Scott Peters

Scott Harvey Peters (born June 17, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative from California's 50th congressional district since 2023, previously representing the 52nd congressional district from 2013 to 2023.

His district includes both coastal and central portions of San Diego, as well as the suburbs of Poway and Coronado.

Peters was born in 1958 in Springfield, Ohio.

He was raised in Michigan.

His father was a Lutheran minister, and his mother was a homemaker.

Peters has said that he took out student loans and participated in his school's work-study program, through which he was given jobs answering phones and cleaning pigeon cages.

He received his undergraduate degree from Duke University (’80).

Peters served as an economist on the staff of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), then earned a J.D. degree from the New York University School of Law (’84).

Before his election to the city council, he worked as a deputy county counsel for San Diego County and as an attorney in private practice focusing on environmental law.

He gained notability in a lawsuit against a local shipbuilder.

A member of the Democratic Party, Peters served two terms on the San Diego City Council from 2000 to 2008, and was the first person to hold the post of president of the city council (2006–2008).

He also served as a commissioner for the Unified Port of San Diego before becoming a member of Congress.

In 2000, Peters ran for the San Diego City Council's 1st district.

In the open primary, he ranked second with 24% of the vote, qualifying for the November general election.

Businesswoman Linda Davis ranked first with 32% of the vote.

Peters defeated Davis, 53%-47%.

He stated that the city averaged one spill per day when he was elected in 2000, but that the incidence of such spills fell 80% during his terms in office.

He was involved in the push to ban alcohol from the city's beaches, as well as to ban smoking from public beaches and parks.

In 2002, Peters was appointed to the California Coastal Commission.

He served one three-year term on the Commission.

A coalition of environmental groups gave his votes an environmental score of 31% in 2002, 52% in 2003 and 40% in 2004.

In 2002, he voted with the majority to underfund the employee pension system.

The ensuing Securities and Exchange Commission investigation cleared Peters and the other council members of fraud, but the Kroll Report investigation called them "negligent."

The city spent $7 million defending officials involved in this case, including $631,000 defending Peters.

In the 2004 open primary, he came in first with 48% of the vote.

Businessman Phil Thalheimer ranked second with 31% of the vote.

In the November election, Peters was reelected, defeating Thalheimer 55%-45%.

In 2004, San Diego city residents voted to change the structure of city government from a council-city manager form to a mayor-council form, which made the mayor the city's chief executive officer.

Serving as a member of the city council during this time, Peters was elected to chair the transition committee in charge of this project.

He was "involuntarily retired" in 2005 when new State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez did not renew his appointment.

In 2005, Peters's fellow council members elected him to serve as the first president of the San Diego City Council, which under the new form of government made him the chief officer of the city's newly defined legislative branch.

In 2007, Peters was criticized for excessive water use during a drought.

He ended the year having consumed more than 1 million gallons of water for his home, which sits on a 34,848-square-foot lot near Mount Soledad, and for an adjacent landscaped parcel.

Peters cited a reduction in sewer spills and beach closure days as accomplishments during his city council tenure.

In 2008, San Diego's mayor vetoed a 24% pay raise for the city council that Peters and four other council members had voted for.

Peters was a member of the San Diego City Council during the San Diego pension scandal.

Having reached the end of his eight-year term limit on the city council, Peters ran for San Diego City Attorney in 2008, challenging incumbent City Attorney Mike Aguirre.

In the open primary, state legislator Jan Goldsmith ranked first with 32% of the vote.

The incumbent ranked second with 29% of the vote, qualifying for the runoff election.

During the 2012 congressional election campaign, his Republican opponent, Brian Bilbray, made the scandal a major issue.