Tom Ammiano

Tom Ammiano
California State Assembly District 17
Incumbent
In office
2008-Present
Term ends
December 1, 2014
Years in position	5
Party	Democratic
Compensation
Base salary	$95,291/year
Per diem	$141.86/day
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 6, 2012
First elected	2008
Next election	November 4, 2014
Term limits	3 terms (6 years)
Prior offices
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
1994-2008
Personal
Birthday	December 15, 1942
Place of birth	New Jersey
Profession	Teacher

Tom Ammiano (b. December 15, 1942) is a Democratic member of the California State Assembly, representing District 17. He was first elected to the chamber in 2008.

Biography

Ammiano's professional experience includes working as a special education teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District from 1969-1990, as an English teacher in Vietnam, and as a stand-up comedian.

Prior to his election to the Assembly, Ammiano served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 1994-2008, and on the San Francisco School Board from 1990-1994. He is a member of the Assembly Coastal Caucus, Environmental Caucus, Golden Gate Bridge Board, Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Caucus, and Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

Ammiano, who is openly gay, has been considered a role model for other gay people seeking election to public office.

Committee assignments

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Ammiano served on the following committees:

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Ammiano served on these committees:

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Ammiano served on these committees:

Issues

Marijuana

Ammiano introduced a bill in the 2009 session of the California State Assembly to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana.

The bill won initial approval from the Assembly's Public Safety Committee in January 2010.

Gay rights

Ammiano was a key organizer against California Proposition 6 (1978), an anti-gay rights proposition which was defeated by state voters in 1978. In the 2008 film "Milk", Ammiano plays a cameo role in which he shouts down the actor playing state Sen. John Briggs.

Sponsored legislation

Ammiano's sponsored legislation includes:

• AB 390 - Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education
• AB 633 - Death penalty
• AB 772 - The Local Government Identification Act

For details and a full listing of sponsored bills, see the House site.

Political Courage test

Ammiano provided answers to the California State Legislative Election 2008 Political Courage Test. The test provides voters with how a candidate would vote on the issues if elected. In the test Ammiano listed his legislative priorities as "Universal access to health care," "Quality public schools and colleges," and "Affordable housing."

Legislative scorecard

Capitol Weekly, California's major weekly periodical covering the state legislature, publishes an annual legislative scorecard to pin down the political or ideological leanings of every member of the legislature based on how they voted on an assortment of bills in the most recent legislative session. The 2009 scores were based on votes on 19 bills, but did not include how legislators voted on the Proposition 1A (2009). On the scorecard, "100" is a perfect liberal score and "0" is a perfect conservative score. ,

On the 2009 Capitol Weekly legislative scorecard, Ammiano ranked as a 100, along with eight other Democratic members of the state assembly.

Elections

2012

See also: California State Assembly elections, 2012

Ammiano won re-election in the 2012 election for California State Assembly District 17. Due to redistricting following the 2010 census, he was displaced from District 13. He and Jason Clark (R) advanced past the blanket primary on June 5, 2012, unopposed. He was subsequently elected in the general election on November 6, 2012.

California State Assembly, District 17, General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Tom Ammiano Incumbent	86.2%	161,124
	Republican	Jason P. Clark	13.8%	25,728
Total Votes				186,852

2010

See also: California State Assembly elections, 2010

Ammiano won re-election to the 13th District Seat in 2010. He had no opposition in the June 8 primary. He defeated Republican Laura A. Peter in the November 2 general election.

California State Assembly, District 13 General Election (2010)
Candidates		Votes
Tom Ammiano (D)		120,174
Laura A. Peter (R)		24,741

2008

In 2008 Ammiano was elected to the California State Assembly District 13. Ammiano (D) finished with 162,977 votes while his opponent Harmeet Dhillon (R) finished with 32,552 votes. Ammiano raised $544,239 for his campaign fund.

California State Assembly District 13
Candidates		Votes
Tom Ammiano (D)		162,977
Harmeet Dhillon (R)		32,552

Campaign donors

2012

Campaign donor information is not yet available for this year.

2010

In 2010, Ammiano raised $293,960 in contributions.

His four largest contributors were:

Donor	Amount
California Teachers Association	$15,600
Operating Engineers Local 3	$11,700
Service Employees Local 1021	$7,800
District Council Of Ironworkers	$7,800

2008

Below are Ammiano's top 5 campaign contributors in the 2008 election:

Contributor	2008 total
California Nurses Association	$14,400
California State Council of Service Employees	$14,400
California Teachers Association	$14,400
Operating Engineers Local 3	$14,400
CA State Pipe Trades Council	$10,800

"You lie!" incident

In October 2009, Arnold Schwarzenegger attended a Democratic County Central Committee fundraiser in San Francisco. Ammiano said he thought that the appearance by the Republican Governor of California was a "cheap publicity stunt." When Schwarzenegger was introduced, Ammiano shouted "You lie!" and walked out of the gathering, saying that Schwarzenegger could "kiss my gay ass."

Personal

Ammiano, who is single, has one child, Annie Jupiter Jones.

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a google news search for the term Tom + Ammiano + California + Legislature

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

Tom Ammiano News Feed

• California AB-1266, the 'bathroom bill' passes committee, heads to senate - Examiner.com
• Hagman condemns bill that would allow boys into girls' locker rooms, and vice ... - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
• Howard Jarvis leader talks about Prop. 13 - Sacramento Business Journal
• California homeless rights bill fails in Assembly committee - Sacramento Bee (blog)
• Marijuana regulatory bill stalls in California Legislature - Sacramento Bee (blog)
• California Medical Marijuana Regulation Bill Falls Short in Assembly - The Daily Chronic
• California Medical Marijuana Bill Fails, Leaving Pot Industry Largely Unregulated - Huffington Post
• San Francisco Democratic Party Calls on Obama to End Medical Marijuana Attacks - The Daily Chronic
• The Scam Known As Medical Marijuana - Oakdale Leader (blog)
• California Senate passes series of gun, ammunition bills - Daily Democrat

External links

Suggest a link

• Tom Ammiano's personal website
• Legislative profile of Tom Ammiano on Project Vote Smart
• Biographical profile of Tom Ammiano on Project Vote Smart
• Campaign contributions: 2010, 2008

References

Political offices
Preceded by Cathleen Galgiani (D)	California State Assembly District 17 2012-present	Succeeded by NA
Preceded by -	California State Assembly District 13 2008–2012	Succeeded by Susan Talamantes Eggman (D)