David Dominic Cortese (born June 3, 1956) is an elected official from

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

. He is currently serving in the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Cal ...

, representing District 15, which encompasses a majority of

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring Sa ...

. Before being elected to the California State Senate, Cortese served on the

Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors is the board of supervisors governing Santa Clara County, California. It is made of elected representatives from each of the county's five districts. Districts and current members District 1 includes ...

for 12 years, as a

Councilmember A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

and

Vice Mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments. Duties and functions Many elected dep ...

for the City of San Jose for eight years, and for eight years as a trustee for the

East Side Union High School District The East Side Union High School District (abbreviated as ESUHSD) is a school district in San Jose, California, serving the East Side of San Jose. ESUHSD administers 19 high schools with a combined enrollment of approximately 24,500 students in t ...

in San Jose. Cortese ran for mayor of San Jose and won the primary, losing the general election to District 3 councilmember

Sam Liccardo Samuel Theodore Liccardo (born April 16, 1970) is an American attorney and politician from California and mayor of San José, California, a position he has held since January 1, 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Liccardo was elected mayor ...

.Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters
/ref> Dave Cortese won a seat on the

in 2008 with 56,845 votes, or 54.87%. He was reelected to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in 2012 with 40,360 votes, or 100%. In his term on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, his accomplishments include securing funding for more school crossing guards and an evaluation of "hot spots" of pedestrian and bicycle accidents and fatalities in order to improve conditions. He helped form an anti-Human Trafficking task force by sponsoring an $850,000 budget item. The money is evenly divided between the Sheriff's Office and the District Attorney's office, which make up the task force with multiple other local agencies. As of October 1, 2014 the task force showed measurable results according to Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith. In his first term on the Board of Supervisors, his accomplishments included securing funding for transportation projects, including the

Silicon Valley BART Extension The Silicon Valley BART extension is an ongoing effort to expand service by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) into Santa Clara County via the East Bay from its former terminus at the Fremont station in Alameda County. Planned since at least 1981, th ...

; upgrades to the county's expressway system; extending VTA Light Rail to Eastridge Mall; improvements to HWY 101 and the Tully Road, Capitol Expressway, and Yerba Buena interchanges; approving a new ambulance service; and protecting farmland and open space, as well as introducing new Sunshine Laws. Cortese attended

Bellarmine College Preparatory Bellarmine College Preparatory is an all-male, Jesuit, private secondary school located in San Jose, California. Founded in 1851, it is the oldest secondary school in California and the second-oldest west of the Mississippi River. In 2020, Niche ...

high school (1970–1974). He received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

and graduated from Lincoln Law School (1991–1995). He is the son of former Santa Clara County Supervisor and

California Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Asse ...

member Dominic L. Cortese and Suzanne Cortese. Cortese's paternal grandfather, Vince Cortese Sr., was an immigrant farmer from

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who found success in agriculture and commercial development. His maternal grandfather, Ed Donovan, was a civic leader and executive of General Motors Credit Corp. who served as a Santa Clara city councilman in 1949 and 1950. Dave Cortese has a wife, Pattie, who serves on the East Side Union High School District Board, and four children.

Gun control

*At the initiative of Cortese, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance to force gun owners to lock and secure their firearms in homes in unincorporated Santa Clara County. *At the initiative of Cortese, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved moving forward with a plan for residents to voluntarily rid their homes of unwanted firearms and to educate the public about the process.

References

External links

Official websiteSanta Clara County D3 website
*
Join California Dave Cortese
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cortese, Dave 1956 births Living people University of California, Davis alumni Lincoln Law School of San Jose alumni San Jose City Council members County supervisors in California Democratic Party California state senators Continental Basketball Association executives 21st-century American politicians

Gun control

See also

References

External links