U.S. House of Representatives
Elections 2004 McNerney first ran for Congress against
Richard Pombo in California's 11th congressional district in the
2004 House elections. He entered the race two weeks before the primary election as a write-in candidate, encouraged by his son. He qualified as a
write-in candidate for the March primary by a small margin. With no opponent, he won the primary and qualified for the November general election ballot as the Democratic nominee. He lost the general election, 61%–39%.
2006 McNerney launched his 2006 campaign early in the fall of 2005. In June 2006 he won the Democratic primary with 52.8% of the vote, defeating Steve Filson, who had been endorsed by the
DCCC, and Stevan Thomas. General
David Petraeus in 2007. In late July, Republicans
Pete McCloskey and Tom Benigno, both of whom ran in the Republican primary against Pombo, endorsed McNerney. In September, analysis of the campaign was changed from "Republican safe" to "Republican favored" due to the emergence of McNerney's campaign. The report noted "a [GOP] party spokesman says it's because they want to win decisively but others speculate that internal polling has delivered bad news for the incumbent." On October 3, a poll commissioned by
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund was released with McNerney leading Pombo, 48% to 46%. Based on these events, in early October, CQPolitics.com changed their rating of this race from
Republican Favored to
Leans Republican. On November 7, 2006, McNerney defeated Pombo, 53–47%.
2008 McNerney was reelected, 55% to 45%, over
Republican Lincoln Unified School Board Trustee
Dean Andal.
2010 McNerney was reelected, 48%–47%, defeating Republican nominee David Harmer.
2012 For his first three terms, McNerney represented a district that encompassed eastern
Contra Costa County, most of San Joaquin County outside of Stockton, parts of
Alameda County, and a small portion of Santa Clara County. After redistricting, his district was renumbered as the 9th district. It lost its portion of Contra Costa County, including McNerney's home in
Pleasanton, while picking up all of Stockton along with part of Sacramento County. After the new map was announced, McNerney announced he would move to Stockton in the new 9th. While the old 11th was a hybrid Bay Area/Central Valley district, the new 9th was more of a Central Valley district, slightly more Democratic than its predecessor. McNerney eventually bought a home in Stockton. He was reelected, 56%–44%, defeating Republican nominee Ricky Gill.
Tenure with a framed flag, as part of a January 24, 2009, celebration honoring the pilot in his hometown of
Danville, California. In 2010, President
Barack Obama signed into law a bill McNerney wrote that establishes an evaluation panel to assess the Veteran's Administration treatments for traumatic brain injury. McNerney wrote a bill in 2013 that allowed veterans to keep receiving their benefits during the government shutdown. McNerney was one of the first lawmakers to call for the resignation of VA Secretary
Eric Shinseki after revelations about delays in care at VA health care facilities. McNerney is a proponent of renewable energy and supports
cap and trade. McNerney co-sponsored the bill
To require the Secretary of Energy to prepare a report on the impact of thermal insulation on both energy and water use for potable hot water (H.R. 4801; 113th Congress), which would require the
United States Secretary of Energy to prepare a report on the effects of
thermal insulation on both energy consumption and systems for providing
potable water in
federal buildings. In 2007, McNerney voted against legislation that would have prevented the DEA from enforcing prohibition in the 12 states (including California) that allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes. In 2013, McNerney introduced the Methamphetamine Education, Treatment and Hope (METH) Act to expand programs that combat methamphetamine abuse. In April 2018, McNerney,
Jared Huffman,
Jamie Raskin, and
Dan Kildee launched the
Congressional Freethought Caucus. Its stated goals include "pushing public policy formed on the basis of reason, science, and moral values", promoting the "separation of church and state", and opposing discrimination against "atheists, agnostics, humanists, seekers, religious and nonreligious persons", among others. Huffman and Raskin act as co-chairs. In 2019, McNerney authored the AI in Government Act (HR 2575). Enacted in 2020, the AI in Government Act was designed to facilitate the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies within the federal government, improve competency in their use, and ensure that AI applications are trustworthy and benefit the public. McNerney voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the
117th Congress, according to a
FiveThirtyEight analysis.
Committee assignments •
Committee on Energy and Commerce •
Subcommittee on Energy and Power •
Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade •
Subcommittee on Environment and Economy •
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology •
Subcommittee on Energy • Committee on Veterans Affairs
Caucus memberships • Chair, Artificial Intelligence Caucus • Chair, Grid Innovation Caucus • Chair, Wi-Fi Caucus • Congressional Arthritis Caucus •
United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus • Grid Innovation Caucus •
Congressional Freethought Caucus •
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus •
Climate Solutions Caucus •
Medicare for All Caucus == California State Senate ==