Cárdenas is the representative for California’s 29th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2013. Cárdenas is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.
![Photo of Rep. Tony Cárdenas [D-CA29]](/static/legislator-photos/412517-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Cárdenas is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Cárdenas has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to Jun 28, 2022. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
Tony Cárdenas sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Cárdenas was the primary sponsor of 5 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 3182: Safe Sleep for Babies Act of 2021
- H.R. 1253 (116th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 13507 Van Nuys Boulevard in Pacoima, California, as the “Ritchie Valens Post Office Building”.
- H.R. 1252 (116th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 6531 Van Nuys Boulevard in Van Nuys, California, as the “Marilyn Monroe Post Office”.
- H.R. 1009 (116th): National Evaluation of Techniques for Making Energy Technologies More Efficient and Resilient Act of 2019
- H.R. 1925 (115th): At-Risk Youth Medicaid Protection Act of 2018
Does 5 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
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 at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Cárdenas sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Health (29%) Crime and Law Enforcement (25%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (12%) Commerce (12%) Energy (7%) Environmental Protection (5%) Government Operations and Politics (5%) Transportation and Public Works (4%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Cárdenas recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 8199: To ban certain small, high-powered magnets, and for other purposes.
- H.R. 7976: Prohibiting Detention of Youth Status Offenders Act of 2022
- H.Res. 1105: Expressing support for increasing the number of Latino students and young professionals entering …
- H.Res. 1066: Expressing support for the designation of April 2022 as “Second Chance Month”.
- H.Res. 1018: Recognizing March 31 as “César Chávez Day” in honor of the accomplishments and …
- H.R. 7232: 9–8–8 and Parity Assistance Act of 2022
- H.R. 7116: 9–8–8 Implementation Act of 2022
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2013 to Jun 2022, Cárdenas missed 311 of 5,441 roll call votes, which is 5.7%. This is much worse than the median of 2.1% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.
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
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
