From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dennis Cardoza
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 18th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 7, 2003–
Preceded by	Gary Condit
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Born	March 31, 1959 (age 48) Merced, California
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Dr. Kathie McLaughlin
Religion	Roman Catholic

Dennis A. Cardoza (born March 31, 1959) is an American politician, and has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 2003, representing the 18th District of California.^[1] He defeated his embattled former boss, Congressman Gary Condit, in the March 2002 Democratic Party primary election.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Political career 3 References 4 External links

Cardoza was born in Merced, California, of Portuguese ancestry. He grew up in Atwater, California and graduated from Atwater High School. He was educated at the California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock, California then transfered to University of Maryland, College Park. He is a member of Theta Chi Fraternity.

According to local press reports, Cardoza "once ran a bowling alley that hosted mud wrestling matches."^[2]

Cardoza served as a city council member for the City of Atwater and the City of Merced and was a Member of the California State Assembly before entering the U.S. House of Representatives by winning the seat of disgraced Congressman Gary Condit, Cardoza's early mentor.

Ties between Cardoza and Condit are strong. When he was starting out in politics, Cardoza had been Condit's Chief of Staff while Condit was still in the California Assembly.^[3] Condit's son, Chad, eventually worked as an aide to Cardozo in the California Assembly.^[2] Condit's sister, Dovie Wilson, was Cardoza's office manager in October of 2001.^[4] Chad’s wife, Helen, worked as a paid as a fund-raiser for Cardoza in 2000, and another Condit relative described by the press as an "in-law," Jamie L. Filice, worked for Cardoza as a senior field representative in the same time period.^[4]

When Condit's career came under a cloud because of his extramarital affair with murdered intern Chandra Levy, Cardoza, who had promised to never run against Condit, ran against him in the 2002 Democratic primary and won. Cardoza went on to win the general election. Condit had asked Cardoza, who could not run for state Assemblyman again because of term limits, to run for the state senate instead. ^[4]

During the 109th Congress, Cardoza was a co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition (founded by Condit), a group of conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives and sat on the Resources Committee, Agriculture Committee, and International Relations Committee.

For the 110th Congress, Cardoza will sit on the House Committee on Rules as well as the Agriculture Committee where he will chair the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture. He remains a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, but his co-chairmanship has been assumed by Congressman Mike Ross.

1. ^ California Congressional District Maps
2. ^ ^{a b} " Chad Condit launches bid for Senate" by Brian Melley, November 9, 2001 Associated Press report in Berkeley Daily Planet. Accessed December 19, 2006.
3. ^ " Condit Loses House Race To Former Aide" by Evelyn Nieves, March 6, 2002. New York Times. Accessed at paid archive December 19, 2006.
4. ^ ^{a b c} "Protege seeking Condit’s seat in Congress" by Brian Melley, October 23, 2001. Associated Press report in Berkeley Daily Planet. Accessed December 18, 2006.

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

Preceded by Gary Condit

United States Representative for the 18th Congressional District of California 2003–present

Succeeded by Incumbent

California's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators: Dianne Feinstein (D) · Barbara Boxer (D) Representative(s): Mike Thompson (D) · Wally Herger (R) · Dan Lungren (R) · John T. Doolittle (R) · Doris Matsui (D) · Lynn C. Woolsey (D) · George Miller (D) · Nancy Pelosi (D) · Barbara Lee (D) · Ellen Tauscher (D) · Jerry McNerney (D) · Tom Lantos (D) · Pete Stark (D) · Anna Eshoo (D) · Mike Honda (D) · Zoe Lofgren (D) · Sam Farr (D) · Dennis Cardoza (D) · George Radanovich (R) · Jim Costa (D) · Devin Nunes (R) · Kevin McCarthy (R) · Lois Capps (D) · Elton Gallegly (R) · Howard McKeon (R) · David Dreier (R) · Brad Sherman (D) · Howard Berman (D) · Adam Schiff (D) · Henry Waxman (D) · Xavier Becerra (D) · Hilda Solis (D) · Diane Watson (D) · Lucille Roybal-Allard (D) · Maxine Waters (D) · Jane Harman (D) · Juanita Millender-McDonald (D) · Grace Napolitano (D) · Linda Sánchez (D) · Ed Royce (R) · Jerry Lewis (R) · Gary Miller (R) · Joe Baca (D) · Ken Calvert (R) · Mary Bono (R) · Dana Rohrabacher (R) · Loretta Sanchez (D) · John Campbell (R) · Darrell Issa (R) · Brian Bilbray (R) · Bob Filner (D) · Duncan Hunter (R) · Susan Davis (D) All delegations: Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming — American Samoa • District of Columbia • Guam • Puerto Rico • U.S. Virgin Islands