Bob Filner
|
|
Dr. Robert "Bob" Filner, Ph. D. (born September 4 1942), is an American Democratic politician who represents California's 51st Congressional District(map (http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/ca51_109.gif)) in the United States House of Representatives. The district includes much of San Diego's southern section, the cities of Chula Vista and National City and all of Imperial County. It includes California's entire share of the border with Mexico.
Filner was born in Pittsburgh. As a student at Cornell University, he participated in the Freedom Rides of 1961, spending several months in jail for his efforts. He graduated from Cornell in 1963 and earned his doctorate from the same school six years later. Shortly after earning his Ph.D, he moved to San Diego, becoming a history professor at San Diego State University. He resigned his position in 1992 to run for Congress.
Filner was long interested in politics, serving as a staffer for Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota in 1975 and for Congressman Don Fraser, also of Minnesota, in 1976. He also served as a staffer for Congressman Jim Bates from the San Diego area in 1984.
His elective career began in 1979, when his opposition to the closing of a neighborhood school led him to run for the San Diego school board where he defeated a longtime incumbent. Even though he was the only Democrat on the board, his "back to basics" approach to education won him wide praise, and his colleagues elected him president of the board in 1982. He was elected to the San Diego City Council in 1987. He was handily reelected in 1991, and his colleagues elected him deputy mayor. His main interest was in economic expansion.
California gained seven seats after the 1990 census, and one of them was the 50th District in south San Diego (renumbered the 51st District after the 2000 census). Filner ran in a five-way Democratic primary for the seat and won a narrow victory. One of his primary opponents was his former boss, Bates, who had lost his seat in a sexual harassment scandal in 1990 and whose home had been drawn into the district. He won in November with 57 percent of the vote and has been reelected every two years since. The district is predominantly Hispanic and Democratic, and he has never faced truly serious Republican opposition. He ran unopposed in 1998.
Filner is ranking Democrat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Marine Transportation. He also serves on the Veterans Affairs Committee.
External link
- official website (http://www.house.gov/filner/)Template:CA-FedRep