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Headshot of Marc Berman

Marc Berman

Democrat, State Assembly
District 23, Palo Alto
Time in office:
  • Assembly: 2016-present

Bio

Marc Berman, 44, made Californians who hate getting woken up by leaf blowers happy. He was the author of a law that bans the sale of new gas-powered small engines starting in 2024. He was the author of a bill that made California a permanent vote-by-mail state. Berman graduated from Georgetown University and received a law degree from USC. He worked for the prominent law firm Latham & Watkins and was a member of the Palo Alto City Council. Berman and his wife have a dog named Maven.

Leader Badges

Higher Education Badge

Ideology

Left

Moderate

Right

Bill Activity

0

Of 1 bills:
 Passed
 Failed
1 Pending

For this session year, this legislator initiated 1 bills: None passed, None failed, and 1 are currently pending.

Alignment Meter

See all-time percentage of this legislator’s alignment with any organization based on total votes.

xx%votes: xx

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

$14.5K

Candidate Contributions

$3.1K

Communications & Electronics

$38.5K

Construction

$8.0K

Defense

$1.0K

Energy & Natural Resources

$16.0K

Finance, Insurance & Real Estate

$124.8K

General Business

$71.5K

Government Agencies/Education/Other

$67.7K

Health

$124.3K

Ideology/Single Issue

$21.5K

Labor

$215.6K

Lawyers & Lobbyists

$20.1K

Party

$236.1K

Transportation

$22.0K

Uncoded

$264.4K

Unitemized Contributions

$1.4K

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.

Total
$1.3M

65.0% higher than the average legislators

Independent Expenditures

Money from Independent Expenditure Committees (IEC) for advertising or grassroots activity to help a candidate win office is unlimited, but it cannot be spent in coordination with the candidate or the candidate's campaign.

Total
$294.6K

Grand Total for Elections

$1.5M

104.0% higher than the average legislators

This is a total of the money to help this legislator win office including direct donations to the candidate, money from 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.

Giver
Value
Date
Description
Rich Gordon$300Oct 24, 202149ers Game
California Jewish Legislative Caucus Leadership Foundation$175.48Jan 29, 2021Patagonia Jacket
Evan Low for Assembly 2022$117.65Jun 16, 2021Dinner
California Jewish Legislative Caucus Leadership Foundation$67.43Jan 28, 2021Tzedakah Box and Engravers
California Democratic Party$60.99Aug 24, 2021lunch
California Democratic Party$56.93May 4, 2021lunch
California Jewish Legislative Caucus Leadership Foundation$33.15Jan 28, 2021Food and Beverages: Solomon's Deli
California Jewish Legislative Caucus Leadership Foundation$32.41Jan 28, 2021Yeti Mug
California Jewish Legislative Caucus Leadership Foundation$26.6Jan 28, 2021Gift Bag

Personal Gifts

Legislators are not allowed to accept gifts of more than $10 per month from registered lobbyists. Gifts from any other single source are limited to $590 in a calendar year.

Gift Received Rating
#33/120

This legislator is ranked 33rd highest for the amount of personal gifts received.

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.

Hearings

Featured Comments

Below are links to the video and transcript of recent, substantive comments by this legislator in committee hearings or floor sessions.

Preview image for AB 183143SEC
Aug 31, 2024

AB 1831

Crimes: child pornography.

Preview image for AB 245855SEC
Aug 31, 2024

AB 2458

Public postsecondary education: student parents.

Preview image for AB 325548SEC
Aug 31, 2024

AB 3255

Vocational nursing and psychiatric technicians: sunset: licensure.

Preview image for AB 32541MIN
Aug 31, 2024

AB 3254

Endowment care cemeteries: reporting.

Preview image for AB 318453SEC
Aug 30, 2024

AB 3184

Elections: signature verification statements, unsigned ballot identification statements, and reports of ballot rejections.

Preview image for AB 205740SEC
Aug 29, 2024

AB 2057

Associate Degree for Transfer.

Preview image for AB 325156SEC
Aug 29, 2024

AB 3251

Accountancy.

Preview image for AB 26422MIN
Aug 29, 2024

AB 2642

Elections: intimidation.

Preview image for AB 31842MIN
Aug 29, 2024

AB 3184

Elections: signature verification statements, unsigned ballot identification statements, and reports of ballot rejections.

Preview image for AB 265557SEC
Aug 28, 2024

AB 2655

Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act of 2024.

Preview image for AB 325353SEC
Aug 28, 2024

AB 3253

Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists: licensees: professional land surveyors: surveying practices: monuments and corner accessories.

Preview image for AB 32521MIN
Aug 28, 2024

AB 3252

Shorthand court reporters: sunset: certification.

View All Hearings

District

View of map with yellow overlay for Assembly District 23 boundaries.
District 23 is a Safe Democratic District
Democratic Party candidate has a very high likelihood of winning in an election

Previous Election:

Lydia Kou
40.2%
Marc Berman
59.8%
WON

Party Registration

Census Data

Median age010203040

Median age