Ami Bera

Amerish Babulal "Ami" Bera /ˈɑːmi ˈbɛrə/ (born March 2, 1965) is an American physician and politician[1] who has been the U.S. Representative for California's 7th congressional district since 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Bera was re-elected in 2014, 2016, and 2018.[2][3][4]

Ami Bera
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 7th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2013
Preceded byDan Lungren (redistricting)
Personal details
Born (1965-03-02) March 2, 1965
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Janine Bera
Children1
EducationUniversity of California, Irvine (BS, MD)
WebsiteHouse website

Early life, education, and career

Bera's father, Babulal Bera, immigrated to the United States from India in 1958.[5][6] Two years later, Babulal Bera was joined by his wife, Kanta.[7] Ami Bera was born in Los Angeles and raised in the Orange County city of La Palma. He attended John F. Kennedy High School while living there.[8] Bera's parents are from Rajkot, Gujarat and he can understand Gujarati.[1]

He has a bachelor's degree in biological sciences from the University of California at Irvine, also earning his Doctor of Medicine degree there in 1991.[8][9] From 1997 to 1999 he was the Medical Director of Care Management at the Mercy Healthcare for Sacramento. He served as the chief medical officer for the County of Sacramento and later as the associate dean for admissions at the UC Davis School of Medicine.[10]

From 2005 to 2012, he served as a clinical professor at the University of California Davis School of Medicine.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2010
See also: 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in California § District 3
Bera at an October 2010 rally for Jerry Brown

Bera challenged three-term Republican incumbent Dan Lungren in the general election for California's 3rd congressional district. He ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination in California's 3rd congressional district.[11] He raised more money than incumbent Dan Lungren for the five quarters through mid-2010,[12][13] making him the only Democratic challenger with more cash than a sitting Republican member of the House.[14] Bera was one of 17 candidates the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee targeted to take over Republican-held or open seats in 2010.[15]

Lungren was the only incumbent Republican whose race was rated as a "tossup" by CQ Politics, but was later rated back to "Lean GOP" in the final days before the election;[16] and the district was considered competitive by both parties. Polling by the liberal website Daily Kos in September 2010 showed Lungren leading Bera, 46%–38%.[17][18] Bera cited health care, education and economic recovery among his top legislative priorities. In November, Lungren won re-election, defeating Bera 51%–43%.[19]

In 2010, after Bera accepted a $250 donation from Basim Elkarra, Executive Director of the Sacramento chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the California Republican Party called on him to return the money. Bera returned the money after these concerns were raised.[20] Bera was criticized because he "succumbed to the growing national hysteria about Islam in America and the NRCC's fear-mongering, in particular."

2012
See also: 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in California § District 7

Bera announced a rematch against Lungren in 2012. The district had been renumbered as the 7th District, and made somewhat more compact. It lost all of its territory outside of Sacramento County, making it slightly friendlier to Democrats.

On November 13, 2012, Bera attended freshman orientation as congressman-elect while votes were still being counted.[3] Candidates in these tight races sometimes attend the orientation by the Committee on House Administration, whose chairman was Bera's opponent, Dan Lungren.[21]

Bera during the 113th United States Congress

On November 15, 2012, the AP called the race for Bera, who won 51%–49%.[22][23]

2014
See also: 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in California § District 7

Bera ran for re-election in 2014, facing former Republican congressman Doug Ose, who had represented what was then the 3rd from 1999 to 2005, in the general election.[24] The Rothenberg Political Report rated the 7th district "Lean Democratic," but The Sacramento Bee reported that Bera was "viewed by both parties as one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the country."[2][3] Bera was a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Frontline program, designed to support vulnerable candidates.[25] In June 2014, Politico reported that the DCCC planned to support Bera with $1.7 million in ads throughout fall 2014, and the House Majority PAC, a political action committee designed to support Democratic candidates, reserved $200,000 for late-election television ads.[26]

The Hill reported that Bera's campaign received donations from parents of another Democratic candidate, Kevin Strouse, only to have Bera's parents then donate a similar amount to Strouse's campaign. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, "The donations appear legal, campaign finance experts say, though two said any agreement among the parents to trade donations could be viewed as an attempted end run around contribution limits."[27][27][28] In May 2016, Bera's father, Babulal, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of elections fraud.[29]

No Labels co-founder and former George W. Bush advisor Mark McKinnon said of Bera, "He is the most important member of our Problem Solvers – of the entire group. He stepped up immediately as a freshman to take a leadership position. He was out early advocating on our big issues like No Budget, No Pay.”[30]

In response to a poll, from the American Sikh Committee to Evaluate Congressional Candidates, Bera did not answer two questions relating to the Indian government's part in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in which 8,000 Sikhs were massacred after Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination. Instead, he noted that in 2005, the former Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, had publicly apologized to the Sikh community for the government's role. Bera also stated that, while it was a tragedy, he was more focused on the treatment of Sikhs in the U.S. and could not dictate how the Indian government should approach the matter.[31] In response, some members of the Sikh-American community, and some PACs representing them, publicly withdrew their support for Bera.[32] But with the majority of the Sikh-American population coming from outside of Bera's district, the advocates acknowledged that they were unlikely to affect the outcome of the race.[31]

On election night, Bera "was down by more than 3,000 votes...but came back to win after all the absentee and mail-in ballots were in." In the end, he won 50.4% of the vote to Ose's 49.6%.[33]

2016
See also: 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in California § District 7

Bera ran for re-election in 2016. He faced Republican Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones in the general election.[34] In January 2016, the Elk Grove-South County Democratic Club, Bera's home club, voted against endorsing him, citing concerns with Bera's record on trade and Syrian refugees.[35]

Bera's 2016 race was "one of the nastiest Congressional races with allegations and insinuations being bandied back and forth" and was also "one of the last two House races in the entire nation yet to be called." As he began his third term, he was joined by three new Indian-American House members – Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois, Pramila Jayapal from Washington state, and Ro Khanna from California. Silicon Valley entrepreneur M. R. Rangaswami said Bera "was the first Indian American to be in Congress in a long time and now can actually lead a Caucus...able to shepherd Pramila, Raja and Ro and get them going during their freshman year."[33]

A coalition of dissatisfied groups prevented him from garnering his party's endorsement in January, but at the state Democratic convention in February, he was endorsed, with 90% of the delegates voting to endorse.[36][37][38]

During the 2016 campaign Ami Bera's father, Babulal Bera, was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison, and fined $100,200, for federal campaign finance violations that helped fund two of his sons' campaigns.[39]

Bera narrowly defeated Jones in the general election, winning 51% of the vote to Jones' 49%. The margin of victory was 4,802 votes.[40]

Since the 2016 elections, which saw the election to the House of three other Indian-Americans and to the Senate of the first Indian-American Senator, Kamala Devi Harris, Bera has been described as the "Godfather" of Indian-Americans on Capitol Hill.[41]

2018

In the 2018 general election, Bera was re-elected, garnering 155,016 votes (55%) defeating Republican Andrew Grant, a former U.S. Department of State official who received 126,601 votes (45%).[42]

Tenure

In an interview covered in the Elk Grove Citizen, Bera said his first year in Congress "was about being focused here in the district but also building my reputation in Washington, D.C."[43]

In October 2013, Bera announced that he would give up his federal pay for the duration of the government shutdown. He also announced that in response to sequester cuts, he would donate 8.2% of his check each month to local organizations impacted by sequester cuts.[44]

In a 2015 op-ed supporting the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the Sacramento Bee, Bera copied several sentences from documents produced by the Business Roundtable and Third Way and from an Obama White House report. He received criticism, including from labor groups like the California Labor Federation, for parroting lobbying firms. Bera later wrote an apology, though he stood by the sentiment of the op-ed.[45][46]

Political issues
Environment

According to The Hill in 2014, "Bera, who faces a tough race this fall against Republican Doug Ose, is a strong advocate for tackling climate change, but global warming isn't his focus when he talks about the drought with constituents."[47]

Health care

Bera supports the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and has voted against repeal efforts .[48][49]

Syrian refugees

On November 19, 2015, Bera voted for HR 4038, legislation that would effectively halt the resettlement of refugees from Syria and Iraq to the United States.[50]

Pakistan and terrorism

In 2016, Bera called on the Pakistani government "to take responsibility and start cracking down" on terrorists based in its country, and praised the Indian government for its restraint in the face of a recent attack on an Indian air force base by Pakistan-based militants.[51]

India–U.S. relations

Bera called a June 2016 speech by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to a joint session of the U.S. Congress "the perfect speech for this moment in time" and claimed that India was becoming "a global leader and a global partner with the United States." "As an Indian American and a Gujarati American," Bera said, "I was thrilled by the prime minister's speech."[52]

Taxes

In 2017 Bera voted against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.[53]

Committee assignments

In February 2017, Bera was elected ranking member of the House space subcommittee by House Democrats. His district includes a major Aerojet Rocketdyne facility, located east of Sacramento.[54]

Caucus memberships

Personal life

Bera and his wife, Janine Bera, have one child.[8] They reside in Elk Grove, California.[59]

Bera is one of only two Unitarian Universalists in Congress.[60][61][62]

Electoral history
California's 3rd congressional district election, 2010
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dan Lungren (incumbent) 131,169 50.1
Democratic Ami Bera 113,128 43.2
American Independent Jerry L. Leidecker 6,577 2.5
Libertarian Douglas Arthur Tuma 6,275 2.4
Peace and Freedom Mike Roskey 4,789 1.8
Total votes 261,938 100.0
Republican hold
California's 7th congressional district election, 2012
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dan Lungren (incumbent) 63,586 52.7
Democratic Ami Bera 49,433 41.0
No party preference Curt Taras 3,854 3.2
Libertarian Douglas Arthur Tuma 3,707 3.1
Total votes 120,580 100.0
General election
Democratic Ami Bera 141,241 51.7
Republican Dan Lungren (incumbent) 132,050 48.3
Total votes 273,291 100.0
Democratic gain from Republican
California's 7th congressional district election, 2014
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ami Bera (incumbent) 51,878 46.7
Republican Doug Ose 29,307 26.4
Republican Igor Birman 19,431 17.5
Republican Elizabeth Emken 7,924 7.1
Libertarian Douglas Arthur Tuma 1,629 1.5
No party preference Phill A. Tufi 869 0.8
Total votes 111,038 100.0
General election
Democratic Ami Bera (incumbent) 92,521 50.4
Republican Doug Ose 91,066 49.6
Total votes 183,587 100.0
Democratic hold
California's 7th congressional district election, 2016
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ami Bera (incumbent) 93,506 54.0
Republican Scott Jones 79,640 46.0
Total votes 173,146 100.0
General election
Democratic Ami Bera (incumbent) 152,133 51.2
Republican Scott Jones 145,168 48.8
Total votes 297,301 100.0
Democratic hold

https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2018-general/sov/07-summary.pdfhttps://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2018-general/sov/07-summary.pdf

California's 7th congressional district election, 2018
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ami Bera (incumbent) 84,776 51.7
Republican Andrew Grant 51,221 31.2
Republican Yona Barash 22,845 13.9
Green Robert Christian "Chris" Richardson 3,183 1.9
No party preference Reginald Claytor 2,095 1.3
Total votes 164,120 100.0
General election
Democratic Ami Bera (incumbent) 155,016 55.0
Republican Andrew Grant 126,601 45.0
Total votes 281,617 100.0
Democratic hold
California's 7th congressional district election, 2020
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ami Bera (incumbent) 106,124 50.3
Republican Buzz Patterson 70,803 33.6
Democratic Jeff Burdick 15,114 7.2
Republican Jon Ivy 14,017 6.6
Green Robert Christian "Chris" Richardson 4,837 2.3
Total votes 210,895 100.0
General election
Democratic Ami Bera (incumbent)
Republican Buzz Patterson
Total votes 100.0

See also

References
  1. Haniffa, Aziz (January 29, 2015). "Modi spoke to me in Gujarati: US Congressman". Washington, D.C.: Rediff.com. Modi, he said, spoke to him in Gujarati. "I could actually understand a majority of what he was saying. He knew that my parents were from Rajkot and that I was Gujarati-American."
  2. Cahn, Emily (April 2, 2014). "Ami Bera Challenger Starts Television Ads in California Race". Roll Call. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  3. Tate, Curtis (February 27, 2014). "Elk Grove Democrat Ami Bera will have to fight for a second congressional term". Sacramento Bee. Archived from the original on April 15, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  4. Cahn, Emily (April 2, 2014). "Ami Bera Challenger Starts Television Ads in California Race (Video)". Roll Call. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  5. Joseph, Drew (August 14, 2010). "Bera Hopes to Wipe Out Lungren Despite GOP Wave". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 22, 2010.
  6. Raj, Yashwant (February 16, 2013). "Yankee Doodle Desi". Hindustan Times. Retrieved August 18, 2013.
  7. "Rep. Bera Statement on Campaign Finance Violation". Bera for Congress. May 10, 2016. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  8. "Amerish 'Ami' Bera". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on January 10, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
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  42. 2018 election results
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  50. Wire, Sarah D. (November 20, 2015). "Inside the Syrian refugee vote: California representatives explain what shaped their votes". Los Angeles Times.
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U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
George Miller		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 7th congressional district
2013–present		 Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Joyce Beatty		 United States Representatives by seniority
192nd		 Succeeded by
Susan Brooks
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