Pete Stark

Not to be confused with Peter Stark or Péter Stark.

Pete Stark
Official portrait, 2002
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California
In office
January 3, 1973 – January 3, 2013
Preceded byGeorge P. Miller
Succeeded byEric Swalwell (redistricting)
Constituency8th district (1973–1975)
9th district (1975–1993)
13th district (1993–2013)
Personal details
Born
Fortney Hillman Stark Jr.

(1931-11-11)November 11, 1931
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
DiedJanuary 24, 2020(2020-01-24) (aged 88)
Harwood, Maryland, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouses
  • Elinor Brumder
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1955, divorced)​
  • Carolyn Wente
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1989; div. 1991)​
  • Deborah Roderick
    ​
    (m. 1991)​
    [1]
Children7
Alma materMassachusetts Institute of Technology (BS)
University of California, Berkeley (MBA)
Occupation
  • Politician
  • banker
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Air Force
Years of service1955–1957
Pete Stark's voice
Pete Stark speaks on how his deceased House colleague, Julian Dixon, supported District of Columbia home rule
Recorded December 8, 2000

Fortney Hillman Stark Jr. (November 11, 1931 – January 24, 2020), known as Pete Stark, was an American businessman and politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 2013. A Democrat from California,[2] Stark's district—California's 13th congressional district during his last two decades in Congress—was in southwestern Alameda County and included Alameda, Union City, Hayward, Newark, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, and Fremont (his residence during the early part of his tenure), as well as parts of Oakland and Pleasanton.[3] At the time he left office in 2013, he was the fifth most senior Representative, as well as sixth most senior member of Congress overall. He was also the dean of California's 53-member Congressional delegation, and the only openly atheist member of Congress.

After 2010 redistricting, Stark's district was renumbered as the 15th district for the 2012 election. He narrowly finished first in the primary ahead of fellow Democrat Eric Swalwell, but lost to Swalwell in the general election. He was the second-longest serving U.S. Congressman, after Jack Brooks (D-Texas, 1994), to lose a general election.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference nytobit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Lochhead, Carolyn (August 17, 2012). "Pete Stark's burned bridges have cost him". The San Francisco Chronicle.
  3. ^ "Rep. Pete Stark, D-Md". The San Francisco Chronicle. March 24, 2009.