Mark Allan Takano ( ; born December 10, 1960) is an American politician and academic who has been the

United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

for

California's 41st congressional district California's 41st congressional district is a congressional district in western Riverside County, in the U.S. state of California. The district is currently represented by . It includes the cities of Moreno Valley, Perris, and Riverside, lo ...

since 2013. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, Takano became the first openly gay person of Asian descent in Congress upon taking office.

Early life, education, and academic career

Takano was born in 1960 in

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

, California. His family was relocated and interned from California to a "War Relocation Camp" during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He is ''

Sansei is a Japanese and North American English term used in parts of the world such as South America and North America to specify the children of children born to ethnic Japanese in a new country of residence. The ''nisei'' are considered the second g ...

'', that is, the grandson of people born in Japan who immigrated to the United States. He attended

La Sierra High School La Sierra High School, located in Riverside, California, United States, is a public high school in the Alvord Unified School District that was founded on August 28, 1969. Tania Cabeza is the principal. La Sierra High School's official school colors ...

in the

Alvord Unified School District Alvord Unified School District (AUSD) is a school district headquartered in Riverside, California, United States. The district boundaries encompasses the western portion of the City of Riverside, the eastern portion of the city of Corona, and seg ...

, where he graduated as class

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

. In high school, he also participated in the

Junior State of America The Junior State of America (formerly the Junior Statesmen of America), abbreviated JSA, is an American non-partisan youth organization. The purpose of JSA is to help high school students acquire leadership skills and the knowledge necessary to ...

, a national student-run organization centered around debate and civic engagement in young people, and was elected lieutenant governor of the Southern California State. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

with an AB in government in 1983 and from the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

with an MFA in creative writing for the performing arts in 2010. Takano taught

British literature British literature is literature from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. This article covers British literature in the English language. Anglo-Saxon (Old English) literature is inc ...

in public schools for 23 years. He was a member of the Republican Party through college, when he became a member of the

. In 1990 he was elected to the

Riverside Community College Riverside City College (RCC) is a public community college in Riverside, California. The college is part of the Riverside Community College District, as well as the larger California Community Colleges System. History RCC first opened in 1916 at ...

Board of Trustees. While on the board, he shepherded a measure that gave college employees domestic partner benefits.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

1992

Takano ran for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

California's 43rd congressional district California's 43rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California that is currently represented by . The district is centered in the southern part of Los Angeles County, and includes portions of the cities ...

. He won a seven-candidate Democratic primary with 29% of the vote. Republican

Ken Calvert Kenneth Stanton Calvert (born June 8, 1953) is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for , and previously the 44th and 43rd, serving since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district is part of ...

defeated Takano by 519 votes, 47%–46%.

1994

Takano defeated Raven Lopez Workman in the Democratic primary, 70%–30%. During the campaign, Republican State Assemblyman

Ray Haynes Raymond Neal Haynes, Jr. (born August 26, 1954) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party from the state of California. Early and personal life Born in Merced, California, Haynes graduated from University of Southern Calif ...

outed Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...

Takano, calling him a "homosexual liberal". In the general election, Calvert defeated Takano, 55%–38%.

2012

In July 2011, Takano announced he would run for the House in the newly redrawn 41st congressional district, established in the redistricting following the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

. Five candidates ran for the open seat. In the June 2012 open primary, John Tavaglione, a Republican who sat on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, ranked first with 45% of the votes. Takano ranked second with 37%. In the November general election, Takano defeated Tavaglione, 58%–42%. Takano became the first openly gay non-white member of the House.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Veterans' Affairs (chair) *

Committee on Education and Labor The Committee on Education and Labor is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. There are 50 members in this committee. Since 2019, the chair of the Education and Labor committee is Robert Cortez Scott of Virginia. Hi ...

** Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training ** Subcommittee on Workforce Protections

Caucus memberships

Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus The Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus was formed by openly gay representatives Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank June 4, 2008, to advance LGBT+ rights. The caucus had 165 members (164 Democrats and one Republican, Jeff Van Drew) in the 116th ...

(co-chair) *

Congressional Progressive Caucus The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a congressional caucus affiliated with the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the United States Congress. The CPC represents the most Left-wing politics, left-leaning faction of the ...

* Medicare for All Caucus *Congressional Energy Storage Caucus (co-chair) After

Corrine Brown Corrine Brown (born November 11, 1946) is an American former politician who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida from 1993 to 2017 and a convicted felon. She is a member of the Democratic Party. After a court-order ...

's indictment on July 8, 2016, she temporarily stepped down as ranking member of the Veterans Committee, leaving Takano as acting ranking member until the end of the 114th Congress. When the Democrats took the House majority after the 2018 elections, Takano became the chair of the committee. He is currently the most junior chair of a major House committee.

Tenure

When Representative

Bill Cassidy William Morgan Cassidy (born September 28, 1957) is an American physician and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Louisiana, a seat he has held since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the Louisian ...

circulated a draft letter opposing an immigration reform bill in 2013, asking for signatures, Takano marked it up in red pen like a high school assignment and gave it an F, with comments like, "exaggeration – avoid hyperbole." Takano co-chairs the

Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus The Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus was formed by openly gay representatives Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank June 4, 2008, to advance LGBT+ rights. The caucus had 165 members (164 Democrats and one Republican, Jeff Van Drew) in the 116t ...

and is a member of the

, the

Congressional Arts Caucus The Congressional Arts Caucus is a registered Congressional Member Organization for the US House of Representatives in the 115th Congress. History The Congressional Arts Caucus was created in the 1980s as a way for the various members of Congres ...

, the

Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) is a caucus consisting of members of the United States Congress who are Asian American and Pacific Islander ( AAPI), and who have a strong interest in advocating and promoting issues and ...

, the

United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus The U.S. Congressional International Conservation Caucus, founded in September 2003, is a bipartisan congressional organization with the conviction that “the United States of America has the opportunity, the obligation and the interests to advanc ...

, U.S.-Japan Caucus, and the Advanced Energy Storage Caucus. For his tenure as the chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee in the 116th Congress, Takano earned an "A" grade from the nonpartisan Lugar Center's Congressional Oversight Hearing Index.

Political positions

Abortion

As of 2022, Takano has a 100% rating from

NARAL Pro-Choice America NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...

and an F rating from the

Susan B. Anthony List Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (formerly Susan B. Anthony List) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization that seeks to reduce and ultimately end abortion in the U.S. by supporting anti-abortion politicians, primarily women, through its SBA List ...

for his abortion-related voting record. He opposed the overturning of ''Roe v. Wade'', calling it "offensive and radical".

Donald Trump

Takano supported both impeachments of Donald Trump.

Gun control

Takano supports

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...

efforts. In the wake of the 2015 San Bernardino attack, he criticized Congress for its inability to pass gun control laws, describing the shooting in San Bernardino as "the cost of inaction."

2020 presidential election

Takano endorsed

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

in the presidential

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

, saying Sanders "has a bold vision" and "can get things done". After Sanders dropped out of the primaries, Takano endorsed Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

Personal life

Takano gardens and cooks. Every year, he gathers with his family in Riverside to make a large batch of teriyaki sauce using the family recipe.

References

External links

Congressman Mark Takano
official U.S. House website
Mark Takano for Congress
campaign website * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Takano, Mark 1960 births 20th-century American educators 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians American politicians of Japanese descent California politicians of Japanese descent Candidates in the 1992 United States elections Candidates in the 1994 United States elections Gay politicians Educators from Greater Los Angeles Harvard University alumni La Sierra High School alumni LGBT American people of Asian descent LGBT members of the United States Congress LGBT people from California Living people Members of the United States Congress of Japanese descent Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California Asian-American members of the United States House of Representatives People from Riverside, California

Early life, education, and academic career

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

1992

1994

2012

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Tenure

Political positions

Abortion

Donald Trump

Gun control

2020 presidential election

Personal life

See also

References

External links