Dennis Cardoza

Dennis Cardoza
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 18th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 7, 2003
Preceded by	Gary Condit
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Born	March 31 1959 (1959--) (age 48) Merced, California
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Dr. Kathie McLaughlin
Religion	Roman Catholic

Dennis A. Cardoza (born March 31 1959) is an American politician, and has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 2003, representing the 18th District of California.^[1] He defeated his former boss, Congressman Gary Condit, in the March 2002 Democratic Party primary election. Cardoza is a Blue Dog Democrat.

Early life

Cardoza was born in Merced, California, of Portuguese ancestry. He grew up in Atwater, California and graduated from Atwater High School. He was educated at the California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock, California then transferred to University of Maryland, College Park. He is a member of Theta Chi Fraternity.

Political career

Cardoza served as a city council member for the City of Atwater and the City of Merced and was a Member of the California State Assembly before entering the U.S. House of Representatives by winning the seat of disgraced Congressman Gary Condit, Cardoza's early mentor.

Ties between Cardoza and Condit are strong. When he was starting out in politics, Cardoza had been Condit's Chief of Staff while Condit was still in the California Assembly.^[2] Condit's son, Chad, eventually worked as an aide to Cardoza in the California Assembly.^[3] Condit's sister, Dovie Wilson, was Cardoza's office manager in October of 2001.^[4] Chad’s wife, Helen, worked as a paid fund-raiser for Cardoza in 2000, and another Condit relative described by the press as an "in-law," Jamie L. Filice, worked for Cardoza as a senior field representative in the same time period.^[4]

When Condit's career came under a cloud because of his extramarital affair with murdered intern Chandra Levy, Cardoza, who had promised to never run against Condit, ran against him in the 2002 Democratic primary and won. Cardoza went on to win the general election. Condit had asked Cardoza, who could not run for state Assemblyman again because of term limits, to run for the state senate instead.^[4]

During the 109th Congress, Cardoza was a co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition (founded by Condit), a group of conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives and sat on the Resources Committee, Agriculture Committee, and International Relations Committee.

For the 110th Congress, Cardoza will sit on the House Committee on Rules as well as the Agriculture Committee where he will chair the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture. He remains a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, but his co-chairmanship has been assumed by Congressman Mike Ross.

References

1. ^ California Congressional District Maps
2. ^ " Condit Loses House Race To Former Aide" by Evelyn Nieves, March 6, 2002. New York Times. Accessed at paid archive December 19, 2006.
3. ^ "Chad Condit launches bid for Senate" by Brian Melley, November 9, 2001 Associated Press report in Berkeley Daily Planet. Accessed December 19, 2006.
4. ^ ^{a b c} "Protege seeking Condit’s seat in Congress" by Brian Melley, October 23, 2001. Associated Press report in Berkeley Daily Planet. Accessed December 18, 2006.

External links

• U.S. Representative Dennis Cardoza official House site
• Dennis Cardoza at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Federal Election Commission — Dennis Cardoza campaign finance reports and data
• On the Issues — Dennis Cardoza issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org — Dennis Cardoza campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart — Representative Dennis A. Cardoza (CA) profile
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Dennis Cardoza profile
• Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Dennis Cardoza voting record
• Dennis Cardoza Our Congressman official campaign site

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