California Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher dropped out of the Republican party and became an independent while he was running for mayor of San Diego in 2012, placing third. Now he's joined his campaign's biggest financial backers in the board rooms of corporate California. It's a story of humble and harrowing beginnings, a high spending campaign of mixed identities, a fight with a wealthy GOP newspaper owner, and the power of big money in the California legislature, related by journalists, critics, and admirers via Twitter.

During his mayoral campaign, Fletcher found himself at odds with U-T San Diego, the local daily newspaper and online operation owned by hotel mogul and big-time GOP donor Douglas Manchester, which had endorsed his Republican rival, San Diego city councilman Carl DeMaio, who in turn lost to Democratic congressman Bob Filner in the fall. 
Following the announcement of his new job at Qualcomm after the election, he discussed the U-T on Twitter.

Fletcher left the GOP via an announcement on YouTube after failing to get his party's mayoral endorsement.

Fletcher later received the endorsement of NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg.

Fletcher's wife Mindy, who once worked for President George W Bush, is employed by a non-profit corporation concerned with wireless medicine. Several top Bush staffers contributed to Fletcher's mayoral campaign before he turned independent.