Alan Lowenthal
 | This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (March 2013) |
Alan Lowenthal | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 47th district | |
Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Loretta Sanchez (Redistricting) |
| Member of the California State Senate from the 27th district | |
| In office December 6, 2004 – November 30, 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Betty Karnette |
| Succeeded by | Fran Pavley (Redistricted) |
| Member of the California State Assembly from the 54th district | |
| In office December 7, 1998 – December 6, 2004 | |
| Preceded by | Steven T. Kuykendall |
| Succeeded by | Betty Karnette |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alan Stuart Lowenthal March 8, 1941 Queens, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Deborah Malumed |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Hobart College (BA) Ohio State University (MA, PhD) |
| Website | House website |
Alan Stuart Lowenthal (/ˈloʊənˌθɔːl/; born March 8, 1941) is an American politician who has been the United States Representative for California's 47th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the California State Assembly from 1998 to 2004, representing the 54th Assembly district, and then as a member of the California State Senate, representing the 27th district from 2004 to 2012. In both posts, he represented the city of Long Beach and its surrounding suburbs.
Early life, education, and academic career[]
Lowenthal was born and raised in Queens, New York City. His family is Jewish. He graduated with a B.A. from Hobart College and earned a Ph.D. from Ohio State University. In 1969, Lowenthal moved to Long Beach and became a professor of community psychology at California State University, Long Beach. He went on leave to become a Long Beach City Councilman in 1992. He remained on leave for several years until retiring in 1998.[1][unreliable source]
California Assembly[]
Elections[]
In 1998, Lowenthal decided to run for the 54th district of the California State Assembly. He defeated Republican nominee Julie Alban 50%-47%.[2] In 2000, he won re-election to a second term defeating Republican nominee Rudy Svorinich, a Los Angeles City Council member, 59%-39%.[3] In 2002, he won re-election to a third term defeating Republican nominee Cesar Castellanos, 60%-40%.[4]
Tenure[]
In the Assembly, Lowenthal authored gun control in California that would ban gun selling in people's homes.[5] He was also a founding member of the Assembly's Bipartisan Caucus and authored legislation for the creation of California's first ever Bipartisan Citizens Redistricting Commission.[1]
Senator Lowenthal was named Legislator of the Year by the California Firefighters Association in 2002 after he passed a law that limited liability for organizations that donated firefighting equipment. The League of California Cities named him Legislator of the Year in 2001 due to his advocacy on behalf of local governments. He has also received the "Rivie" Award from the Friends of the Los Angeles River due to his efforts to help clean up the troubled river.[citation needed]
California Senate[]
Elections[]
In 2004, Lowenthal ran for the California Senate in the 27th Senate district. He won the Democratic primary unopposed. In the general election, he defeated Republican nominee Cesar Navarro Castellanos 63%-37%.[6] In 2008, he won re-election to a second term, defeating Allen Wood 67%-33%.[7]
Tenure[]
The 47th district includes the Los Angeles County communities of Avalon, Long Beach, Signal Hill, Lakewood, Cerritos, Artesia, Bellflower, Downey, South Gate, Lynwood, Paramount, Hawaiian Gardens, Florence-Graham and Willowbrook.
Other legislation that Senator Lowenthal has had signed into law include a law to reduce diesel emissions at the ports by limiting idling time for trucks conducting transactions at the ports, a bill that established a grant program to provide financial incentives for purchasing or leasing electric vehicles, and a bill to protect highways.
With Bonnie Lowenthal's election to the Assembly and Alan Lowenthal's reelection in 2008, Senator and Assemblywoman Lowenthal were the first divorced husband and wife to serve concurrently in the California State Legislature.
Lowenthal provided significant commentary throughout the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?.
Committee assignments[]
- Senate Committee Education (Chair)
- Select Committee on California Ports and Goods Movement[8]
- Select Committee on High-Speed Rail (Chair)[9]
- Senate Environmental Quality Committee[8]
U.S. House of Representatives[]
Elections[]
2012[]
On November 6, 2012, Lowenthal was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the newly created 47th district after defeating Republican .[10] Although DeLong carried the Orange County portion of the district with 54 percent of the vote, Lowenthal swamped him in the Los Angeles County portion by over 38,000 votes, more than the actual margin of 30,100 votes. He took office on January 3, 2013. He is the first non-Hispanic Democrat to represent a significant portion of traditionally heavily Republican Orange County in Congress since Jerry M. Patterson, who served from 1975 to 1985. Lowenthal was reelected in 2014, 2016 and 2018 by similar margins.
Until the Democrats swept every seat in Orange County at the 2018 elections, Lowenthal was the only elected white Democrat above the county level in much of the Orange County portion of the district. However, the Los Angeles County portion has more than double the population of the Orange County portion; the district's share of Long Beach alone accounts for over half of its population.
He is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.[11]
Tenure[]
Lowenthal is a strong supporter of Israel. He said that the "historical denial about the right of Jewish people to have their own homeland" and the Palestinian "refusal to acknowledge Israel as a Jewish state, that is a critical issue that needs to be addressed."[12]
Lowenthal has been critical of Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro. In March 2019 he and 29 other Democratic lawmakers wrote a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that read in part, "Since the election of far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro as president, we have been particularly alarmed by the threat Bolsonaro’s agenda poses to the LGBTQ+ community and other minority communities, women, labor activists, and political dissidents in Brazil."[13][14]
Committee assignments[]
- United States House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
- Committee on Natural Resources
- Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
- Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs
- Subcommittee on Water and Power
Caucus memberships[]
- House Baltic Caucus[15]
- Congressional Arts Caucus[16]
- United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus[17]
- Climate Solutions Caucus[18]
- Congressional Progressive Caucus.[11]
- Medicare for All Caucus
- Blue Collar Caucus
Personal life[]
He is married to Deborah Malumed, MD. His son Daniel is an elected judge to the Los Angeles County Superior Court. His other son, Josh Lowenthal, ran for State Assembly in 2018 in 72nd district, which was being vacated by Travis Allen, but lost this election to Tyler Diep.[19][20][21]
See also[]
- List of Jewish members of the United States Congress
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Biography". Congressman Alan Lowenthal. August 13, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - CA State Assembly 54 Race - Nov 03, 1998". www.ourcampaigns.com.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - CA State Assembly 54 Race - Nov 07, 2000". www.ourcampaigns.com.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - CA State Assembly 54 Race - Nov 05, 2002". www.ourcampaigns.com.
- ^ "NewsLibrary Search Results". nl.newsbank.com.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - CA State Senate 27 Race - Nov 02, 2004". www.ourcampaigns.com.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - CA State Senate 27 Race - Nov 04, 2008". www.ourcampaigns.com.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "State Sen. Lowenthal Presses Balanced Environment & Economic Agenda | The Planning Report". www.planningreport.com.
- ^ "Contra Costa Times".
- ^ Saltzgaver, Harry. "Lowenthal To Represent Long Beach In Congress". gazettes.com. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Members". Congressional Progressive Caucus. Archived from the original on October 22, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- ^ "Visiting US Reps: 'We must address Palestinian denial that Israel is a Jewish state'". The Jerusalem Post. October 18, 2015.
- ^ "Brazil's far-right president tweeted out a pornographic video to condemn Carnival". Vox. March 6, 2019.
- ^ "Reps. Susan Wild and Ro Khanna Urge Sec. of State Pompeo to Condemn Human Rights Abuses in Brazil". www.wild.house.gov.
- ^ "Members". House Baltic Caucus. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
- ^ "Membership". Congressional Arts Caucus. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
- ^ "Our Members". U.S. House of Representatives International Conservation Caucus. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
- ^ "90 Current Climate Solutions Caucus Members". Citizen´s Climate Lobby. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
- ^ "Josh Lowenthal". Ballotpedia. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
- ^ "About Josh". Josh Lowenthal for Assembly. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
- ^ "JoinCalifornia - Josh Lowenthal". www.joincalifornia.com. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
External links[]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alan Lowenthal. |
- Congressman Alan Lowenthal official U.S. House website
- Alan Lowenthal for Congress
- Alan Lowenthal at Curlie
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Profile at Vote Smart
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
- Join California Alan Lowenthal
- Alan Lowenthal at Ballotpedia
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- 1941 births
- 21st-century American politicians
- California city council members
- California Democrats
- California state senators
- California State University, Long Beach faculty
- Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives
- Hobart and William Smith Colleges alumni
- Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives
- Living people
- Members of the California State Assembly
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from California
- Ohio State University alumni
- People from Long Beach, California
- Politicians from New York City
- Spouses of California politicians