Mark James DeSaulnier ( ; born March 31, 1952) is an American politician who has served as a U.S. representative from California since 2015. He has represented the 10th congressional district since 2023, although it was previously numbered the 11th district for his first eight years in office. The district includes most of Contra Costa County, a suburban county in the East Bay. He has been a member of the Democratic Party since 2000; before that, he was a Republican.
Before serving in the House of Representatives, DeSaulnier was a member the Concord City Council (1991–94), a Contra Costa County Supervisor (1994–2006), and a member of the California State Legislature, representing the 11th State Assembly district from 2006 to 2008 and the 7th State Senate district from 2008 to 2015.
Early life and education
DeSaulnier was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, to Edward Joseph DeSaulnier Jr. and Virginia Ann DeSaulnier (née Burke). He was raised in a Roman Catholic family. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from the College of the Holy Cross.
After his father, a Massachusetts Superior Court judge, became involved in a scandal in the early 1970s, DeSaulnier relocated to California, settling in Concord. He worked as a probation officer, truck driver, and hotel services employee. He later owned and operated several restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Early political career
Concord politics
DeSaulnier was appointed to the Concord Planning Commission in 1988. In 1991, he was elected to the Concord City Council and served as mayor of Concord in 1993. He was also a member of the University of California Toxic Substances Research and Teaching Program Advisory Committee.
Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors
In early 1994, Governor Pete Wilson appointed DeSaulnier, then a fellow Republican, to the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors, filling a vacancy caused by the resignation of Supervisor Sunne McPeak. He was elected in 1994 and reelected in 1998 and 2002. In 1998, he received 98.4% of the vote against write-in candidates. In 2002, he received 79% of the vote against challenger Dione Mustard.
During DeSaulnier's tenure on the Board of Supervisors, he sponsored the Industrial Safety Ordinance and the Refinery Flare Rule for local refineries and chemical facilities. He served on the executive boards of the Association of Bay Area Governments, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. He was appointed to represent the Bay Area on the California Air Resources Board by the Air District (1997–2006).
As a member of the Air Resources Board, DeSaulnier supported strong environmental regulations, including cleaner-burning gasoline, lower-emission vehicles (LEVs), the identification of diesel exhaust as a toxic air contaminant, dioxin monitoring in the Bay Area, the banning of methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) in gasoline, the identification of secondhand smoke as a carcinogen, the reduction of emissions from dairy farms, the phase-out of rice straw in the central valley, and the reduction of emissions from cruise ships.
On a county level, DeSaulnier introduced a Women's Health Program to serve the health-care needs of Contra Costa County. He also established the annual Children and Families' Budget, a separate county budget that reviews and measures the effectiveness of county programs in these areas. His other projects for children include AfterSchool4All, the Future Fund and the Children and Families Committee of the Board of Supervisors.
California State Assembly
In the June 2006 Democratic primary, DeSaulnier won 52% of the vote against Pittsburg School Board Trustee Laura Canciamilla and two other opponents. He was endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle, the Contra Costa Times, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and California Senator Tom Torlakson. DeSaulnier won the general election against Republican Arne Simonsen and Libertarian Cory Nott with 66% of the vote.
In the Assembly, DeSaulnier chaired the Committee on Transportation and the Select Committees on Growth Management and Air Quality. He was also a member of the Assembly Committees on Appropriations, Human Services, Rules and Labor and Employment. He authored or co-authored over 40 bills during the 200708 legislative session. His bills addressed truancy among schoolchildren, preschool access, suicide prevention, childhood obesity, reducing air pollution, smoke-free workplaces, and opportunities for at-risk youth.