13 things about San Diego, California’s Rocky de la Fuente

Roque “Rocky” de la Fuente Guerra is a native of San Diego, San Diego County, California, United States. The city is adjacent to the international border separating Mexico and the U.S.

BIOGRAPHY

De la Fuente is a Mexican-American businessman. He was born at Mercy Hospital in San Diego to Roque Antonio de la Fuente Alexander and Bertha Guerra Yzaguirre.

Roque Antonio was born in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico while Bertha was born in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico to Domingo Santiago Guerra Martinez and Gertrudis Lucia Yzaguirre Coindreau. Rocky and his former wife Katayoun Yazdani have five children together including Ricardo “Ricky” de la Fuente and Roque de la Fuente III.

Rocky owned businesses not only in the U.S. and Mexico but also in Uruguay. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. He grew up not only in San Diego but also in Anaheim, California, in Mexico City, Mexico and in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.
2. He studied accounting and business administration at the Universidad Anáhuac México in Mexico City.
3. He earned his bachelor’s degrees in physics and mathematics from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Coyoacán, Mexico City.
4. Between 1976 and 1990, he acquired 28 automobile franchises for several brands including Alfa Romeo, American Motors Corporation, Audi, Cadillac, Chrysler, Daihatsu, Dodge, GMC and Honda.
5. In 1990, he took over his father’s automobile dealerships after his father had had a stroke.
6. In 1997, he received a settlement of $38.7 million from San Diego County for 524 acres of land belonging to him and his father that the county had taken to build a new county jail.
7. In 2002, his father died at age 79.
8. In 2004, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued an order barring him from participating in any institution insured by the corporation.
9. In 2016, he founded the American Delta Party and unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for U.S. president.
10. In 2017, he sought the Republican nomination for mayor of New York City, New York, USA but his candidacy ran into problems with his lack of residency.
11. In 2018, he unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate in nine states namely California, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming.
12. In 2020, he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for U.S. president.
13. On October 10, 2024, he turned 70.

TIMELINE

Rocky was a member of the Democratic Party from 2016 to 2017. He joined the Republican Party in 2018.

2012

• His mother turned 87 on April 29, 2012 and died in San Diego on December 6, 2012.

2016

• On August 8, 2016, he was nominated as the U.S. presidential nominee of the American Delta Party with Michael Steinberg as his running mate.
• On November 8, 2016, he placed eighth overall in the popular vote in the U.S. presidential election behind Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, Evan McMullin, Darrell Castle and Gloria LaRiva.

2017

• On March 28, 2017, he debated his fellow New York City mayoral contenders Kevin Coenen, Mike Tolkin, Bo Dietl, Sal Albanese and Michel Faulkner.
• On August 1, 2017, the New York City Board of Elections found that he did not have sufficient valid signatures to qualify for the ballot as a New York City mayoral candidate.