Tom McGrath
Tom McGrath (No party preference) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent California's 47th Congressional District. He lost in the primary on March 5, 2024.
McGrath completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Tom McGrath's career experience includes working as a chemical engineer. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California, San Diego, a graduate degree from the University of California, San Diego, and a graduate degree from the University of California, Irvine.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: California's 47th Congressional District election, 2024
California's 47th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House California District 47
Dave Min defeated Scott Baugh in the general election for U.S. House California District 47 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Dave Min (D)  | 51.4 | 181,721 |
 | Scott Baugh (R) | 48.6 | 171,554 | |
| Total votes: 353,275 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 47
The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 47 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Scott Baugh (R) | 32.1 | 57,517 |
| ✔ | | Dave Min (D) | 25.9 | 46,393 |
 | Joanna Weiss (D) | 19.4 | 34,802 | |
 | Max Ukropina (R) | 14.8 | 26,585 | |
 | Long Pham (R) | 2.7 | 4,862 | |
 | Terry Crandall (No party preference) | 1.6 | 2,878 | |
 | Boyd Roberts (D) | 1.4 | 2,570 | |
 | Tom McGrath (No party preference) | 0.9 | 1,611 | |
 | Bill Smith (No party preference) | 0.6 | 1,062 | |
| Shariq Zaidi (D) | 0.4 | 788 | ||
| Total votes: 179,068 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Andrew Goffe (D)
- Weiming Chu (R)
- Harley Rouda (D)
- Julia Hashemieh (R)
- Steven Cotton (R)
- James Griffin (R)
- Mike Schaefer (D)
- Brian Burley (R)
- Lori Kirkland Baker (D)
- Dom Jones (D)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for McGrath in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Tom McGrath completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by McGrath's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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My educational background is chemical engineering and business. I completed a B.S. and a M.S. in chemical engineering at UC San Diego and an MBA at UC Irvine.
I have been an engineer and manager for 35 years, primarily on projects to characterize and reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the oil & gas and electric power generation industries. Project success required planning and organization, fact- and best data-based research and analysis collaboration with groups from a wide range of disciplines, budget management, and oral and written communication. Federal, state, and local regulations limit pollutant emissions and frequent regulatory analysis and development work has provided an understanding of data-based regulations that cost-effectively accomplish their intent.
I believe that the skill set developed during my professional career will make me an effective legislator.- The Federal Debt is $34 trillion (T) and on a path to over $150T by 2053 - over 1 in 3 tax dollars will then be needed for unproductive interest payments. This Debt will unjustly burden future generations and jeopardize the long-term prosperity and security of our country. Legislators need to work to identify and mitigate government waste and inefficiency; vote for policies and legislation to increase revenues and reduce spending (spend less, spend smarter); and make difficult, sometimes politically unpopular decisions. Initial actions to increase revenues and reduce spending should include pursuing tax evaders (who avoid an estimated $1T a year) and policies that synergize with efforts to reduce Healthcare costs and control Climate Change
- 2023 was the hottest year on record and Climate Change induced extreme weather- & climate-events cost the U.S. ~ $150 billion. Unless greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are rapidly reduced, more frequent & extreme events will burden future generations with higher costs, lower economic growth, & social disruption. Needed actions: 1.) Reduce fossil fuel use balanced by an increase in renewable/“zero-carbon” energy to ensure U.S. energy security; 2.) apply a progressive fee on GHG emissions to use market forces to cost-effectively lower fossil fuel use & GHG emissions; and 3.) China dominates manufacturing of renewable energy components & systems. The U.S. needs to reverse this and be the technological leader of the energy systems of the future.
- U.S. Healthcare Costs are about $12,000 per person and consume about 18% of our Gross Domestic Product. This level of spending is much greater than all other wealthy peer countries (e.g., Germany, France, England) and U.S. health outcomes are generally the poorest: lowest life-expectancy at birth, highest maternal & infant mortality rates, highest obesity rate, it is a long list. Healthcare system reforms that emphasize preventive care and eliminate waste (an estimated 25 – 30% of healthcare spending) are needed. All the peer countries, with better health outcomes and lower costs, have universal healthcare coverage. The U.S. should transition from its fragmented public/private insurance to universal coverage for similar benefits.
Here comes an elephant.
Scott Barton, retired Principal of The Preuss School, UC San Diego
Wendy Coulson, PhD Chemical Engineering. Senior Scientist at Innovative Environmental Solutions (IES)
John Kappeler, Engineer
Kathleen Leary, Educator
Dr. Millie Lee, MD, FACC, MBA, RYT
Tom Masiello, retired United States Air Force Major General
Jim McCarthy, Engineer, Principal at IES
Leona Olson, Educator
Jeff Panek, Scientist, Principal at IES
E.J. Ziemann, Educator, Small Business Owner
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Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 5, 2024
