Rise To The California State Senate
Having served eight years representing Oakland as an Alameda County Supervisor, Perata's first attempt at state politics came in the 1994 democratic primary for controller, aged 49. Perata was unsuccessful, capturing 27.27% of the vote. Afterwards, Perata served as a staff assistant for then Senate Pro Tem Bill Lockyer. In 1996, Perata was elected as a California State Assemblyman for the Oakland, Alameda, and Piedmont district.
In 1998, Perata ran for the State Senate for the 9th District which currently includes Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Castro Valley, Dublin, El Sobrante, Emeryville, Livermore, Oakland, Piedmont, Richmond, and San Pablo.
Perata's run (and election) to the State Senate in 1998 was part of a series of five special elections that were held in the East Bay within less than 12 months, as Perata and other East Bay politicians vied for different political offices. For a detailed account of events, see Special election musical chairs.
Don Perata was selected by his peers in the California Democratic Party to lead the party in the California State Senate in 2004, becoming the California State Senate President Pro Tempore and leader of Senate. The position is the highest-ranking leader and most powerful member of the Senate. The state Democratic Party re-elected Perata as President pro Tem until his retirement from the State Senate in 2008.
Read more about this topic: Don Perata
Famous quotes containing the words rise to the, rise, california, state and/or senate:
“Loosed betwixt eye and lid, the swimming beams
Of memory, blind school of cuttlefish,
Rise to the air, plunge to the cold streams....”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)
“He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
—Bible: New Testament Matthew 5:45.
“I can’t earn my own living. I could never make anything turn into money. It’s like making fires. A careful assortment of paper, shavings, faggots and kindling nicely tipped with pitch will never light for me. I have never been present when a cigarette butt, extinct, thrown into a damp and isolated spot, started a conflagration in the California woods.”
—Margaret Anderson (1886–1973)
“The state is a creation of nature and man is by nature a political animal.”
—Aristotle (384–323 B.C.)
“Like Cato, give his little Senate laws,
And sit attentive to his own applause.”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)