American politician (born 1951)
Gerald Mark McNerney ( ; born June 18, 1951) is an American businessman and politician who has served a member of the California State Senate since 2024. A member of the Democratic Party, he represents the 5th district, taking in most of San Joaquin County and northern parts of Alameda County county. He previously served as the U.S. representative for California's 9th congressional district 2007 until 2023. His district, numbered as the 11th district until 2013, was based in Stockton and included most of San Joaquin County, East Contra Costa County, and southern Sacramento County. McNerney holds a Ph.D in mathematics. McNerney did not run for reelection in 2022.
On December 8, 2023, McNerney filed for an open seat in District 5 of the California State Senate, upending a move into the race by Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua. McNerney defeated Republican Jim Shoemaker in the general election.
Early life, education, and business career.
McNerney was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the son of Rosemary (née Tischhauser) and John E. McNerney. He is of Swiss and Irish descent. He attended St. Joseph's Military Academy in Hays, Kansas, and, for two years, the United States Military Academy at West Point. After leaving West Point in 1971 in protest of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, he enrolled at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he received bachelor's and master's degrees and, in 1981, a Ph.D. in mathematics, with a doctoral dissertation in differential geometry focusing on a generalization of the Laplace–Beltrami operator.
McNerney served several years as a contractor to Sandia National Laboratories at Kirtland Air Force Base on national security programs. In 1985, he accepted a senior engineering position with U.S. Windpower (Kenetech). In 1994, he began working as an energy consultant for PG&amp;E, FloWind, The Electric Power Research Institute, and other utility companies. Before being elected to Congress, McNerney served as the CEO of a start-up company manufacturing wind turbines, HAWT Power (Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Power).
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.
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 nominee 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.
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 .
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.
McNerney voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a "FiveThirtyEight" analysis.
Political positions.
United States Supreme Court.
After the Supreme Court overturned "Roe v. Wade" in 2022, McNerney called it "a partisan body that is no longer a legitimate arbiter of our Constitution." He said it had a "far-right minority agenda" that is a "threat not only to our country, but to the world."