Ted Lempert (born June 14, 1961,

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo border ...

) 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, Califor ...

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, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. Lempert is the President of Children Now and was CEO and founder of EdVoice. Both organizations advocate for changes to the California educational system. Lempert is a trustee on the San Mateo County Board of Education representing Trustee Area.

Legislative Accomplishments

Lempert authored 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 Courken George Deukmejian Jr. ( ; June 6, 1928May 8, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of California from 1983 to 1991. A member of the Republican Party, he was the state's first governor of Armenian descent. B ...

Pete Wilson Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Wilson previously served as a United S ...

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 until he was recalled and removed from office in 2003. He is the second state governor ...

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 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 ...

San Mateo County Board of Supervisors

After Eshoo was elected to Congress, Lempert replaced her on the Board of Supervisors, from 1993 until he resigned in 1996 having been elected to the Assembly. Lempert w 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 Byron D. Sher (born February 7, 1928) is an American Democratic politician. He served in the California State Senate from 1996 to 2004, prior to which, he served in the California State Assembly between 1980 and 1996. (Sher was first elected ...

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

. Lempert lost the primary to Joe Simitian, 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 daughters live in

San Carlos, California San Carlos (Spanish language, Spanish for "St. Charles") is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. The population is 30,722 per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Native Americans Prior to the Spain, Spanis ...

. He teaches Political Science 171: California Politics at the University of California at Berkeley. Lempert is a member of the board of trustees of the

Junior State of America The Junior State of America (formerly the Junior Statesmen of America), abbreviated JSA, was an American non-partisan youth organization. The purpose of JSA was to help high school students acquire leadership skills and the knowledge necessary t ...

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 20th-century members of the California State Legislature