Elections

In 1996, Cárdenas ran for California's 39th State Assembly district after Democratic incumbent Richard Katz decided not to run for reelection. He defeated Republican Ollie McCaulley 72%-28%.^[7] In 1998, he was reelected with 87% of the vote.^[8][9] In 2000, he was reelected to a third term with 78% of the vote.^[10][11]

Tenure

Cárdenas's state reforms brought 78,000 new classroom seats and 15 playgrounds throughout Los Angeles. He also secured more than $650 million for new school construction. He authored legislation that reformed California's gang prevention and intervention programs and teamed up with fellow Democrat Adam Schiff to create the Schiff-Cárdenas Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act.^[12]

Committee assignments

• Energy and Commerce^[13][14]

Elections

This section needs to be updated. (November 2020)

In 2002, Cárdenas ran for the Los Angeles City Council's 2nd district. Wendy Greuel defeated him 50.4%-49.6%, a difference of 225 votes.^[15][16] In 2003, he ran for the City Council's 6th district. He defeated Jose Roy Garcia 69%-31%.^[17] In 2007, he was reelected with 66% of the vote.^[18] In 2011, he was reelected to a third term with 58% of the vote.^[19]

Tenure

Cárdenas is an animal rights activist. He authored legislation that created Los Angeles's first Animal Cruelty Task Force, which arrests animal abusers. He supported the city's mandatory spay/neuter ordinance to reduce the number of stray and homeless animals.

Cárdenas strongly supported green energy. He proposed the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard that established goals for the city's Department of Water and Power to obtain at least 20% of its energy from wind and solar. He also proposed a plan that would convert all of the city's taxis to be fuel-efficient by 2015.^[20]

As chair of the city's Ad Hoc Committee on Gang Violence and Youth Development, Cárdenas identified millions of dollars overlooked by the city to help keep kids off the streets, and reduced crime while reducing expenditures on crime abatement programs. As vice chair of the city's Public Safety Committee, he spearheaded the most comprehensive gang intervention model in the country. The Community-Based Gang Intervention Model standardized and defined the methods used by gang intervention workers to help stop violence in some of Los Angeles's most dangerous neighborhoods.^[21]

In 2012, Cárdenas passed amendments to the city's daytime curfew ordinance. The new policy eliminated fines of up to $500 that students were facing. It also reduced court visits for parents and students and gave students the opportunity to do community service to eliminate citations.^[22]

Committee assignments

• Business Tax Reform (chair)
• Energy and Natural Resources (chair)
• Gang Violence and Youth Development (chair)^[23]
• Budget and Finance
• Housing, Community and Economic Development

Committee assignments

For the 118th Congress:^[24]

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security
  • Subcommittee on Health

Caucus memberships

• New Democrat Coalition^[25]
• American Sikh Congressional Caucus
• House Baltic Caucus^[26]
• Congressional Arts Caucus^[27]
• Congressional Hispanic Caucus^[28]
• Congressional Coalition on Adoption^[29]

Elections

In 2012, Cárdenas ran for the newly redrawn California's 29th congressional district after redistricting. In the June open primary, he ranked first with 64% of the vote. Independent David Hernandez, president of the San Fernando Chamber of Commerce, ranked second with 22% of the vote, qualifying for the November election. Richard Valdez ranked third with 14% of the vote.^[30] In the November general election, Cárdenas defeated Hernandez, 74%-26%.^[31][32]

Tenure

As of October 2021, Cárdenas had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time.^[33]

On November 20, 2023, it was reported that Cárdenas would not run for re-election in 2024.^[3]

Abortion

Cárdenas opposed the overturning of Roe v. Wade, calling it an "all out assault on autonomy".^[34]

Big Tech

In 2022, Cárdenas was one of 16 Democrats to vote against the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.^[35][36]

Israel

Cardenas voted to provide Israel with support following 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.^[37][38]