Rep. Jim Costa (D) Elected 2004, 1st term
Born:	April 13, 1952, Fresno
Home:	Fresno
Education:	CA State U. Fresno, B.A. 1974
Religion:	Catholic
Marital Status:	single
Elected  Office:	CA Assembly, 1978-94; CA Senate, 1994-2002.
Professional Career:	Consultant, 2002-04.
DC Office	1004 LHOB20515, 202-225-3341; Fax: 202-225-9308; Web site: www.house.gov/costa
State Offices	Bakersfield, 661-869-1620; Fresno, 559-495-1620.
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California's Central Valley by car seems a monotonous landscape: mile after mile of farmland with mile-square grid roads, cut across by diagonal railroads and canals, with an occasional cluster town. The land is hilly and gets more water near the Sierra Nevada, and this is where you find the larger cities. On the other side is the Westlands, where the land is flatter and the water scarcer. Here the land was always developed and sold in large plots, and it has some of the world's largest farming operations today. And it produces plenty: alfalfa, cantaloupes, cotton, grapes, lima beans, olives, peaches, plums, raisins, sugar beets, tomatoes, walnuts, wheat. The owners are a hardy lot, but like most entrepreneurs they have been happy to have government help over the years: crop price supports (in the case of cotton), agricultural research, exceptions to the immigration laws, irrigation systems and (most important) subsidized water. They have fought hard against liberals' efforts at change, from Governor Jerry Brown's attempts to encourage Cesar Chavez's United Farm Workers in the 1970s to former House Natural Resources Committee Chairman George Miller's 1992 law to draw off more water to the Sacramento delta and charge higher prices for it in the Valley. But the greatest threats could come from conservatives: In a free market for water, Los Angeles users might outbid the farmers. And the Republican-controlled Congress has declined to approve guest worker programs pushed by Valley members.

The 20th Congressional District of California includes most of the Westlands of the Central Valley, from Bakersfield to a point northwest of Fresno. Its irregular boundaries were drawn to maximize the Hispanic population and Democratic percentage, so the 20th includes the old downtown neighborhoods of both Bakersfield and Fresno, but not their more affluent neighborhoods; it includes heavily Latino towns like Delano, long Chavez's headquarters and recently the site of a potentially large natural gas discovery, but the 20th does not include more Anglo places like Tulare. Just 36% of Fresno's population is included within the 20th and just 18% of Bakersfield's; the district's Hispanic population is 63%, about double that in other Central Valley districts. This is the most Democratic Valley seat between Sacramento and Los Angeles. While the Valley has been trending Republican, redistricting made this district less so; but in 2004 Bush won 49% of the vote here.

The congressman from the 20th District is Jim Costa, a Democrat elected in 2004. Costa was born in Fresno and worked on the family farm. In 1978 he was elected to the Assembly where he known as a moderate Democrat. In 2002 he was forced to retire because of term limits. He turned down an opportunity that year to run in the less familiar 18th District against the politically vulnerable Gary Condit; he founded a consulting firm instead. In 2004 20th District Democrat Cal Dooley retired after 14 years. Costa entered the race and started off with wide name recognition, because his former state Senate district covered the entire congressional district. But in the March primary, he faced a bruising challenge from Lisa Quigley, chief of staff to Dooley. Quigley grew up in the Central Valley, but she hadn't lived in the district in nearly two decades since she left for the University of California at Berkeley and a career on Capitol Hill. Costa, a third-generation family farmer and a Fresno native, questioned her residency and her agricultural credentials. Quigley, who was endorsed by Dooley and national abortion-rights groups, bashed Costa's legislative record and painted him as a special interest lobbyist. In the final days Quigley ran ads mentioning Costa's 1986 arrest for soliciting a prostitute and a 1994 incident in which police found drug paraphernalia in his home. Costa shrugged off the attacks and won the primary by an unexpectedly large 73%-27%.

In the general, Costa began as a clear favorite in this Democratic-leaning district. But state Senator Roy Ashburn, the Republican nominee, ran a formidable campaign. He focused on cultural issues, including same-sex marriage, hoping to win Latino votes. He criticized Costa for supporting tax policies that he said hurt low-income families. He brought in Vice President Dick Cheney, Speaker Dennis Hastert and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and benefited from $1.5 million in ads from the National Republican Congressional Committee that claimed, "Jim Costa -- he's gonna cost ya." But Costa's lengthy legislative record didn't readily lend itself to the "liberal" label. He criticized Ashburn as an "extreme partisan" who would be a tool of the Republican leadership. In a relatively low turnout, Costa won 53%-47%. In Fresno County, which cast 42% of the vote, he won 61%-39%. Costa also carried Bakersfield-centered Kern County, 55%-45%. Ashburn won in the geographically central Kings County 61%-39%, but its 29% of the vote was too little to make a difference. After the election, Ashburn attacked the 22d District's Bill Thomas and other Republican moderates for "sabotaging" his efforts. Thomas responded that the district lines made it "unwinnable" for a Republican against a Democrat like Costa.

In the House, Costa got seats on Agriculture and Resources, both of obvious relevance to the Valley, and on the Science Committee.

Committees

• Agriculture (14th of 21 D): Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition & Forestry; General Farm Commodities & Risk Management; Livestock & Horticulture.
• Resources (19th of 22 D): Energy & Mineral Resources; Water & Power.
• Science (17th of 20 D): Space & Aeronautics.

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Jim Costa (D)	61,005	53%	$1,937,317
	Roy Ashburn (R)	53,231	47%	$1,093,429
2004 primary	Jim Costa (D)	24,338	73%
	Lisa Quigley (D)	8,925	27%
2002 general	Cal Dooley (D)	47,627	64%	$642,724
	Andre Minuth (R)	25,628	34%	$503,230
	Other	1,515	2%

2004 Presidential Vote Kerry (D) 58,534 (51%) Bush (R) 56,045 (48%)

2000 Presidential Vote Gore (D) 57,790 (55%) Bush (R) 46,058 (44%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Twentieth District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: D + 5
• District Size: 4,989 square miles
• Population in 2000: 639,088; 91.2% urban; 8.8% rural
• Median Household Income: $26,800; 32.2% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 27.2% blue collar; 37.8% white collar; 35.0% gray collar; 8.1% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 21.4% White, 7.2% Black, 5.6% Asian, 0.7% Amer. Indian, 0.1% Hawaiian, 1.7% Two+ races, 0.2% Other, 63.1% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 3.2% German, 2.7% Irish, 2.3% USA
• Click here for statewide demographic data.