Pete Stark

Pete Stark
Official portrait, 2002
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California
In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by	George P. Miller
Succeeded by	Eric Swalwell (redistricting)
Constituency	8th district (1973–1975) 9th district (1975–1993) 13th district (1993–2013)
Personal details
Born	Fortney Hillman Stark Jr. (1931-11-11)November 11, 1931 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died	January 24, 2020(2020-01-24) (aged 88) Harwood, Maryland, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Elinor Brumder ​ ​ (m. 1955, divorced)​ Carolyn Wente ​ ​ (m. 1989; div. 1991)​ Deborah Roderick ​ (m. 1991)​ [1]
Children	7
Alma mater	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS) University of California, Berkeley (MBA)
Occupation	Politician banker
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Air Force
Years of service	1955–1957
Pete Stark's voice Pete Stark speaks on how his deceased House colleague, Julian Dixon, supported District of Columbia home rule Recorded December 8, 2000

Fortney Hillman Stark Jr. (November 11, 1931 – January 24, 2020), known as Pete Stark, was an American businessman and politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 2013. A Democrat from California,^[2] Stark's district—California's 13th congressional district during his last two decades in Congress—was in southwestern Alameda County and included Alameda, Union City, Hayward, Newark, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, and Fremont (his residence during the early part of his tenure), as well as parts of Oakland and Pleasanton.^[3] At the time he left office in 2013, he was the fifth most senior Representative, as well as sixth most senior member of Congress overall. He was also the dean of California's 53-member Congressional delegation, and the only openly atheist member of Congress.

After 2010 redistricting, Stark's district was renumbered as the 15th district for the 2012 election. He narrowly finished first in the primary ahead of fellow Democrat Eric Swalwell, but lost to Swalwell in the general election. He was the second-longest serving U.S. Congressman, after Jack Brooks (D-Texas, 1994), to lose a general election.