Mark Takano

Mark Allan Takano (/təˈkɑːnoʊ/; born December 10, 1960) is an American politician who has been the United States Representative for California's 41st congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Takano has served on the Riverside Community College Board of Trustees since 1990. Upon taking office, Takano became the first openly gay person of Asian descent in Congress.

Takano was born in 1960 in Riverside, California. His family was relocated and interned from California to a "War Relocation Camp" during World War II.He is Sansei, that is, the grandson of people born in Japan who immigrated to the United States. He attended La Sierra High School of the Alvord Unified School District, where he graduated as class valedictorian. In high school, he also participated in the Junior State of America, a national student-run organization centered around debate and civic engagement in young people, and was elected the Lieutenant Governor of the Southern California State. He graduated from Harvard University with an AB in Government in 1983. He later graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing for the Performing Arts from the University of California, Riverside in 2010.

Takano taught British literature in public schools for twenty-three years. He was a member of the Republican Party through college, when he became a member of the Democratic Party. In 1990 he was elected to the Riverside Community College Board of Trustees. While on the board, he shepherded a measure that provided Riverside Community College employees with domestic partner benefits.

Elections

1992

Takano ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives during the 1992 elections in the California's 43rd congressional district. He won a seven-candidate Democratic primary with 29% of the vote. Republican Ken Calvert defeated Takano by 519 votes, 47–46%.

1994

In 1994, Takano defeated Raven Lopez Workman in the Democratic primary, 70–30%. During the campaign, Republican State Assemblyman Ray Haynes outed Takano, calling him a "homosexual liberal". In the general election, Calvert defeated Takano 55–38%.

2012

In July 2011, Takano announced he would run for the U.S. House in the newly redrawn California 41st congressional district, established in the redistricting following the 2010 United States Census. Five candidates ran for the open seat. In the June 2012 open primary, John Tavaglione, a Republican, ranked first with 45% of the votes. Takano ranked second with 37%. In the November general election, Takano defeated Tavaglione 58–42%. Takano became the first openly gay member of the House who is not white.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Veterans' Affairs (Chairman)
• Committee on Education and Labor
  • Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training
  • Subcommittee on Workforce Protections

After Corrine Brown's indictment on July 8, 2016, she temporarily stepped down as ranking member of the Veterans Committee, leaving Takano as acting ranking member until the end of the 114th Congress.

Tenure

When Representative Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) circulated a draft letter opposing an immigration reform bill in 2013, asking for signatures, Takano marked it up in red pen like a high school assignment and gave it an F, with comments like, "exaggeration -- avoid hyperbole."

Takano co-chairs the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus and is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Congressional Arts Caucus, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus, U.S.-Japan Caucus, and the Advanced Energy Storage Caucus.