Jim Bates (born July 21, 1941) is a former Democratic

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 ...

from

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He served four terms in 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 ...

from 1983 to 1991. He was the first congressman to be disciplined for

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...

Biography

Bates was born in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, and graduated from

East High School (Denver) East High School is a historical public high school located in the City Park neighborhood on the east side of Denver, Colorado, United States. It is part of the Denver Public Schools system, and is one of four original high schools in Denver. The ...

in 1959. He joined the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

in 1959, and served in the Corps until 1963. Relocating to

, Bates became a banker and was employed in the

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...

industry. He obtained his bachelor's degree from

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

in 1975.

Political career

Bates was elected to the San Diego city council in 1971 and served until 1974. He was elected chairman of the

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

board of supervisors A board of supervisors is a governmental body that oversees the operation of county government in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as 16 counties in New York. There are equivalent agenc ...

in 1974, and held the position until 1982. At the time he was the youngest chairman of the board.

US House of Representatives

Bates resigned from the board in 1982 to run for a seat in the

U.S. 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, representing

's newly created 44th Congressional District. The district was created after the 1980 census round of redistricting as the most Democratic district in the San Diego area; it included much of the territory represented for 18 years by

Lionel Van Deerlin Lionel Van Deerlin (July 25, 1914 – May 17, 2008) was an American journalist and politician who served nine terms as a Democratic United States Representative from California from 1963 to 1981, representing a San Diego area district. Biograph ...

before his defeat by Duncan Hunter. Bates won election in 1982 with 65% of the vote, and was re-elected in 1984, 1986, and 1988, with 69.7%, 64.2%, and 59.7% of the vote, respectively. Bates was defeated in the 1990 election 46.3%-44.8% by

Randy "Duke" Cunningham Randall Harold "Duke" Cunningham (born December 8, 1941) is a former American politician, decorated Vietnam War veteran, fighter ace, and ex-felon. Cunningham served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's ...

. Bates ran in the Democratic primary in June 1992 for the newly created 50th District, which included much of his former territory. However, he lost the nomination to his former aide,

Bob Filner Robert Earl "Bob" Filner (born September 4, 1942) is an American former politician who was the 35th mayor of San Diego from December 2012 through August 2013, when he resigned amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment. He later pleaded gui ...

Ethics investigations and sexual harassment

In 1988, stories surfaced of Bates having groped and touched both women and men who worked for him as well as others. Dorena Bertussi, a legislative assistant for Bates, testified that "he put my leg in between his and started to do a bump and grind on it, like a dog," and sued Bates for sexual harassment. In 1989, Bates was reprimanded by the House with their lightest possible censure, a "letter of reproval". He was the first congressman to be sanctioned by the House for sexual harassment; his case is now explicitly cited in the House ethics manual as an example of impermissible sexual harassment. Following Bates's loss in the 1990 election, Bertussi dropped her suit against him. Bates was later implicated in the

House banking scandal The House banking scandal broke in early 1992, when it was revealed that the US House of Representatives allowed its members to overdraw their House checking accounts without the risk of being penalized by the House bank, which was actually a clea ...

; he had written four bad checks to his congressional campaign.

Later career

In 2017 Bates founded the United States-Bangladesh Friendship Group, of which he is currently Executive Director. That group helps promotes clean water supplies and recently facilitated delivery of $3.7 million in medical equipment and supplies, donated by the non-profit Helping Hand.

References

External links

Retrieved on 2009-02-13. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Jim 1941 births Living people Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California Politicians from Denver Politicians from San Diego San Diego County Board of Supervisors members San Diego State University alumni United States Marines