a Representative from California; born in Lowell, Middlesex County, Mass., March 31, 1952; B.A. College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass., 1974; fellow, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 2003; deputy probation officer; warehouse worker; hotel service employee; restaurant worker; general manager; small business owner; member of the Concord, Calif., city council, 1991-1994; Mayor of Concord, Calif., 1993; member of the Contra Costa County, Calif., board of supervisors, 1994-2006, chairman, 1994; member of the California state assembly, 2006-2008; unsuccessful candidate for nomination, by special election, to the One Hundred Eleventh Congress in 2009; member of the California state senate, 2008-2014; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Fourteenth and to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 2015-present).