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Darrell Issa

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Darrell Issa
Darrell Issa.jpg
U.S. House, California, District 49
Incumbent
In office
2001-Present
Term ends
January 3, 2015
Years in position 12
PartyRepublican
PredecessorRon Packard (R)
Compensation
Base salary$174,000/year
Elections and appointments
Last electionNovember 6, 2012
First electedNovember 7, 2000
Next electionNovember 4, 2014
Campaign $$9,631,948
Term limitsN/A
Education
Bachelor'sSiena Heights University, 1976
Associate'sKent State University, 1976
Military service
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of service1970-1980
Personal
Place of birthCleveland, Ohio
Net worth$480,325,019
Websites
Office website
Campaign website

Contents

Darrell Issa is a Republican member of the U.S. House representing California's 49th congressional district. Issa was first elected to the House in 2000.

Aside from his service in Congress, Issa is also known for being a major contributor to the 2003 recall election of then-Governor Gray Davis. In October 2007, Issa announced that he was supporting the Presidential Electoral Reform Act, a ballot measure that would change how California selects its representatives to the presidential electoral college.

Issa won re-election[1] in the 2012 election for the U.S. House, representing California's 49th District as a Republican.[2]The open primary election took place on June 5, 2012.

Biography

Issa's mother is of Bohemian German descent and his father is of Lebanese Christian descent. Issa was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He grew up in a Jewish neighborhood and worked for a rabbi. Issa enlisted in the United States Army during his senior year of high school, where he served as a bomb disposal technician.

He attended Kent State University Stark in North Canton, Ohio and Siena Heights College in Adrian, Michigan, on an ROTC scholarship, earning a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1976. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a US Army Officer, serving as a tank platoon leader and a computer research and development specialist, among other command roles. He left the Regular Army in 1980 with the rank of captain. He later moved to Vista, California, a suburb of San Diego, where he now lives.

Issa made his fortune through his company, Directed Electronics Incorporated, that is most famous for its flagship product, the "Viper" car alarm. It bears one notable siren that is a recording of Issa's voice, "Warning, you are too close, this vehicle protected by Viper." As of 2004, Directed Electronics was North America's largest aftermarket automotive electronics manufacturer. Issa divested all personal interest in Directed Electronics after being elected to public office, but is one of the richest members of the House.

Career

Below is an abbreviated outline of Issa's academic, professional and political career:[3]

  • 1976: Graduated from Siena Heights College with B.A.
  • 1970-1980: United States Army
  • 2001-Present: U.S Representative from California

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2013-2014

Issa serves on the following committees in the 113th Congress:[4][5]

2011-2012

Issa served on the following committees:[6]

Issues

IRS targeting

On May 10, 2013, news broke that various branches of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had specifically targeted conservative groups' applications for tax-exempt status. This began during the tea party surge in 2010. The agency was separating tax-exempt applications by searching for political terms such as "tea party" and "patriot." In June 2011, an IRS official was briefed on these transgressions and asked that this practice end. The flagging continued, however, when the criteria was changed in January 2012 to look out for groups educating on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.[7]

The targeting includes allegations that tea party groups were forced to provide information not asked of other tax exempt groups. Examples of this included requests for donor information, Facebook posts, resumes and political intentions of group officials and connections to other groups.[8][9]

During the May 22 House committee hearing on the issue, Issa claimed that J. Russell George, the IRS inspector general, had not fulfilled his obligation to inform the House of any serious problems, "You have a responsibility to keep us continually, and according to statue, equally informed. In this case, it appears you did not. Would you agree with that?” Issa stated. [10]

House Judiciary Committee

Congressman Issa was first appointed to the House Judiciary Committee shortly after he was sworn into the Congress in 2001.[11]

Gubernatorial recall

Issa came to national prominence when he contributed over $1.6 million to help fund a signature-gathering drive for the petition to recall Gray Davis. At the time he made the contribution, it was widely believed that Issa intended to place himself on the ballot to replace Davis. However, with only two days before the filing deadline, Issa announced that he would not run. Issa later said that his mission had been accomplished since Davis was recalled and he wanted to continue representing his district in Congress and work towards Middle East peace.

For the recall election, Issa endorsed Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, at one point in the campaign he actually suggested that people should vote against recalling Davis, concerned that Schwarzenegger and fellow Republican Tom McClintock would split votes and install Democratic lieutenant governor Cruz Bustamante as Davis' successor[12]

Presidential preference

2012

See also: Endorsements by state officials of presidential candidates in the 2012 election

Darrell Issa endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election. [13]

Earmarks

A Washington Post investigation in February 2012 revealed that 33 members of Congress helped direct more than $300 million in earmarks to public projects in close proximity to commercial and residential real estate owned by the lawmakers or their family members.[14] According to the report, Issa secured $815,000 in earmarks between 2007 and 2009 to widen a road less than a mile from a medical building in Vista, California, that Issa purchased for $16.6 million in 2008.[15]

Specific votes

Fiscal Cliff

Voted "No" Issa voted against the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was one of 151 Republicans that voted against the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257/167 vote on January 1, 2013.[16]

Elections

2012

See also: California's 49th congressional district elections, 2012

Issa won re-election in the 2012 election for the U.S. House, representing California's 49th District as a Republican.[1] He and Jerry Tetalman (D) advanced past the June 5, 2012, blanket primary, defeating Dick Eiden (Ind) and Albin Novinec (Ind). They faced off in the November 6, 2012, general election.[17][18]

U.S. House, California, District 49 General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark.jpgDarrell Issa Incumbent 58.2% 159,725
     Democratic Jerry Tetalman 41.8% 114,893
Total Votes 274,618
Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

Full history


Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Issa is available dating back to 2000. Based on available campaign finance records, Issa raised a total of $9,631,948 during that time period. This information was last updated on March 22, 2013.[25]

Darrell Issa's Campaign Contribution History
Year Office Result Contributions
2012 US House (California, District 49) Won $2,478,710
2010 US House (California, District 49) Won $1,495,193
2008 US House (California, District 49) Won $1,035,312
2006 US House (California, District 49) Won $908,837
2004 US House (California, District 49) Won $871,009
2002 US House (California, District 49) Won $560,857
2000 US House (California, District 48) Won $2,282,030
Grand Total Raised $9,631,948

2012

Breakdown of the source of Issa's campaign funds before the 2012 election.

Issa won re-election to the U.S. House in 2012. During that election cycle, Issa's campaign committee raised a total of $2,478,710 and spent $1,115,221.[26]

2010

Breakdown of the source of Issa's campaign funds before the 2010 election.

Issa won re-election to the U.S. House in 2010. During that election cycle, Issa's campaign committee raised a total of $1,495,193 and spent $1,232,154.[27]

His top 5 contributors between 2009-2010 were:

Analysis

Ideology and leadership

See also: GovTrack's Political Spectrum & Legislative Leadership ranking

2012

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Issa is a "rank-and-file Republican".[28]

National Journal vote ratings

See also: National Journal vote ratings

2012

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Issa ranked 41st in the conservative rankings in 2012.[29]

2011

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Issa ranked 120th in the conservative rankings.[30]

Voting with party

2011

The website Open Congress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus. According to the website, Darrell Issa voted with the Republican Party 94.9% of the time, which ranked 33 among the 242 House Republican members in 2011.[31]

Lifetime missed votes

See also: Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives

According to the website GovTrack, Issa missed 280 of 8,657 roll call votes from January 2001 to March 2013. This amounts to 3.2%, which is worse than the median of 2.2% among current congressional representatives as of March 2013.[32]

Congressional staff salaries

See also: Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

2011

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Issa paid his congressional staff a total of $1,032,736 in 2011. He ranked 30th on the list of the highest paid Republican Representative Staff Salaries and he ranked 129th overall of the highest paid Representative Staff Salaries in 2011. Overall, California ranked 5th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[33]

Net worth

See also: Net Worth of United States Senators and Representatives

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Issa's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $215,550,040 and $745,099,999. That averages to $480,325,019, which is higher than the average net worth of Republican Representatives in 2011 of $7,859,232. His average net worth increased by 7.19% from 2010.[34]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Issa's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $195,400,035 and $700,850,000. That averages to $448,125,017.50, which is higher than the average net worth of Republican Representatives in 2010 of $7,561,133.[35]

Personal

Issa and his wife, Kathy, have one child.

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term Darrell + Issa + California + House

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.

[edit] Darrell Issa News Feed


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External links


References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 CNN "California Districts Race - 2012 Election Center"
  2. ↑ "REGION: Saldana is against Bilbray as redistricting completed", nctimes.com, August 16, 2011
  3. ↑ Biographical Director of the United States Congress "Darrell Issa," Accessed November 16, 2011
  4. ↑ Politico, "House committee chairs all men," November 28, 2012
  5. ↑ CQ.com - Roll Call, "House Committee Rosters for the 113th Congress," accessed January 18, 2013
  6. ↑ Darrell Issa, Serving California's 49th District "Committee Assignments"
  7. ↑ USA Today, "IRS knew of Tea Party profiling in 2011, report shows," accessed May 16, 2013
  8. ↑ Politico, "The IRS wants YOU- to share everything," accessed May 16, 2013
  9. ↑ Washington Post, "IRS officials in Washington were involved in targeting of conservative groups," accessed May 16, 2013
  10. ↑ Politico, "Darrell Issa slams IRS watchdog," May 22, 2013
  11. ↑ "Government Printing Office" 107th Congress House Judiciary Committee(See Page iii)
  12. ↑ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/09/23/ISSA.TMP
  13. ↑ The Hill, "2012 GOP Lawmaker Endorsements for President," retrieved November 23, 2011
  14. ↑ Washington Post "Congressional earmarks sometimes used to fund projects near lawmakers' properties," February 6, 2012
  15. ↑ Washington Post "Mapping the earmarks," February 6, 2012
  16. ↑ U.S. House "Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff" Accessed January 4, 2013.
  17. ↑ California Secretary of State, Official candidate list
  18. ↑ Unofficial election results
  19. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010"
  20. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 2008"
  21. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 2006"
  22. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2004"
  23. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 2002"
  24. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 2000"
  25. ↑ Open Secrets "Career Fundraising for Darrell Issa," Accessed March 22, 2013
  26. ↑ Open Secrets "Darrell Issa 2012 Election Cycle," Accessed February 20, 2013
  27. ↑ Open Secrets "Darrell Issa 2010 Election Cycle," Accessed November 16, 2011
  28. ↑ Gov Track "Issa" Accessed May 15, 2012
  29. ↑ National Journal, "2012 Congressional Vote Ratings," February 21, 2013
  30. ↑ National Journal, "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House," February 23, 2012
  31. ↑ Open Congress "Voting With Party"
  32. ↑ GovTrack, "Darrell Issa," Accessed April 2, 2013
  33. ↑ LegiStorm "Darrell Issa"
  34. ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Issa, (R-Cali), 2011"
  35. ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Issa, (R-Cali), 2010"
Political offices
Preceded by
Ron Packard 		U.S. House of Representatives - California, District 49
2001-Present 		Succeeded by
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Adam Schiff (D) • Alan Lowenthal (D) • Ami Bera (D) • Anna Eshoo (D) • Barbara Lee (D) • Brad Sherman (D) • Howard McKeon (R) • Dana Rohrabacher (R) • Darrell Issa (R) • David G. Valadao (R) • Devin Nunes (R) • Doris Matsui (D) • Doug LaMalfa (R) • Duncan Hunter (R) • Edward Royce (R) • Eric Swalwell (D) • Gary Miller (R) • George Miller (D) • Gloria Negrete McLeod (D) • Grace Napolitano (D) • Henry Waxman (D) • Jackie Speier (D) • Janice Hahn (D) • Jared Huffman (D) • Jeff Denham (R) • Jerry McNerney (D) • Jim Costa (D) • John Campbell (R) • John Garamendi (D) • Juan Vargas (D) • Judy Chu (D) • Julia Brownley (D) • Karen Bass (D) • Ken Calvert (R) • Kevin McCarthy (R) • Linda Sanchez (D) • Lois Capps (D) • Loretta Sanchez (D) • Lucille Roybal-Allard (D) • Mark Takano (D) • Maxine Waters (D) • Mike Honda (D) • Mike Thompson (D) • Nancy Pelosi (D) • Paul Cook (R) • Raul Ruiz (D) • Sam Farr (D) • Scott Peters (D) • Susan Davis (D) • Tom McClintock (R) • Tony Cardenas (D) • Xavier Becerra (D) • Zoe Lofgren (D) •
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