Jim Costa

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Jim Costa
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 20th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2005
Preceded by	Cal Dooley
Born	April 13, 1952 (1952-04-13) (age 56) Fresno, California
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	single
Residence	Fresno, California
Religion	Roman Catholic

James Manuel Costa (born April 13, 1952) is a Democratic politician from the U.S. state of California. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in November 2004 to represent California's 20th congressional district (map). The district takes in large and predominantly Latino portions of Fresno and Bakersfield in the San Joaquin Valley.

Born in Fresno, Costa is a third-generation family farmer. His grandparents emigrated from Portugal's Azores Islands in the early 20th century.^{[citation needed]} He graduated in 1974 from Fresno State, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He was a state legislator for 24 years, serving in the California State Assembly from 1978 until 1994, and in the California State Senate from 1994 until 2002.

In 2004, Costa entered the Democratic primary for the 20th District, which was opened up by the retirement of its seven-term incumbent, Cal Dooley. Endorsed by U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and other prominent Democrats, Costa defeated Dooley's chief of staff, Lisa Quigley, in the primary and faced Republican Party state senator Roy Ashburn in November. The Republicans pumped a considerable amount of money into the district race, even though it was 63% Latino and gave Al Gore his highest vote total outside the state's two large conurbations (Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area in the north and Los Angeles and San Diego to the south). The campaign was fairly negative, with plays on Costa's name, "Costa's going to cost ya," and links with former Governor Gray Davis, calling them "two taxing twins." However, in the end Costa won, taking 54% of the vote to Ashburn's 46%. The contest actually wasn't nearly that close; Ashburn was only able to hold his margin of defeat to single digits by winning heavily Republican Kings County.

Costa ran unopposed for reelection in 2006. The Democrats won control of the House in that election, and Costa became chairman of the Natural Resources Committee's Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee. He is also a member of the House Agriculture Committee.

Like most Democrats from the San Joaquin Valley, Costa is somewhat more moderate than is typical for Democrats from California. He is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.

[edit] Committee Assignments

• Agriculture Committee
  • Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry
  • Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research
• Natural Resources Committee
  • Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
  • Subcommittee on Water and Power
• Foreign Affairs Committee
  • Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia
  • Subcommittee on Europe
• Co-founder and Co-chair of the Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus
• Co-founder of the Congressional Water Caucus
• Co-founder of the Congressional Organ Donation Caucus

[edit] External links

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