Fortney “Pete” Stark, former Representative for California's 13th Congressional District

Stark was the representative for California’s 13^th congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 1993 to 2012.

He was previously the representative for California’s 9^th congressional district as a Democrat from 1975 to 1992; and the representative for California’s 8^th congressional district as a Democrat from 1973 to 1974.

Alleged misconduct & resolution

In 2009 Stark was investigated for claiming tax credits for a residence which was not his primary residence. The House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct dismissed the charges as Representative Stark neither sought credits improperly nor did he receive them. In 2012, Representative Stark announced his retirement from Congress.

Nov. 12, 2009	House Office of Congressional Ethics recommended that the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct further review the allegations
Jan. 28, 2010	House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct dismissed the charges as Representative Stark neither sought credits improperly nor did he receive them
2012	Stark announced his retirement from Congress.

Photo of Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark [D-CA13, 1993-2012]

Analysis

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Stark is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 2013 positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Stark sponsored and cosponsored. See full analysis methodology.

Enacted Legislation

Stark was the primary sponsor of 16 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

View All »

We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if about one third or more of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110^th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Stark sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:

Health (30%) Taxation (23%) Families (16%) Social Welfare (9%) Immigration (7%) Government Operations and Politics (7%) Labor and Employment (5%) Economics and Public Finance (5%)

Recent Bills

Some of Stark’s most recently sponsored bills include...

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Voting Record

Key Votes

Stark’s Vote	Vote Description
No	H.J.Res. 117 (112th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2013 Sep 13, 2012. Passed 329/91.
No	H.R. 6233 (112th): Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act of 2012 Aug 2, 2012. Passed 223/197.
No	H.R. 1249 (112th): Leahy-Smith America Invents Act Jun 23, 2011. Passed 304/117. The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is a United States federal statute that was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on September 16, 2011. The law represents the most significant change to the U.S. patent system since 1952, and ...
Nay	S. 3729 (111th): National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 Sep 29, 2010. Passed 304/118.
No	H.R. 2920 (111th): Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2009 Jul 22, 2009. Passed 265/166.
Nay	H.Res. 1525 (110th): Providing for consideration of the Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 1424) to amend section 712 of ... Oct 3, 2008. Passed 223/205.
Nay	H.R. 2638 (110th): Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 Sep 24, 2008. Passed 370/58.
Nay	H.Res. 1031 (110th): Providing for the adoption of the resolution (H. Res. 895) establishing within the House of Representatives an ... Mar 11, 2008. Passed 229/182.
Not Voting	H.Res. 801 (110th): Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3688) to implement the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. Nov 7, 2007. Passed 349/55.
Yea	H.R. 1830 (110th): To extend the authorities of the Andean Trade Preference Act until February 29, 2008. Jun 27, 2007. Passed 365/59.

Missed Votes

From Jan 1973 to Jan 2013, Stark missed 2,782 of 23,975 roll call votes, which is 11.6%. This is much worse than the median of 2.6% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Jan 2013. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
1973 Jan-Mar	36	6	16.7%	57^th
1973 Apr-Jun	191	9	4.7%	0^th
1973 Jul-Sep	131	13	9.9%	71^st
1973 Oct-Dec	182	27	14.8%	71^st
1974 Jan-Mar	79	7	8.9%	14^th
1974 Apr-Jun	170	26	15.3%	57^th
1974 Jul-Sep	148	9	6.1%	0^th
1974 Oct-Dec	141	10	7.1%	29^th
1975 Jan-Mar	68	16	23.5%	83^rd
1975 Apr-Jun	199	11	5.5%	42^nd
1975 Jul-Sep	154	6	3.9%	25^th
1975 Oct-Dec	191	36	18.8%	75^th
1976 Jan-Mar	106	7	6.6%	50^th
1976 Apr-Jun	267	25	9.4%	62^nd
1976 Jul-Sep	281	12	4.3%	46^th
1976 Oct-Oct	7	2	28.6%	77^th
1977 Jan-Mar	100	11	11.0%	67^th
1977 Apr-Jun	273	40	14.7%	67^th
1977 Jul-Sep	198	16	8.1%	56^th
1977 Oct-Dec	135	2	1.5%	11^th
1978 Jan-Mar	150	9	6.0%	44^th
1978 Apr-Jun	300	34	11.3%	50^th
1978 Jul-Sep	308	41	13.3%	56^th
1978 Oct-Oct	76	22	28.9%	72^nd
1979 Jan-Mar	63	0	0.0%	0^th
1979 Apr-Jun	221	52	23.5%	92^nd
1979 Jul-Sep	198	47	23.7%	88^th
1979 Oct-Dec	190	55	28.9%	92^nd
1980 Jan-Mar	148	8	5.4%	29^th
1980 Apr-Jun	197	21	10.7%	58^th
1980 Jul-Sep	192	35	18.2%	79^th
1980 Oct-Dec	67	20	29.9%	88^th
1981 Jan-Mar	15	0	0.0%	0^th
1981 Apr-Jun	90	12	13.3%	76^th
1981 Jul-Sep	106	7	6.6%	62^nd
1981 Oct-Dec	142	27	19.0%	88^th
1982 Feb-Mar	48	1	2.1%	35^th
1982 Apr-Jun	119	13	10.9%	76^th
1982 Jul-Sep	193	19	9.8%	82^nd
1982 Oct-Dec	99	25	25.3%	91^st
1983 Jan-Mar	43	3	7.0%	43^rd
1983 Apr-Jun	182	18	9.9%	67^th
1983 Jul-Sep	130	14	10.8%	87^th
1983 Oct-Nov	143	22	15.4%	91^st
1984 Jan-Mar	53	19	35.8%	93^rd
1984 Apr-Jun	223	54	24.2%	91^st
1984 Jul-Sep	96	10	10.4%	78^th
1984 Oct-Oct	36	3	8.3%	50^th
1985 Jan-Mar	36	4	11.1%	70^th
1985 Apr-Jun	154	20	13.0%	89^th
1985 Jul-Sep	101	6	5.9%	60^th
1985 Oct-Dec	148	11	7.4%	72^nd
1986 Jan-Mar	61	19	31.1%	96^th
1986 Apr-Jun	128	9	7.0%	74^th
1986 Jul-Sep	202	18	8.9%	72^nd
1986 Oct-Oct	60	10	16.7%	87^th
1987 Jan-Mar	39	5	12.8%	82^nd
1987 Apr-Jun	187	17	9.1%	82^nd
1987 Jul-Sep	95	5	5.3%	68^th
1987 Oct-Dec	167	26	15.6%	93^rd
1988 Feb-Mar	49	9	18.4%	91^st
1988 Apr-Jun	161	8	5.0%	59^th
1988 Jul-Sep	152	48	31.6%	98^th
1988 Oct-Oct	89	11	12.4%	82^nd
1989 Jan-Mar	14	0	0.0%	0^th
1989 Apr-Jun	105	7	6.7%	82^nd
1989 Jul-Sep	128	2	1.6%	42^nd
1989 Oct-Nov	121	15	12.4%	91^st
1990 Jan-Mar	60	5	8.3%	86^th
1990 Apr-Jun	150	12	8.0%	77^th
1990 Jul-Sep	183	14	7.7%	83^rd
1990 Oct-Oct	143	17	11.9%	89^th
1991 Jan-Mar	62	3	4.8%	62^nd
1991 Apr-Jun	139	6	4.3%	60^th
1991 Jul-Sep	81	14	17.3%	93^rd
1991 Oct-Nov	162	16	9.9%	91^st
1992 Jan-Mar	66	18	27.3%	97^th
1992 Apr-Jun	185	9	4.9%	63^rd
1992 Jul-Sep	196	29	14.8%	93^rd
1992 Oct-Oct	41	8	19.5%	95^th
1993 Jan-Mar	127	8	6.3%	82^nd
1993 Apr-Jun	190	26	13.7%	94^th
1993 Jul-Sep	164	8	4.9%	78^th
1993 Oct-Nov	134	5	3.7%	69^th
1994 Jan-Mar	95	4	4.2%	64^th
1994 Apr-Jun	219	19	8.7%	93^rd
1994 Jul-Sep	142	15	10.6%	85^th
1994 Oct-Nov	51	3	5.9%	79^th
1995 Jan-Mar	279	27	9.7%	95^th
1995 Apr-Jun	189	18	9.5%	93^rd
1995 Jul-Sep	232	33	14.2%	97^th
1995 Oct-Dec	185	13	7.0%	86^th
1996 Jan-Mar	110	35	31.8%	98^th
1996 Apr-Jun	182	12	6.6%	84^th
1996 Jul-Sep	163	8	4.9%	77^th
1997 Jan-Mar	71	8	11.3%	94^th
1997 Apr-Jun	174	24	13.8%	97^th
1997 Jul-Sep	232	39	16.8%	98^th
1997 Oct-Nov	163	22	13.5%	96^th
1998 Jan-Mar	89	10	11.2%	87^th
1998 Apr-Jun	185	12	6.5%	82^nd
1998 Jul-Sep	199	19	9.5%	90^th
1998 Oct-Dec	74	5	6.8%	82^nd
1999 Jan-Mar	73	5	6.8%	86^th
1999 Apr-Jun	184	13	7.1%	85^th
1999 Jul-Sep	204	16	7.8%	90^th
1999 Oct-Nov	146	4	2.7%	53^rd
2000 Jan-Mar	95	9	9.5%	82^nd
2000 Apr-Jun	277	31	11.2%	90^th
2000 Jul-Sep	130	8	6.2%	81^st
2000 Oct-Dec	101	42	41.6%	98^th
2001 Jan-Mar	73	3	4.1%	80^th
2001 Apr-Jun	135	4	3.0%	61^st
2001 Jul-Sep	149	49	32.9%	100^th
2001 Oct-Dec	153	22	14.4%	96^th
2002 Jan-Mar	79	5	6.3%	79^th
2002 Apr-Jun	203	15	7.4%	85^th
2002 Jul-Sep	141	14	9.9%	89^th
2002 Oct-Nov	61	5	8.2%	79^th
2003 Jan-Mar	94	5	5.3%	78^th
2003 Apr-Jun	239	18	7.5%	88^th
2003 Jul-Sep	193	9	4.7%	76^th
2003 Oct-Dec	151	17	11.3%	89^th
2004 Jan-Mar	104	21	20.2%	93^rd
2004 Apr-Jun	221	22	10.0%	90^th
2004 Jul-Sep	161	16	9.9%	84^th
2004 Oct-Dec	58	12	20.7%	93^rd
2005 Jan-Mar	90	13	14.4%	96^th
2005 Apr-Jun	272	33	12.1%	95^th
2005 Jul-Sep	146	10	6.8%	84^th
2005 Oct-Dec	163	32	19.6%	97^th
2006 Jan-Mar	81	1	1.2%	41^st
2006 Apr-Jun	276	9	3.3%	69^th
2006 Jul-Sep	159	23	14.5%	98^th
2006 Nov-Dec	27	3	11.1%	80^th
2007 Jan-Mar	213	18	8.5%	91^st
2007 Apr-Jun	393	30	7.6%	89^th
2007 Jul-Sep	317	41	12.9%	96^th
2007 Oct-Dec	263	14	5.3%	72^nd
2008 Jan-Mar	149	17	11.4%	86^th
2008 Apr-Jun	321	52	16.2%	97^th
2008 Jul-Sep	205	14	6.8%	81^st
2008 Oct-Dec	15	4	26.7%	96^th
2009 Jan-Mar	174	74	42.5%	99^th
2009 Apr-Jun	303	102	33.7%	99^th
2009 Jul-Sep	268	16	6.0%	88^th
2009 Oct-Dec	246	27	11.0%	93^rd
2010 Jan-Mar	195	76	39.0%	100^th
2010 Apr-Jun	219	15	6.8%	81^st
2010 Jul-Sep	151	6	4.0%	71^st
2010 Nov-Dec	99	26	26.3%	96^th
2011 Jan-Mar	212	26	12.3%	97^th
2011 Apr-Jun	281	5	1.8%	58^th
2011 Jul-Sep	247	12	4.9%	81^st
2011 Oct-Dec	208	5	2.4%	54^th
2012 Jan-Mar	151	3	2.0%	53^rd
2012 Apr-Jun	299	15	5.0%	74^th
2012 Jul-Sep	152	1	0.7%	31^st
2012 Nov-Dec	51	33	64.7%	99^th
2013 Jan-Jan	5	5	100.0%	99^th

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:

@unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000
Congressional Pictorial Directory for the photo
GPO.gov/FDSys, for sponsored bills

Fortney “Pete” Stark is pronounced:

The letters stand for sounds according to the following table:

Letter	Sounds As In

Capital letters indicate a stressed syllable.

Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark

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