Howard Berman

A member of the Democratic Party, he represented the state's 26th congressional district until redistricting and the 28th congressional district—which both encompassed parts of the San Fernando Valley—for a combined 15 terms.

Berman was born in Los Angeles, to Jewish parents, the son of Eleanor (née Schapiro) and Joseph Berman.

His maternal grandparents immigrated from Russia.

Following redistricting, Berman decided to run in the newly redrawn California's 30th congressional district, facing fellow Democrat Brad Sherman.

Sherman had the advantage because he previously represented over half of the district.

Howard Lawrence Berman (born April 15, 1941) is an American attorney and retired politician who served as a U.S. representative from California from 1983 to 2013.

He graduated from Alexander Hamilton High School in 1959 and earned his B.A. in international relations in 1962 and his LL.B. in 1965 at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Blanche Bettington, his high school civics teacher, inspired him to enter politics and government.

About 60% of voters of the new 30th district resided in Sherman's former district, while just 20% of voters resided in Berman's.

The race, unprecedented in pitting two very similar candidates of the same party against each other in the general election, was called a "slugfest".

Berman received the endorsements from about two-thirds of California's Democratic congressional delegation.

Among Sherman's endorsements were then-Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom of California, then-State Controller John Chiang of California, former President Bill Clinton, and Congressman John Conyers of Michigan.

He was a VISTA volunteer (1966–1967) in Baltimore and San Francisco, and was an associate at a Los Angeles law firm, Levy, Van Bourg & Hackler (1967–72) specializing in labor relations.

His brother Michael, campaign manager in Henry Waxman's 1968 Assembly race, again ran a targeted mail operation.

Berman won election to the Assembly in 1972 from a district in the Hollywood Hills, unseating the incumbent Republican speaker pro tempore.

In 1974, Berman and Waxman both opposed Willie Brown's unsuccessful revolt against Speaker of the California State Assembly Leo McCarthy, who rewarded Berman's loyalty by appointing him the youngest majority leader in Assembly history.

McCarthy fired Berman when Berman tried to replace him in 1980.

Although McCarthy failed to retain the speakership, Berman failed to win it and Brown became speaker.

Other members remarked on what a tough politician he was; the Bermans helped arrange a primary defeat for at least one colleague (Jack R. Fenton) who had opposed his bid.

He also served as Chairman of the Assembly Democratic Caucus and on the Policy Research Management Committee of the Assembly.

After redistricting made the 26th district significantly more Democratic, incumbent Republican Congressman John Harbin Rousselot decided to run in California's 30th congressional district in 1982.

Berman won the Democratic primary for the open seat with 83% of the vote, and the general election with 60% of the vote.

Berman was reelected 14 times, never dropping below 61% of the vote, from 1984 through 2010.

The 2000 census allocated California one new House seat, 53 in all.

Berman, "dad of the delegation" on redistricting, made a deal with Republicans Tom Davis and David Dreier to keep 34 safe seats for Democrats, add one new Republican district, and protect nineteen incumbent Republicans.

Many California Democrats in the House and California State Senate hired Michael Berman, Howard Berman's brother, as a redistricting consultant, for a fee of $20,000 each.

When the August 2001 plan was unveiled, Congressman Brad Sherman, a fellow Democrat from California, complained that it undermined the safety of his seat with too many Hispanic voters, saying, "Howard Berman stabbed me in the back."

Berman agreed to redraw the boundary between their districts, giving himself 56% and Sherman 37% Latino population.

The redistricting plan survived a court challenge from the MALDEF, which argued that the redistricting diluted Hispanic representation.

From 2001 to 2006, Berman paid his brother Michael Berman's consulting firm Berman & D'Agostino $195,000 from campaign funds.

In the 2002 campaign, Berman & D'Agostino was paid $75,000 in political consulting fees.

In 2005, $50,000 in consulting fees were paid to the company, and Michael Berman himself was paid a further $80,500 in campaign management and consulting fees.

In 2006, $70,000 was paid in consulting fees.

The state's top-two primary system, implemented in 2010, allows for two candidates of the same party to face-off in the general election.

Berman ran as the more conservative Democrat, hoping to divide the Democratic vote and dominate in the independent and conservative vote.

However, in the November general election, Sherman defeated Berman, 60.3%–39.7%.

Berman has been described as "one of the most creative members of the House, and one of the most clear-sighted operators in American politics".

On June 5, 2012, Sherman ranked first in the seven-candidate open primary, with 42% of the vote.

Berman ranked second, with 26% of the vote.

The Republicans suffered some slippage; they had only 19 members in the delegation to the 110th Congress.