Dave Cortese
- Senate: 2020-present
News coverage of Dave Cortese
Bio
Dave Cortese, 69, is the son of longtime California Assemblymember Dominic Cortese. After graduating from UC Davis and Lincoln Law School, he spent most of the next three decades on a local school board, the San Jose City Council and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. He worked in finance, ranching and real estate and opened a private law practice. In the Senate, he authored legislation Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed that would have allowed car dealers to tack on another $175 in fees to the cost of buying a vehicle. He’s married with four children.
Leader Badges
Ideology
Left
Moderate
Right
Bill Activity
0
Of 38 bills:For this session year, this legislator initiated 38 bills: 13 passed, 6 failed, and 19 are currently pending.
Alignment Meter
See all-time percentage of this legislator’s alignment with any organization based on total votes.
Financials
This feature tracks three sources of money intended to help a candidate win election: 1-Money given directly to a candidate’s committee, 2-Money given to an Independent Expenditure Committee, 3-Money given to a political party. (NOTE: Senators are elected every four years. Twenty of the 40 Senators are on the ballot in even-numbered years, so Senators may do little or no fundraising in the first two-year session of their Senate term).
Election
This display shows money given directly to the incumbent’s campaign committee (NOTE: The industry categories for donors come from Open Secrets, a nonpartisan research organization for campaign finance. Some contributions are “uncoded,” meaning they have not been assigned to an industry sector. As a result, the total for each sector is also an estimate).
Agriculture
Candidate Contributions
Communications & Electronics
Construction
Energy & Natural Resources
Finance, Insurance & Real Estate
General Business
Government Agencies/Education/Other
Health
Ideology/Single Issue
Labor
Lawyers & Lobbyists
Transportation
Uncoded
Unitemized Contributions
Candidate Donations
Individuals, corporations, organizations and committees are limited to a maximum donation to candidates of $5,500 for the primary and for the general elections.
295.0% higher than the average legislators
Independent Expenditures
Money from Independent Expenditure Committees (IEC) for advertising or grassroots activity targeting a candidates run for office is unlimited, but it cannot be spent in coordination with the candidate or the candidate's campaign.
100.0% lower than the average legislators
Grand Total for Elections
231.0% higher than the average legislators
This is a total of the money targeting this legislator's campaign(s) including direct donations to the candidate, money spent by Independent Expenditure Committees and money from political parties.
Influence
There are three categories of donations to legislators after they are elected that encourage a working relationship between the donor and the legislator. The three categories are: 1-Gifts, 2-Travel, 3-Behests.
Policy
Bills Authored by Dave Cortese
Committee: Senate Standing Committee on Environmental Quality
Committee: Senate Standing Committee on Judiciary
Committees
Most of the policy work in the state Capitol is done in “Standing” committees. Legislators also work on budget subcommittees. There are also “Special” and “Select” committees with a more narrow topic focus. And there are “Joint” committees with members from the Senate and Assembly.
Interest Group Rankings
Generally Aligned
Hearings
Featured Comments
Below are links to the video and transcript of recent, substantive comments by this legislator in committee hearings or floor sessions.
District
The maps and information about this district reflect the boundaries when this Senator was last elected in 2020. Since then legislative districts have been redrawn according to the latest US Census. This district will change after the 2024 election.
Previous Election (2024):
Party Registration
Key
District
State
Census Data
Median age