Robert Hertzberg
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Robert Myles Hertzberg is an American politician who previously served 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 ...
. A
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
he represented the 18th Senate District, which includes parts of the
San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...
. Prior to being elected to the State Senate in 2014, he served as the 64th Speaker of the California State Assembly, representing the 40th Assembly District. He was Majority Leader from January 2019 to January 2022. He announced he would not seek re-election and instead announced his candidacy for the
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States. History On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their first ...
. He lost the supervisor election to
Lindsey Horvath Lindsey Patrice Horvath (born June 30, 1982) is an American politician, advertising executive, and activist who is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for the 3rd District, which covers the San Fernando Valley, and is the Chai ...
.


Early life and education

Hertzberg was born the third of five sons in
Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...
. His father, Harrison Hertzberg, was a
constitutional lawyer Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in feder ...
. He grew up in
Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles Benedict Canyon is an area in the Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California. To the north of the Benedict Canyon neighborhood is the neighborhood of Sherman Oaks, to the west is the neighborhood of Beverly Glen, to the east are Beverly P ...
. The family later moved to
Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...
. He went to
Palm Springs High School Palm Springs High School is a public high school for grades 9 through 12 located in Palm Springs, California as part of the Palm Springs Unified School District. It was built in 1938 in an effort led by city pioneer Nellie Coffman. Athletics P ...
then graduated ''magna cum laude'' from the
University of Redlands The University of Redlands is a private university headquartered in Redlands, California. The university's main, residential campus is situated on 160 acres (65 ha) near downtown Redlands. An additional eight regional locations throughout Califo ...
in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and English. Hertzberg earned his Juris Doctor from
University of California, Hastings College of the Law The University of California, Hastings College of the Law (UC Hastings) is a Public university, public Law school in the United States, law school in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1878 by Serranus Clinton Hastings, UC Hastings was the ...
in 1979.


Legal career

After graduating from law school, Hertzberg was an associate at the Beverly Hills law firm of Fulop, Rolston, Burns, & McKittrick. He and his father later formed the Hertzberg & Hertzberg law firm. The younger Hertzberg left in 1985 and sued his father over the firm's assets in 1986, seeking $1 million in punitive damages. After his father's passing in 1987, the case was settled as part of the estate. After Hertzberg retired from the State Assembly in 2002,
Mickey Kantor Michael Kantor (born August 7, 1939) is an American attorney who served as the United States Trade Representative from 1993 to 1996 and United States Secretary of Commerce in 1996 and 1997. Early life and education Born and raised in Nashville, ...
recruited him to full partnership at
Mayer Brown LLP Mayer Brown is a global white-shoe law firm, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It has offices in 27 cities across the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, with its largest offices being in Chicago, Washington, D.C., New ...
, formerly Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw. Hertzberg left Mayer Brown in 2014, after being sworn in as a State Senator. Shortly after being elected to the California State Senate in November 2014, Hertzberg was hired as a " of counsel" government affairs attorney with the Los Angeles law firm Glaser Weil. Hana Callaghan, director of the
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University promotes research and dialogue in ten major ethics focus areas: Bioethics, Business Ethics, Campus Ethics, Character Education, Government Ethics, Internet Ethics, Journalism and ...
, has raised concerns over potential conflict of interests, as the firm services many clients who are affected by state legislation. In December 2017, he and Glaser Weil mutually agreed to the suspension of their relationship, following sexual assault allegations against State Assemblyman Matt Dababneh, whom is represented by Glaser Weil.


Politics

Hertzberg experience with politics begin at 19 as a driver for State Senator
Mervyn Dymally Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (May 12, 1926 – October 7, 2012) was an American politician from California. He served in the California State Assembly (1963–66) and the California State Senate (1967–75) as the 41st Lieutenant Governor of Californi ...
, who ran in the
Lieutenant Governor of California The lieutenant governor of California is the second highest executive officer of the government of the U.S. state of California. The lieutenant governor is elected to serve a four-year term and can serve a maximum of two terms. In addition to l ...
race, in 1974. There he built his networks within the Latino political circles, including
Gloria Molina Jesus Gloria Molina (born May 31, 1948) is an American politician and a former member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Molina broke into politics in 1982 by going agai ...
,
Richard Alatorre Richard Alatorre (born May 15, 1943) was a member of the California State Assembly from 1973 to 1985—"one of the most influential Latino politicians in the state"— and a Los Angeles, California, City Council member from 1985 to 1999, the sec ...
, and
Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (; né Villar Jr.; born January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillary ...
. Hertzberg did legal work for Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina. He was later appointed to the California State Board of Pharmacy.


California State Assembly


Campaigns

In 1994, Hertzberg contemplated running for the 40th Assembly District, which encompassed
North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...
to
Canoga Park Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and t ...
in the San Fernando Valley, but never announced his candidacy. In 1996, Assemblywoman
Barbara Friedman Barbara Friedman (born September 1, 1949) is an American politician who served in the California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California Stat ...
of the 40th Assembly District termed out. In the March Democratic primaries, Hertzberg ran against Francine Oschin, aide to
Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles in California. The council is composed of 15 members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The President of the Los Angeles City Counc ...
man
Hal Bernson Harold M. Bernson (November 19, 1930July 20, 2020) was a Los Angeles City Council member for 24 years, from 1979 until his retirement in 2003. A conservative Republican, he was a leading proponent of the San Fernando Valley seceding from the rest ...
. According to the California Political Almanac, Hertzberg "racked up a sheaf of endorsements and raised well over $200,000 for the primary." He won the primary with 72% of the vote. In the November general election, Hertzberg had a 59–31% victory over Republican Ron Culver.California Secretary of State: Statement of the Vote, November 1996 General Election. In 1998 and 2000, Hertzberg was re-elected with 69% and 70% respectively.California Secretary of State: Statement of the Vote, November 2000 General Election


Tenure

Term limits in the Assembly meant a large influx of new members with every new session. Hertzberg created the California Assembly Program for Innovative Training and Orientation for the Legislature (CAPITOL) Institute with Assemblyman Bill Leonard in 2000 to educate first time legislators and their staff. They offered training on a variety of topics: including ethics, legislative deadlines, key personnel at the capital, voting procedures, restrictions, and committees. After his tenure as Speaker ended, the succeeding Speaker
Herb Wesson Herman J. "Herb" Wesson Jr. (born November 11, 1951) is an American politician who served as a City council, councilmember representing the Los Angeles City Council District 10, 10th District for three terms between July 1, 2005 and December 14, ...
named the Capitol Institute after Hertzberg."Hertzberg U," by Kathleen Les, ''California Journal'', June, 2000. Hertzberg also created the Speaker's Office of International Relations and Protocol.


Speaker of the Assembly (2000–2002)

In November 1999, Antonio Villaraigosa announced his resignation as Speaker of the Assembly the following April to run for Los Angeles mayor in 2001 and immediately endorsed Hertzberg as his replacement. Assemblymen
Kevin Shelley Kevin Francis Shelley (born November 16, 1955) is an American politician, who was the 28th California Secretary of State from January 6, 2003, until his resignation on March 4, 2005. Early life Shelley was raised in San Francisco, the only son ...
and
Carole Migden Carole Migden (born August 14, 1948 in New York City) is an American politician from San Francisco who represented the California's 3rd State Senate district, third district of the California State Senate from 2004 to 2008 and the California's 1 ...
of San Francisco and
Tony Cárdenas Antonio Cárdenas ( ; born March 31, 1963) is an American politician who has served as the United States representative for California's 29th congressional district since January 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Cárdenas was previously a ...
of Sylmar were seen as potential opponents for the position. On April 13, 2000, Hertzberg was unanimously elected by a voice vote as the 64th Speaker of the California State Assembly. In 1996, when Hertzberg first ran for the Assembly, the Democrats had 38 of 80 seats. By November 2000, when Hertzberg was directing the Assembly Democratic campaigns, his party was up to 50 seats and he was the last Speaker to gain seats until the Obama landslide of 2008. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Hertzberg temporarily shut down the State Assembly and created the bipartisan Legislative Task Force on Terrorism to combat potential threats to California's food and water supplies.


2005 Los Angeles mayoral election


Background

A steady series of fundraising scandals, where members of Mayor James Hahn's Administration were investigated by a grand jury for allegedly awarding city contracts to campaign contributors, and the general attitudes towards Hahn (some critics called him "Mayor Yawn" and a ''Los Angeles Times'' poll said that only 48% of voters considered Hahn honest) prompted many people to join the mayoral race in 2005.
Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (; né Villar Jr.; born January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillary ...
, who lost to Hahn in 2001, had been elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2003 while promising not to run for mayor, announced his candidacy. Other major candidates, including councilman
Bernard C. Parks Bernard C. Parks (born December 7, 1943) is an American politician, who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing the 8th district in South Los Angeles from 2003 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Parks served as C ...
and State Senator
Richard Alarcon Richard Anthony Alarcon (born November 24, 1953) is an American politician who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1993 to 1998 and again from 2007 to 2013. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he previously served i ...
, later joined the race.


Campaign

Hertzberg termed out of the California State Assembly in 2002 and transitioned back to private law practice. He launched his mayoral campaign in June 2004 with an extensively produced website at ChangeLA.com. The website attacked Hahn's leadership and encouraged readers to donate and interact with Hertzberg. It has been likened to Vermont Governor
Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, lobbyist, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 200 ...
's digital campaign in the 2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries, which elevated Dean's name recognition from unknown governor to apparent frontrunner. Hertzberg told the ''Los Angeles Times'' that he while he made more money doing business and conducting his law practice, he ran out of a sense of civic duty. However, half of Los Angeles city voters did not know much about Hertzberg. Hertzberg was the first to launch a TV campaign in the race, which featured a giant image of him towering over a city full of problems.Levey, Noam N. (June 29, 2004)
"Hertzberg Launches Web Campaign Against Hahn"
'' Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
He was endorsed by Education Secretary, and former Los Angeles mayor,
Richard Riordan Richard Joseph Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is an American investment banker, businessman, lawyer, and former Republican politician who was the 39th Mayor of Los Angeles, from 1993 to 2001. Born in New York City and raised in New Rochelle, New Y ...
.Gold, Matea; McGreevy, Patrick (February 26, 2005)
"Hertzberg Gets a Lift From Gov"
''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
A second ''Los Angeles Times'' poll found the primary too close to call, with Hertzberg, Hahn, and Villaraigosa each with about 20% of the vote, with a very high likelihood for a
runoff election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...
.Finnegan, Michael (March 1, 2005)
"2 Rivals Eroding Hahn's Strengths"
''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
Hahn's supporters ran negative mailers, linking Hertzberg and Villaraigosa to
Enron Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. ...
and drug dealer Carlos Vignali during their time in the State Assembly. An analysis by the ''Los Angeles Times'' showed that Hertzberg was popular among Hahn's base, which included San Fernando Valley residents, conservatives, moderates, and Jewish voters. However, he struggled with young, black, and Latino voters, polling less than 5% per group and well behind his opponents. Hertzberg also won twice as many precincts as Hahn but fell short when Hahn's negative ads decreased his support in the Valley. Hertzberg placed third in the primary election after Hahn and Villaraigosa, with the most votes of any candidates in the San Fernando Valley. An editorial in the ''Los Angeles Times'' claimed a dull run-off debate between Hahn and Villaraigosa made them "miss Bob Hertzberg and his outsized ideas". After missing the run-off election, Hertzberg endorsed Villaraigosa. Villaraigosa would go on to defeat Hahn 59% vs 41%.


Platform

Hertzberg ran as a moderate Democrat. His platform included the breaking up the
Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in ...
, calling the District's 50% dropout rate the biggest threat to the city's future, despite not having any control over the department as mayor. Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
did not endorse any candidates, despite his close working relationship with Hertzberg, probably due to souring attitudes towards him by the city's Democratic majority. However, he has expressed support for Hertzberg's plan to break up the Los Angeles Unified School District, although he did not specify which parts. He opposed raising taxes for more police officers.


California State Senate


Campaigns

In May 2013, Hertzberg announced his candidacy for the Senate seat representing
California's 18th State Senate district California's 18th State Senate district is one of 40 California State Senate districts. It is currently represented by Democrat Robert Hertzberg of Van Nuys. District profile The district consists of the eastern San Fernando Valley. The distri ...
. His announcement was followed up by a lieu of endorsements by state officials, including
Ted Lieu Ted W. Lieu (; born March 29, 1969) is an American politician and Air Force Reserve Command colonel who has represented California's 33rd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2015. The district includes much of weste ...
,
Raul Bocanegra Raul Justo Bocanegra (born July 13, 1971) is an American politician, and a former member of the California State Assembly. He is a Democrat who represented the 39th Assembly District, encompassing northeastern San Fernando Valley. Bocanegra w ...
,
Tony Cárdenas Antonio Cárdenas ( ; born March 31, 1963) is an American politician who has served as the United States representative for California's 29th congressional district since January 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Cárdenas was previously a ...
, and
Alex Padilla Alejandro Padilla ( ; born March 22, 1973) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from California since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Padilla served as the 30th secretary of state of California from 2015 ...
, and local representatives, including
Felipe Fuentes Felipe Fuentes (born May 25, 1971) is an American lobbyist and former Democratic politician and businessman from the San Fernando Valley in the U.S. state of California, formerly a member of the Los Angeles City Council from the 7th district. ...
and Curren Price. He credited his time co-founding the Think Long Committee with billionaire Nicholas Bergguen and successfully drafting legislation as motivation to re-enter the political scene. He placed first in the June 2014 primary elections with 63.1%, with Republican candidate Ricardo Benitez placing second with 29.1%. Hertzberg won the general election in November 2014 with around 70%. He defeated Republican challenger Rudy Melendez with 78.1% of the vote in the November 2018 election, the highest of any California Senate seat that year. When asked about his legislative priorities in 2018, he listed tax reform,
economic Opportunity Zones An Opportunity Zone is a designation and investment program created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 allowing for certain investments in lower income areas to have tax advantages. The purpose of this program is to put capital to work that would ...
, simplification of government forms, refining the bail reform law, and updating disaster related infrastructure. He was sworn in for his second and final Senate term on December 3, 2018.


Tenure

In December 2018, Senate President Pro Tempore
Toni Atkins Toni Gayle Atkins (born August 1, 1962) is an American politician serving as the 51st and current President pro tempore of the California State Senate since 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the 69th Speaker of the ...
appointed Hertzberg Senate Majority Leader for the 2018–19 Legislative Session.


= Technology

= In 2018, Hertzberg introduced a bill to identify automated social media accounts as bots with full disclosure. He has said that the bill was aimed at preventing
internet fraud Internet fraud is a type of cybercrime fraud or deception which makes use of the Internet and could involve hiding of information or providing incorrect information for the purpose of tricking victims out of money, property, and inheritance. Inte ...
, particularly in politics and advertising. Early drafts of the bill would have required undisclosed bots to be removed and covered all bots, not just political and commercial ones. These provisions were later removed after backlash from the
Internet Association The Internet Association (IA) was an American lobbying group based in Washington, D.C., which represented companies involved in the Internet. It was founded in 2012 by Michael Beckerman and several companies, including Google, Amazon, eBay, and F ...
and the
Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ci ...
, whom were concerned about potential conflicts with the
1st amendment The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, or abridge the freedom of speech, th ...
. The Bolstering Online Transparency (BOT) Act was signed into law on October 1, 2018, by Governor
Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...
. It went into effect on July 1, 2019, with violators facing fines related to
unfair competition Unfair may refer to: * Double Taz and Double LeBron James in multiverses ''fair''; unfairness or injustice * ''Unfair'' (drama), Japanese television series * '' Unfair: The Movie'' * Unfair (song), a song by South Korean boy group EXO