Jim Bates | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's44th district | |
| In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1991 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency abolished |
| Succeeded by | Duke Cunningham |
| Chair of theSan Diego County Board of Supervisors | |
| In office 1982 | |
| Preceded by | Paul Eckert |
| Succeeded by | Paul Fordem |
| In office January 5, 1977 – January 5, 1978 | |
| Preceded by | Lee Taylor |
| Succeeded by | Tom Hamilton |
| Member of theSan Diego County Board of Supervisors from the 4th district | |
| In office 1976–1982 | |
| Preceded by | Jim Bear |
| Succeeded by | Leon Williams |
| Member of theSan Diego City Council from the 8th district | |
| In office 1971 – January 23, 1975 | |
| Preceded by | Mike Schaefer |
| Succeeded by | Jess Haro |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1941-07-21)July 21, 1941 (age 84) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | San Diego State University (BA) |
Jim Bates (born July 21, 1941) is an American former politician who served as aDemocratic elected official fromSan Diego,California. He served four terms in theUnited States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1991. He was the first congressman to be disciplined forsexual harassment.[1]
Bates was born inDenver,Colorado, and graduated fromEast High School (Denver) in 1959. He joined theUnited States Marine Corps in 1959, and served in the Corps until 1963. Relocating toSan Diego, Bates became a banker and was employed in theaerospace industry. He obtained his bachelor's degree fromSan Diego State University in 1975.[2]
Bates was elected to the San Diego city council in 1971 and served until 1974. He was elected chairman of theSan Diego Countyboard of supervisors in 1977, and would serve in that position again in 1982. At the time he was the youngest chairman of the board.[citation needed]
Bates resigned from the board in 1982 to run for a seat in theU.S. House of Representatives, representingCalifornia's newly created44th Congressional District. The district was created after the 1980 census round of redistricting as the most Democratic district in the San Diego area; it included much of the territory represented for 18 years byLionel Van Deerlin before his defeat byDuncan Hunter. Bateswon election in 1982 with 65% of the vote, and was re-elected in 1984, 1986, and 1988, with 69.7%, 64.2%, and 59.7% of the vote, respectively.
Bates was defeated in the 1990 election 46.3%-44.8% byRandy "Duke" Cunningham. Bates ran in the Democratic primary in June 1992 for the newly created50th District, which included much of his former territory. However, he lost the nomination to his former aide,Bob Filner.[3]
In 1988, stories surfaced of Bates having groped and touched both women and men who worked for him as well as others. Dorena Bertussi, a legislative assistant for Bates, testified that "he put my leg in between his and started to do a bump and grind on it, like a dog," and sued Bates for sexual harassment.[1] In 1989, Bates was reprimanded by the House with their lightest possible censure, a "letter of reproval".[4][5] He was the first congressman to be sanctioned by the House for sexual harassment;[3] his case is now explicitly cited in the House ethics manual as an example of impermissible sexual harassment.[1] Following Bates's loss in the 1990 election, Bertussi dropped her suit against him.[6]
Bates was later implicated in theHouse banking scandal; he had written four bad checks to his congressional campaign.[7]
In 2017 Bates founded the United States-Bangladesh Friendship Group, of which he is currently Executive Director.[8] That group helps promotes clean water supplies and recently facilitated delivery of $3.7 million in medical equipment and supplies, donated by the non-profit Helping Hand.[citation needed]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jim Bates | 78,474 | 64.9 | ||
| Republican | Shirley M. Gissendanner | 38,447 | 31.8 | ||
| Libertarian | Jim Conole | 3,904 | 3.3 | ||
| Total votes | 120,825 | 100.0 | |||
| Democraticwin (new seat) | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jim Bates (Incumbent) | 99,378 | 69.7 | |
| Republican | Neill Campbell | 39,977 | 28.1 | |
| Libertarian | Jim Conole | 3,206 | 2.2 | |
| Total votes | 142,561 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jim Bates (Incumbent) | 70,557 | 64.2 | |
| Republican | Bill Mitchell | 36,359 | 33.2 | |
| Peace and Freedom | Shirley Rachel Issacson | 1,676 | 1.5 | |
| Libertarian | Dennis Thompson | 1,244 | 1.1 | |
| Total votes | 109,836 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jim Bates (Incumbent) | 90,796 | 59.7 | |
| Republican | Rob Butterfield | 55,511 | 36.5 | |
| Libertarian | Dennis Thompson | 5,782 | 3.8 | |
| Total votes | 152,089 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Duke Cunningham | 50,377 | 46.3 | |||
| Democratic | Jim Bates (Incumbent) | 48,712 | 44.8 | |||
| Peace and Freedom | Donna White | 5,237 | 4.9 | |||
| Libertarian | John Wallner | 4,385 | 4.0 | |||
| Total votes | 108,711 | 100.0 | ||||
| Republicangain fromDemocratic | ||||||
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| New constituency | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's 44th congressional district 1983–1991 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
