May 8, 2006

State Assemblyman Dave Jones and Board of Equalization member John Chiang once won an election on the same ticket by opposing disco music.

In 1979, the two became student body president and vice president of Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. Jones said he never envisioned that they would end up as California elected officials someday. He recalled that their platforms included a larger voice for students in school decisions but that "primarily, we were opposed to disco music."

"Chicago," he said, "was undergoing a musical sea change at the time."

About the writer: The Bee's Kevin Yamamura can be reached at (916) 326-5548 or kyamamura@sacbee.com. Clea Benson and Judy Linn of The Bee's Capitol Bureau contributed to this report.