demand accountability prioritizing safer classrooms, rigorous basics, measurable outcomes and stronger student responsibility. We will support frontline teachers, expand vocational training and ensure every child is prepared for a competitive economy regardless of their zip code.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Energy Policy

I am passionate about grid reform to lower utility bills and provide cost of living protections for working families.

Education

I am passionate about prioritizing student success and vocational training to restore the engine of economic mobility.

Tax and Economic Policy

I am passionate about fiscal discipline to end the spending addiction and protect the economic security of the middle class.

Business and Innovation

I am passionate about cutting red tape and partnering with private enterprise to drive job creation and keep California the global engine of innovation.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I do not idolize politicians but I deeply respect the pragmatic independence of former Governor Jerry Brown. He used a canoe metaphor to describe governing. He noted that you must paddle a little on the left and a little on the right if you want to go in a straight line.

California is currently trapped in a canoe that only paddles on the left resulting in a disastrous circle of great intentions and poor execution. The cycle is entirely predictable. The establishment demands more of your money to fix a problem. They funnel that revenue into broken systems that produce worse results. When the affordability crisis deepens they claim the only solution is to demand even more of your money.

Circling in this dysfunction leaves working families drowning in expense. If we do not break out of this current we will inevitably be pulled over an economic waterfall. I will follow Brown's example and paddle straight down the middle to escape this trap and navigate toward a future we can actually afford.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Aptitude

Aptitude is the ability to learn rapidly and execute with precision in a changing world. I passed 11 interviews at Google and was hired to write code in a language I had never used because they needed someone who could master new systems instantly. Governing California demands that exact capacity. We are entering an unpredictable economy driven by artificial intelligence. We cannot afford career politicians leaning on mediocre elected experience to navigate this massive shift. We need a leader with the technical aptitude to quickly learn new realities, challenge a broken establishment and protect the economic security of our working families. Experience failing in the past will not secure our future.

Motivation

The motivation to run for office must be rooted in public service rather than political ambition. I earned my degree in math and computer science from Pepperdine University where the foundational lesson was that true leadership means serving others. We currently have a political class that uses the government to help themselves while working families struggle to pay their utility bills. A real leader is motivated by a genuine desire to protect the economic security of their neighbors. I am running because I want to solve problems for the people of California instead of building a career in Sacramento.

Ethics

Ethics in government goes far beyond simply obeying the law. True political ethics means having financial discipline and a profound respect for the taxpayer. It is fundamentally unethical to maintain a spending addiction that pushes the middle class over an affordability cliff. An ethical leader does not waste public money on broken systems. They tell the harsh truth about where the money is going and they protect the economic lifeblood of the communities they serve.

Resilience

Rebuilding California requires a leader who will not back down when the political establishment fights back. During my nearly two decades in the tech industry my peers gave me the nickname The Juggernaut because I simply refused to quit when solving a complex problem. Reforming a tangled bureaucracy requires that exact same relentless energy. Special interests will fight to protect their funding but a resilient leader must be a fighter for the working class. I will not stop pushing until we have restored basic order and built a future we can actually afford.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

When I arrived in California in 1998 this state was the envy of the world. Today it breaks my heart to see us become an international punchline. A governor should be fiercely proud of the direction their state is moving. Right now we are moving backward.

The core responsibility of the government is the safety and economic security of its people. However, how a leader executes that duty must adapt to the times. Ten years ago Sacramento focused on launching massive new programs and expanding budgets. Today our state is facing an affordability cliff. Our survival now requires a professional problem solver to halt the spending addiction and fix the broken systems that are driving away jobs.

We must fight for working families instead of fighting against them. It is time to demand more from your governor instead of accepting a leader who only demands more from your wallet. I will act as a strict fiduciary to protect our communities and build a future we can actually afford.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I do not want a political legacy because I do not want a political career. My goal is to serve a single term as governor. I want to step in, fix the broken systems, end the spending addiction and then go home.

The legacy I want to leave is a completely new standard for leadership in California. I want to prove that we do not need life-long politicians to run this state. We need professional problem solvers who are unconditionally people-first. For too long Sacramento has been managed by insiders who prioritize their next election over the economic security of working families.

If I am successful, my legacy will not be a building with my name on it. It will be a government that no longer drowns its citizens in expense. It will be a restored bridge to the middle class where families can afford to live and local businesses can thrive. I want to leave behind a functional state and prove that a single term of strict financial discipline can fix what a decade of political maneuvering destroyed.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I didn't get an allowance. I clipped coupons from the Sunday paper starting when I was 6. My payment was keeping us within budget and getting the cereal I wanted at a discount we could afford in our growing household that reached 9. Before becoming a teenager, I shoveled driveways on snow days, picked corn on a local farm at 4am and was a paper boy before picking up other jobs later in high school.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

I grew up in a working class family in Connecticut. Throughout my teenage years I worked multiple jobs to save for a single semester of college. My own high school guidance counselor told me I was not smart enough and that my family was too poor for me to succeed. She warned me I would get homesick and suggested I stay behind for a state school.

I ignored her. I moved to California with $50 and a one-way ticket. I landed knowing zero people and struggled to find my feet in my new home state. Coming from a public school background I did not even realize I had to buy textbooks and could not afford them. I studied Computer Science but did not own a computer. I even ended up homeless for a couple of weeks due to an administrative issue during my second summer.

Yet I never really viewed these moments as a struggle at the time. Especially when I gazed out over the beautiful California horizon, I only saw beauty and opportunity. This state gave me a chance when I had nothing. I am running for governor to ensure that the same opportunity still exists for the next generation. We must fix the affordability crisis so a kid with $50 and a dream can still build a life in the jewel of America.

Governors have many responsibilities, which vary from state to state. Which of those do you personally consider the most important in your state?

The Governor of California must manage complex duties including signing legislation, directing emergency responses and representing the state on the global stage. However the most critical daily responsibilities are stewarding the state budget, appointing unbiased judges and guiding the policy priorities that impact our cost of living.

The budget is the foundation for every other state function. I will act as a professional problem solver for the treasury to end the cycle of demanding more money for broken systems. I consider the stewardship of taxpayer revenue to be a sacred trust and I will not allow administrative bloat to swallow the funds meant for working families.

Beyond the budget, the governor must appoint leaders who prioritize results over ideology. These appointments will not be political favors or auto penned by staff. I have conducted hundreds of interviews and reviewed thousands of hiring packets over my career. I will personally vet every appointee to the CPUC, the Parole Board and the judiciary to ensure they are high-performing professionals. I will not appoint failed politicians to these critical positions. My goal is to restore financial discipline and public safety to the jewel of America.

In most states, governors have the power to make line-item vetoes. If that is true in your state, what would be your philosophy for how and when to use this power?

I will use the "People’s Pen" to enforce a strict three point test for every dollar in the budget. This line-item veto power belongs to the citizens and I will use it as a professional problem solver to end the cycle of demanding more money for broken systems.

First is the Results Test. Any program that demands more funding while delivering worse results will be reduced or eliminated. Second is the Affordability Mandate. I will veto any spending that increases the cost of living for working families, such as hidden fees that drive up utility rates. Third is the Accountability Check. I will block the creation of new commissions or boards designed as landing pads for failed politicians.

To ensure total transparency I will work closely with the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO). The LAO is the non-partisan gold standard for independent fiscal advice in Sacramento. If their unbiased analysis shows a program is inefficient or lacks a clear return on investment, I will use the People's Pen to protect the taxpayer. We must break the spending addiction to save our young workers and retirees who are currently drowning in expenses.

Under what circumstances should the governor of your state be able to use emergency powers?

I will limit the use of emergency powers strictly to acute and time-sensitive situations such as mass casualties, catastrophic events and natural disasters. In these moments, the governor must act with speed and precision to save lives. Emergency authority is a specialized tool for rapid response, not a permanent workaround for the legislative process.

I will apply a three point test for any declaration. First, there must be a clear and present danger that existing laws cannot address. Second, the powers must be narrowly tailored to the specific crisis. Third, there must be a transparent expiration date. I will not allow a temporary emergency to become a multi-year mandate for executive overreach.

The accountability of the People’s Pen happens in the aftermath. While I will redirect resources immediately to stop a wildfire or respond to an earthquake, I will not allow the recovery budget to become a slush fund for administrative bloat. Once the acute danger passes, I will work with the non-partisan LAO to audit the emergency spending. Their independent analysis will ensure every dollar went to the front lines and not to political favors. This approach ensures we have the speed to handle a crisis and the discipline to protect the taxpayer.

What was the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember?

The first historical event I clearly remember is watching the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster live in 1986. Just five days past my 6th birthday my classmates and I were huddled around a big TV strapped to a rolling cart. I will never forget the look on my teacher's face as she realized Christa McAuliffe, also a teacher, had been lost. It was a horrific trauma but it proved the absolute resilience of America.

Fifteen years later I was months away from my December 2001 graduation at Pepperdine University when the 9/11 terror attacks occurred. I stepped out of college directly into the resulting recession and global crisis. It was a tragedy that shook the country to its core but the immediate aftermath united us to restore stability.

Watching our nation survive those moments shaped my core identity. California is the jewel of America but our current affordability crisis is an economic tragedy. It is actively breaking working families, driving out our young workers and forcing our retirees to flee the state they built. We cannot retreat or point fingers. We must apply that exact same American resilience to our state. I am stepping up to do the hard work so we can fix this broken system and push forward together.