Jim Costa | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2018 | |
| Chair of theBlue Dog Coalition for Policy | |
| In office January 3, 2023 – May 24, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Tom O'Halleran |
| Succeeded by | Mary Peltola |
| Chair of theBlue Dog Coalition for Administration | |
| In office January 3, 2017 – January 3, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Kurt Schrader |
| Succeeded by | Stephanie Murphy |
| Chair of theBlue Dog Coalition for Communications | |
| In office January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Kurt Schrader |
| Succeeded by | Henry Cuellar |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Cal Dooley |
| Constituency | 20th district (2005–2013) 16th district (2013–2023) 21st district (2023–present) |
| Member of theCalifornia State Senate from the16th district | |
| In office December 5, 1994 – November 30, 2002 | |
| Preceded by | Phil Wyman |
| Succeeded by | Dean Florez |
| Member of theCalifornia State Assembly from the30th district | |
| In office December 4, 1978 – November 30, 1994 | |
| Preceded by | Kenneth L. Maddy |
| Succeeded by | Brian Setencich |
| Personal details | |
| Born | James Manuel Costa (1952-04-13)April 13, 1952 (age 73) Fresno, California, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Education | California State University, Fresno (BA) |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Costa on the humanitarian crisis at theMexico-United States border. Recorded July 11, 2019 | |
James Manuel CostaComM (born April 13, 1952) is an American politician serving as theU.S. representative forCalifornia's 21st congressional district since 2023. He previously represented the20th congressional district from 2005 to 2013 and the16th congressional district from 2013 to 2023. A member of theDemocratic Party, his district includes most ofFresno.
Costa served in theCalifornia State Assembly from 1978 to 1994, and then in theCalifornia State Senate from 1994 until 2002. During his time in the Assembly, he served as Majority Caucus Chair. Costa chaired theBlue Dog Coalition in the U.S. House of Representatives during the116th Congress[1] and chaired theSubcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture during the117th Congress.
Costa was born on April 13, 1952, inFresno, California.[2] His parents were Manuel and Lena Cardoso Costa.[3] All of his four grandparents immigrated from theAzores, aPortuguesearchipelago in theNorth Atlantic, in the early 20th century.[4] Three of them were unable to read or write and initially found work as laborers on dairy farms before eventually establishing their own. His parents grew up speakingPortuguese and did not learn English until they started school. He grew up working on the family farm.[3]
Costa attendedSan Joaquin Memorial High School, a privateCatholic school inFresno, where he graduated in 1970.[3] He then enrolled atCalifornia State University, Fresno (commonly known as Fresno State), earning aBachelor of Arts degree inpolitical science in 1974. While in college, he was a member ofSigma Alpha Epsilon[2] and interned in the office of U.S. RepresentativeB. F. Sisk.[3]
Following his graduation, Costa worked as an aide to U.S. RepresentativeJohn Krebs, assisting in policy matters related toCalifornia's Central Valley. He later becamechief of staff to California State Assemblyman and future U.S. RepresentativeRick Lehman.[3]
In 1978, Costa was elected to a seat in theCalifornia State Assembly. At the time of his election to the Assembly, he was the youngest member of thestate legislature at age 26. He represented part ofFresno County in the legislature for 24 years, serving in the state Assembly for 16 years (1978–1994) and in the state Senate for eight years (1994–2002). He was a sponsor of theCosta-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, a bill signed into law in 1995 that prohibits rent control on single-family homes, condominiums, and any rental unit constructed after February 1, 1995.[5]
From 2000 to 2001, Costa served as the president of theNational Conference of State Legislatures.[6]
In 2004, Costa entered the Democratic primary for the 20th Congressional District, which was opened up by the retirement ofCal Dooley, its seven-term incumbent. Dooley endorsed his chief of staff, Lisa Quigley, as his successor, but most of the state's Democratic Party establishment, includingSenatorDianne Feinstein, endorsed Costa, who won the bruising primary and facedRepublicanstate senatorRoy Ashburn in November.[citation needed]
The 20th District at the time was a heavily Democratic, 63% Latino-majority district; it gaveAl Gore his highest vote total outside the state's two largeconurbations (Sacramento and theSan Francisco Bay Area in the north andLos Angeles andSan Diego in the south). Nonetheless, the Republicans spent a substantial amount of money on the race. Ashburn's campaign made plays on Costa's name ("Costa's going to cost ya") and linked him to former governorGray Davis, calling them "two taxing twins".[citation needed] Costa won the election with 53% of the vote to Ashburn's 47%.[7] Ashburn kept the margin within single digits by winning heavily RepublicanKings County.
In 2006, Costa was unopposed for re-election. The Democrats won control of the House in that election, and Costa became chair of theNatural Resources Committee's Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee. He is a member of theHouse Agriculture Committee.[citation needed]
Costa was re-elected in 2008 with 74% of the vote, the highest percentage for a Democratic incumbent outside Sacramento, the Bay Area, and Southern California.[citation needed]
In 2010, Costa was challenged for re-election by RepublicanAndy Vidak. In his closest race yet, the race was officially called for Costa nearly three weeks after election day,[8] with the unofficial final tally standing at 45,806 votes (51.8%) for Costa and 42,773 (48.2%) for Vidak.
For his first four terms, Costa represented a district including most of the majority-Latino portions of Fresno andBakersfield. Redistricting after the 2010 census renumbered his 20th district as the 21st and made it slightly more Republican. In February 2012, Costa announced that he would run in the newly formed 16th district, a much more compact district that included most of Fresno as well as most ofMerced.[9] That district had previously been the 19th, represented by freshman RepublicanJeff Denham. Denham's home had been drawn into the neighboring 10th district (formerly the 18th), and he sought re-election there. While most of Costa's old territory remained in the 21st, the new 16th absorbed most of the old 20th's share of Fresno County, including his home.
Costa faced Republican Brian Whelan in the general election. After the new districts were announced, it was reported that theNRCC considered Costa vulnerable,[10] but had the district existed in 2008,Barack Obama would have carried it with 57% of the vote.[11]
In November 2011, theLeague of Conservation Voters ran a series of television ads in Costa's district criticizing his environmental record.[12] Costa was reelected with 54% of the vote.[13]
Costa faced an unexpectedly close race in 2014 against Republican Johnny Tacherra, a dairy farmer from rural Fresno County. On election night, Tacherra led by 736 votes, a margin that grew to 1,772 a few days later. Tacherra's lead narrowed as counting continued, and Costa ultimately defeated him by 1,319 votes.[14] While Tacherra carried the district's portions of Merced and Madera counties, Costa defeated him in Fresno County by 9,600 votes.[15]
In 2016, Costa was the sole Democratic candidate in the "top two" primary, and received 50,917 votes (55.9%). In the general election he again faced Tacherra, who had received 30,342 votes (33.1%) in the primary.[16] Costa was reelected with 58% of the vote to Tacherra's 42%.[17]
In the 2018 "top two" primary, Costa defeated the only Republican candidate, Elizabeth Heng, 53% to 47%. He was re-elected that fall in a Democratic "wave" in California, 57.5% to 42.5%.[18]
Costa and Republican challenger Kevin Cookingham, a formerClovis Unified School District educator,[19] advanced through the "top two" primary in 2020, besting two Democratic challengers. Costa then won the general election with 59.4% of the vote to Cookingham's 40.6%.[20][21]
For 2022, Costa was redistricted to District 21. In the general election, he defeated the Republican nominee, former FBI agent Michael Maher, with 54.2% of the vote to Maher's 45.8%.[22]
Costa and Maher met in a rematch in 2024. Maher again lost, but made the race closer—he finished with 47.4% of the vote to Costa's 52.6%.[23]
Costa called in July forJoe Biden to withdraw from the2024 United States presidential election.[24]
On March 6, 2025, Costa was one of ten Democrats in Congress who joined all of their Republican colleagues in voting to censure Democratic congressmanAl Green for interrupting PresidentDonald Trump'sState of the Union Address.[25]
For the118th Congress:[26]
Member of the:[27]
Costa opposed the2022 overturning ofRoe v. Wade, saying, "this ruling strips women of their freedom to make their own decisions and the constitutional right to privacy."[31][better source needed] He is an original co-sponsor of theWomen's Health Protection Act.[32][non-primary source needed]
Costa co-sponsored the bipartisan Agricultural Certainty for Reporting Emissions (ACRE) Act. The act would strip provisions fromComprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), which was responsible for ensuring cleanup of industrial toxic waste dumps, oil spills, and chemical tank explosions environmental regulations on farmland.[33] If enacted, the act would reduce transparency by protecting livestock farmers from changes to waste storage and disposal methods. Another provision would protect farmers from strict water laws, regulated under theClean Water Act.[34]
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Costa supports DC statehood. He was a co-sponsor and voted forWashington, D.C. Admission Act, which would grant statehood to the residential areas of the currentDistrict of Columbia as the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth.
On February 9, 2023, Costa, along with 30 other Democrats, voted with House Republicans to reject the Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022, passed by theCouncil of the District of Columbia.
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Costa was one of five House Democrats to vote to continue selling arms to Saudi Arabia and to support theSaudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.[35]
Costa voted to provide Israel with support following theOctober 7 attacks.[36][37]
Costa accusedTurkey, aNATO member, of inciting the conflict betweenArmenia andAzerbaijan over thedisputed region ofNagorno-Karabakh, saying, "Azerbaijan has continued to fuel this fire by failing to recognize the sovereignty of the Republic of Artsakh, while Turkey has helped enable this aggression."[38] On October 1, 2020, he co-signed a letter to Secretary of StateMike Pompeo that condemned Azerbaijan's offensive operations against theArmenian-populatedRepublic of Artsakh, denounced Turkey's role in theNagorno-Karabakh conflict and called for an immediate ceasefire.[39]
In February 2023, during theRusso-Ukrainian War, Costa signed a letter advocating for President Biden to giveF-16 fighter jets toUkraine.[40] Costa has been a regular attendee of the Yalta European Strategy annual meetings founded and sponsored by Ukrainian oligarchVictor Pinchuk.[41][42]
Costa was reportedly a holdout vote on theAffordable Care Act (Obamacare) in March 2010. He ultimately voted for the legislation.[43] To gain Costa's vote, the House leadership reportedly promised Costa andDennis Cardoza funding for a medical school for California's Central Valley.[44]
He is an original co-sponsor of theAmerican Dream and Promise Act,[45][self-published source?] which provides a pathway to citizenship forDeferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. He was instrumental in crafting the bipartisan Farmworker Modernization Act,[45][self-published source?] which would give undocumented farmworkers and their family members a path to legal immigration status.
In 2008, Costa wrote a piece inCapitol Weekly calling for high-speed rail in California.[46] He advocated creating ahigh-speed rail system that would go up and down California as well as across the nation at speeds of 225 miles per hour. He introduced different bills to support these rails. Costa's longtime colleagueGeorge Miller compared rail projects to PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower's highway expansion and pleaded to Transportation SecretaryRay LaHood and PresidentBarack Obama for help with this project.[47]
In 2015, Costa was one of 28 House Democrats to vote to build theKeystone XL pipeline.[48]
In 2021, Costa joined a group of conservative Democrats, dubbed "The Unbreakable Nine", who threatened to derail the Biden administration's $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package meant to tackle the nation's infrastructure.[49][50]
In December 2017, Costa introduced legislation to allow someHmong- andLaotian-American veterans to be buried in U.S. national cemeteries. The legislation applies to Hmong and Laotian veterans who fought alongside the U.S. against North Vietnamese forces in the 1960s and 1970s. The bill, which does not allow for burials atArlington National Cemetery, applies only to veterans who pass away on or after the bill's enactment. The bill was enacted in March 2018 as part of theConsolidated Appropriations Act of 2018.[51]
Costa isRoman Catholic,[52] and has been described as a liberal Catholic who favorsabortion rights.[53][54]
Commander of theOrder of Merit,Portugal (June 8, 1996)[55]
Ukraine{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
| Preceded by | President of the National Conference of State Legislatures 2000–2001 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's 20th congressional district 2005–2013 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's 16th congressional district 2013–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's 21st congressional district 2023–present | Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chair of theBlue Dog Coalition for Communications 2015–2017 Served alongside:Kurt Schrader (Administration),Jim Cooper (Policy) | Succeeded by |
| Chair of theBlue Dog Coalition for Administration 2017–2019 Served alongside:Henry Cuellar (Communications),Dan Lipinski (Policy) | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Chair of theBlue Dog Coalition for Policy 2023 Served alongside:Jared Golden (Administration and Communications) | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 46th | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Order of precedence of the United States | Succeeded by |
| People | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
