Ted Lempert (born June 14, 1961,

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster C ...

) is a Democratic politician who served two stints in 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. The A ...

from 1988 until 1992 and from 1996 until he was term limited in 2000. Lempert represented the Peninsula subregion of the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. Lempert is currently the President of Children Now and previously served as CEO and founder of

EdVoice EdVoice is an educational non-profit organization that advocates for education policy in California that will improve opportunities for children from low-income communities. The group describes its mission as reshaping public education in California ...

. Both organizations advocate for changes to the California educational system. Lempert is also a trustee on the San Mateo County Board of Education representing Trustee Area .

Legislative Accomplishments

Mr. Lempert authored landmark legislation during his eight years in the Assembly, including the Lempert-Keene Oil Spill Prevention & Response Act (1990), the Golden State Scholarshare Trust (California’s College Savings Plan) (1997), the Internet Tax Freedom Act (1998) and the Local School Construction Bond Act (2000). He had more than 70 other bills signed by Governors George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson and

Gray Davis Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. (born December 26, 1942) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 to 2003. In 2003, only a few months into his second term, Davis was recalled and remov ...

1988 Election

Lempert defeated one term incumbent Assemblyman Bill Duplissea.

1992 Election

The Peninsula lost a legislative seat following the 1990 reapportionment and incumbent congressman Tom Campbell was running for a vacant US Senate Seat. Therefore, Lempert ran in the Democratic primary to succeed Campbell, a Republican. Lempert ended up losing the primary to San Mateo County supervisor

Anna Eshoo Anna A. Eshoo ( ; née Georges; born December 13, 1942) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from . She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 14th district from 1993 to 2013, is based in Silico ...

San Mateo County Board of Supervisors

After Eshoo was elected to Congress, Lempert replaced her on the Board of Supervisors serving from 1993 until he resigned in 1996 having been elected to the Assembly. Lempert served as the chair of the Board in 1995.

1996 Election

Lempert returned to the Assembly in 1996, representing the 21st district after longtime incumbent Byron Sher who represented much of the territory that had been previously Lempert's was term limited.

2004 Election

Lempert ran for the 11th state senate district in 2004 following the term limitation of Byron Sher. Lempert lost the primary to

Joe Simitian Saren Joseph Simitian (born February 1, 1953) is a California Democratic politician. From 2004 to 2012, he was the State Senator representing California's 11th State Senate district, which encompasses all or part of 13 cities in San Mateo, Sa ...

, the man who had succeeded Lempert in the Assembly.

Personal

A lifelong resident of the San Francisco Peninsula, Mr. Lempert attended local public schools. He graduated from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and earned his law degree from Stanford University. He, his wife Nicole, and their three young daughters live in

San Carlos, California San Carlos (Spanish for "St. Charles") is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. The population is 30,722 per the 2020 census. History Native Americans Prior to the Spanish arrival in 1769, the land of San Carlos was occupi ...

. He currently teaches Political Science 171: California Politics at the University of California at Berkeley. Lempert serves as a member of the board of trustees of the Junior State of America.

References

Biography of Ted LempertJoin California Page for Ted Lempert
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lempert, Ted 1961 births Living people People from San Carlos, California People from San Mateo, California Princeton University alumni Stanford University alumni California lawyers School board members in California Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly San Mateo County Supervisors