Stephen P. "Steve" Pougnet (born April 27, 1963) is an American businessman and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. 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 ...

, Pougnet served as the mayor of

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 ...

from 2007 to 2015.

Background

Pougnet was born in

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

, Michigan. Pougnet earned his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in business from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

in 1985 and was elected to the Palm Springs City Council in 2003. In 2017, he was accused of receiving $375,000 in bribes from John Wessman and Richard Meany, land and property developers of the Palm Springs area. Pougnet is currently awaiting arraignment on corruption charges. He is free on $25,000 bail.

Positions held

* Vice Chairman of the Coachella Valley Association of Governments (CVAG) * Chairman of the Energy & Water Conservation Subcommittee * Vice Chairman of the CVAG Energy and Environment Committee * Vice Chairman of Sunline Transit Agency, the region’s public transportation management organization * Board Member of the Palm Springs Desert Resort Convention Visitors Authority * Member of the Riverside County Transportation Commission. * Riverside County Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee. *Mayor of Palm Springs until bribery charges were brought against him. He currently faces 21 felony counts, including perjury, public corruption and conspiracy.

Family

Pougnet is openly gay. He married Christopher Green in 2008, and they have two twin children named Beckham and Julia.

Elections

In 2010, Pougnet ran unopposed in the June 2010 primary election to win the Democratic nomination 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 ...

seat representing

California's 45th congressional district California's 45th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California currently represented by Republican Michelle Steel. It was one of 18 districts that voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election while ...

. In the November 2010 election, he ran against

American Independent The American Independent Party (AIP) is a Far-right politics, far-right political party in the United States that was established in 1967. The AIP is best known for its nomination of former Democratic List of Governors of Alabama, Governor George ...

Bill Lussenheide and

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

incumbent,

Mary Bono Mack Mary Bono (née Whitaker and formerly Mary Bono Mack, born October 24, 1961) is an American politician, businesswoman, and lobbyist who served Palm Springs and most of central and eastern Riverside County, California, in the U.S. House of Repres ...

. Bono Mack defeated both Pougnet and Lussenheide in the general election.

References

External links