James Varni Panetta ( ; born October 1, 1969) is an American lawyer, politician, and former Navy intelligence officer from the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

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 Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the U.S. representative for

California's 19th congressional district California's 19th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California, currently represented by . Following redistricting in 2021, the district includes most of the wealthier, white portions of the Central Coast, ...

. Formerly his district was numbered the 20th congressional district. His current district includes southeast San Jose and much of California's Central Coast, including

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

, Santa Cruz, Carmel-by-the-Sea, and Paso Robles to the south. Panetta was first elected in 2016, after working as a deputy district attorney for Monterey County. He is the son of former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and holds the same congressional seat his father once held.

Early life and career

Panetta graduated from Carmel High School in

Carmel, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), commonly known simply as Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, located on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 3,220, down from 3,722 a ...

. He then attended Monterey Peninsula College and the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

, graduating with a bachelor's degree in international relations. He then interned at the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

. Panetta received his J.D. degree from Santa Clara University School of Law. He joined the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

as an intelligence officer and completed a

tour of duty For military personnel, a tour of duty is usually a period of time spent in combat or in a hostile environment. In an army, for instance, soldiers on active duty serve 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the length of their service commitment. ...

in the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

in 2007 while attached to Joint Special Operations Command, for which he was awarded the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

. Panetta worked in the

Alameda County, California Alameda County ( ) is a List of counties in California, county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and List ...

, prosecutor's office and as a deputy district attorney for the District Attorney's office of

Monterey County, California Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county (United States), county located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 439,035. The count ...

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2016

After incumbent U.S. Representative Sam Farr announced in November 2015 that he would not seek reelection, Panetta announced his candidacy to succeed Farr in the 2016 election. His father had represented the district from 1977 to 1993. Panetta defeated Republican Casey Lucius in the November general election. Democrats, in the persons of the Panettas and Farr, have held the seat and its predecessors without interruption since 1977. It is one of California's most Democratic districts outside

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

; Republicans have only garnered as much as 40% of the vote twice since 1977.

2018

Panetta was reelected, defeating an independent challenger with 81.4% of the vote.

2020

Panetta was reelected to a third term, defeating Republican challenger Jeff Gorman, a financial adviser, with 76.8% of the vote.

Tenure

Panetta was sworn into office on January 3, 2017. House Democrats selected him to be a regional whip for

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

, the Central Coast,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and the U.S.

Pacific Islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...

. Twice, in 2018 and in 2019, Panetta introduced a bill commonly stylized as the KITTEN Act, a legislative proposal to curtail certain types of animal testing. As of October 2021, Panetta had voted in line with

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

's stated position 100% of the time. In February 2023, during the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

, Panetta signed a letter advocating for President Biden to give

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it e ...

fighter jets to Ukraine. During May 2024, Panetta joined a bipartisan House delegation that traveled to Taiwan to signal support for the newly elected pro-Taiwanese independence

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

in the aftermath of Chinese military exercises that simulated a blockade of Taiwan.

Committee assignments

For the 118th Congress: * Committee on Armed Services ** Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations ** Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces * Committee on the Budget * Committee on Ways and Means ** Subcommittee on Trade

Caucus memberships

* Congressional Arts Caucus * Climate Solutions Caucus * Rare Disease Caucus * Work for Warriors Caucus * Congressional Progressive Caucus * For Country Caucus, Founder and Former Co-Chair * New Democrat Coalition * Medicare for All Caucus * Problem Solvers Caucus

Electoral history

Political positions

Abortion

As of 2020, Panetta has a 100% rating from

NARAL Pro-Choice America Reproductive Freedom for All, formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America and commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, politics, political action, and advocacy efforts to op ...

and a F rating from the

Susan B. Anthony List Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (formerly Susan B. Anthony List) is an American 501(c)(4) non-profit organization that seeks to reduce and ultimately end abortion in the US, by supporting United States anti-abortion movement, anti-abortion poli ...

for his abortion-related voting history. He opposed the overturning of ''Roe v. Wade''.

Big Tech

In 2022, Panetta was one of 16 Democrats to vote against the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.

Personal life

Panetta is the youngest of the three sons of Leon Panetta, the former

United States Secretary of Defense The United States secretary of defense (acronym: SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the United States federal executive departments, executive department of the United States Armed Forces, U.S. Armed Forces, a ...

. His wife, Carrie, is a judge on the Monterey County Superior Court. They have two daughters.

Foreign awards

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

** Honorary Diploma of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (2024) – Awarded by Ukrainian Parliament; presented by Ruslan Stefanchuk, Chairman of the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

.Ukrainian Parliament Awards US Bipartisan Delegation
Link still valid, January 23, 2025.

References

External links

Congressman Jimmy Panetta
official U.S. House website
Jimmy Panetta for Congress
campaign website * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Panetta, Jimmy 1969 births California Democrats California lawyers Living people Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California Military personnel from California Monterey Peninsula College alumni People from Carmel Valley Village, California Politicians from Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Santa Clara University School of Law alumni United States Navy personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) United States Navy reservists University of California, Davis alumni American people of Italian descent Carmel High School (Carmel, California) 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives