Marc Berman (born October 31, 1980) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as a member of the

California State 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, Califor ...

since 2016. He is a Democrat representing the 23rd Assembly District, encompassing parts of the

San Francisco Peninsula The San Francisco Peninsula is a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area that separates San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. On its northern tip is the City and County of San Francisco. Its southern base is Los Altos and Mountain View, ...

and

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

, including Campbell, Mountain View, and Saratoga. Before being elected to the assembly, Berman was a member of the

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

Early life and education

Berman was born in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and raised in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

. He graduated from

Palo Alto High School Palo Alto Senior High School (commonly referred to locally as "Paly") is a comprehensive public high school in Palo Alto, California. Operated by the Palo Alto Unified School District, the school is one of two high schools in the district, the ...

, where he served as student body president. In 2002, Berman earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

. He then earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

USC Gould School of Law The University of Southern California Gould School of Law located in Los Angeles, California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Or ...

. In college, Berman worked in Congresswoman

Anna Eshoo Anna A. Eshoo ( ; née Georges; born December 13, 1942) is an American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 1993 to 2025. She is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...

's office and as an analyst in the

United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division The Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice enforces federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. The division was established on December 9, 1957, b ...

Career

After graduating from law school, Berman worked as an attorney at

Latham & Watkins Latham & Watkins LLP is an American multinational law firm. Founded in 1934 in Los Angeles, California, Latham is the second-largest law firm in the world by revenue. As of 2022, Latham is also one of the most profitable law firms in the world ...

and Merino Yebri, LLP. He also worked provided pro bono representation to clients seeking protection under the

Violence Against Women Act The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) is a United States federal law (Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, ) signed by President Bill Clinton on September13, 1994. The Act provided $1.6billion toward investigat ...

and individuals seeking asylum from the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. Before being elected to the

, Berman served as a member of the Palo Alto City Council. Berman has taken a pro-housing stance, favoring policies to encourage the production of housing to address the California housing shortage. His stance contrasted with the stance of other politicians from

, who favor policies that slow down housing production. In 2019, Berman introduced legislation to ban the knowing and malicious distribution of manipulated videos and pictures ("

deepfake ''Deepfakes'' (a portmanteau of and ) are images, videos, or audio that have been edited or generated using artificial intelligence, AI-based tools or AV editing software. They may depict real or fictional people and are considered a form of ...

s") that falsely depicts the acts or words of a political candidate within 60 days of an election, unless the material is accompanied by a disclaimer that discloses that it contains manipulated content; the bill passed the California Legislature and was signed into law by Governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...

. During the redistricting cycle following the 2020 census, Berman and fellow Democratic Assemblyman Evan Low were drawn into the same district; Low moved to a neighboring district, averting a

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

between two incumbents. In 2022, Berman introduced AB 2584, which made changes to the state's recall law. The bill raised the number of signatures required on a notice of intention to recall. AB 2584 also requires recall petitions to be made available for public inspection during the 10-day time period in which the election office is determining whether the petition can be approved for circulation and allows recall elections to be consolidated with regular elections scheduled within 180 days of the petition qualifying for the ballot. The bill was signed by the governor in September 2022. In May, 2023, the Yucaipa city clerk filed a lawsuit to remove "false" statements made in a citizen-initiated recall petition seeking the removal of the mayor and two city council members. The clerk cited state law, including AB 2584, for allowing the clerk to remove false or misleading statements. The city offered a settlement to the recall proponents to dismiss the lawsuit, but the proposal was rejected in September. Berman is a member of the California Legislative Progressive Caucus.

Personal life

Berman is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Electoral history

2016 California State Assembly

2018 California State Assembly

2020 California State Assembly

2022 California State Assembly

2024 California State Assembly

References

External links

*
Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berman, Marc 1980 births Living people 21st-century American Jews California city council members Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences alumni Jewish state legislators in California People from Menlo Park, California Politicians from Palo Alto, California University of Southern California alumni 21st-century members of the California State Legislature