In 1966, he was elected to the
California Assembly, in District 48, serving until he ran to fill an open California State Senate seat in District 27, winning on July 20, 1971, and resigning his Assembly seat on July 29. In 1976, he won the senate seat in District 23, and became the Majority Leader. In 1980, he became the
President pro Tempore, serving until 1994. In 1991, he resigned his District 23 seat on July 2, 1992, to take the District 20 seat, due to redistricting and the resignation of
Alan Robbins. In so doing, he became the first legislator subject to the new term limits law. In 1993, Roberti was the target of a recall precipitated by his co-authorship of gun control legislation in 1989. It was the first recall attempt in the state in 79 years. The recall effort was led by William A. Dominguez, John R. Vernon, Hans Rusche, Dolores White, and Glenn C. Bailey. The recall qualified for the ballot but failed (40.75% in favor; 59.25% opposed). In 1994 he was a primary candidate for state Treasurer, losing with 44.5% of the vote. His loss was attributed to the immense campaign costs involved in defending himself against the recall, which exhausted his campaign treasury. Upon leaving the legislature, he returned to the practice of law. In 2001, he ran in a primary to replace a deceased member of the Los Angeles City Council, narrowly missing the runner up, primary slot, with 17.5% of the vote. ==References==