John Garamendi

John Garamendi grew up on his family's cattle ranch in Mokelumne Hill.¹ He and his wife, Patti, began married life as Peace Corps volunteers in Ethiopia, teaching seventh and eighth graders and working on community development.² They served there from 1966 to 1968 and went on to raise six children.²

Garamendi earned a bachelor's degree at the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA at Harvard Business School.² His government career began with election to California's legislature in 1974.² He later served as insurance commissioner, deputy secretary of the Interior under President Clinton and California's lieutenant governor.² His insurance work included enforcing consumer protections after the Oakland Hills fire and pursuing insurance fraud.¹

He entered Congress through a 2009 special election.² He helped lead the bipartisan push for the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, signed into law in June 2022.³ The law added requirements for ocean carriers and directed new federal rules on certain shipping fees and prohibited practices.³

Garamendi advocates universal healthcare, lower prescription prices and protection for Social Security and Medicare.² His water agenda emphasizes conservation, recycling and storage, while his transportation work centers on modernizing infrastructure.² He faces Republican Rudy Recile in November's race for California's 8th District.⁴