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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Former California Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark, Jr., an influential Democrat whose legislative work helped reshape America's health care system, has died. He was 88. Stark's family said he died Friday at his home in Maryland. They did not disclose a cause of death. During his 40-year career in Congress representing the East Bay, Stark helped craft the Affordable Care Act, the signature policy change of the Obama administration. He also created the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, the 1986 law best known as COBRA, which allows workers to stay on their employer's health insurance plan after...

Pete Stark's name didn't come up Tuesday night at the Castro Valley Library candidates forum for the congressional district Stark represented from 1972 to 2012. The fact that nobody seemed to miss the California Democrat should serve as a warning to politicians who think they own their seats. So thought Stark, until fellow Democrat Eric Swalwell knocked him off his perch in 2012, thanks in part to California's top-two primary election. This go-round, Swalwell is the incumbent. Termed-out state Sen. Ellen Corbett is his Democratic challenger. Against the odds, Alameda County GOP Central Committee Vice Chairman Hugh Bussell joined the...

We’ve posted my story for tomorrow’s print editions on how Rep. Pete Stark’s defeat marks both the end of an era and, probably, the start of another Democrat-on-Democrat race for the 15th Congressional District in 2014. Here’s a few final thoughts for which there wasn’t room in that story, but which seem noteworthy nonetheless. This was a contest for which our editors wanted election-night photographs, but Stark’s campaign refused to tell us Monday and Tuesday where he would be Tuesday night; I still don’t know where he watched the returns. I take this as a sign that his campaign staff...

Pete Stark's days in Congress might be numbered The nearly four-decade reign of Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont, is about to end. Stark finished first among three candidates in the 15th Congressional District, but the message of discontent with his boorish and increasingly erratic approach to his job as a public servant could not have been louder. Nearly 59 percent of voters in the freshly realigned district preferred someone other than Stark: 36 percent for Eric Swalwell, a 31-year-old prosecutor and Dublin City Council member, and 22 percent for Chris Pareja, an independent who ran a spirited low-budget campaign. In years...

When Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., lost the GOP primary to challenger Richard Mourdock this month, Beltway types saw the voters' verdict as a victory for the Tea Party and a defeat for the kind of Republican who could work across the aisle. I think Lugar, 80, lost because he was out of touch with Indiana. He started the primary registered to vote at an Indiana home he had sold in 1977. The Lugars have resided in Virginia ever since. Lugar had been working in Washington for so long that he didn't realize he needed to keep up at least the...

Even as he faces his most competitive Congressional challenge in decades, 19-term East Bay Democratic Rep. Pete Stark, 80, has cut back on local campaign appearances –and turned down two upcoming debates sponsored by five area Chambers of Commerce and an Asian Pacific Islander group in his district. Stark’s retreat from public and campaign appearances in the East Bay in the midst of a heated campaign has been noticeable since he made headlines recently with some eyebrow-raising campaign gaffes at a Chronicle editorial board and at a public debate in Hayward. The California Congressional delegation’s longest serving member, who has...

Nineteen-term congressman Rep. Pete Stark has taken a lot of heat lately — some of it dished by The Chronicle here and here and here — for his unfounded accusations and Congressional record. His Democratic opponent in June’s primary, Alameda County prosecutor Eric Swalwell, went so far as to tell us “I don’t think he’s fit to be in office.” Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose, disagrees. At least that’s what the five-term congressman said after we chased him down the hallway and up half a flight of stairs with the SF Chronicle/SFGate.com’s Shaky Hands Productions video crew. ..

California Democrat confuses Solyndra with electric car companyBy Daniel Strauss - 05/05/12 12:37 PM ET Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) confused failed solar energy firm Solyndra with the electric car company Tesla. "I wish I had enough expense allowance to get one of those new S's that Solyndra's going to make down there - the electric car," Stark said in a Saturday report by the San Francisco Chronicle, after being asked about the defunct solar energy company. "They run $60,000 to $90,000." Solyndra fell under scrutiny after failing despite recieving a guaranteed $535 million low-interest loan from the Obama administration. House...

It was a revealing moment for California Rep. Pete Stark, the irascible East Bay liberal who has forged a reputation as a firebrand during four decades in Congress. The 80-year-old Democrat, in a meeting with Chronicle editors and reporters this week, appeared to be confused about Solyndra, the Fremont solar power company whose collapse has fueled Republican criticism of the Obama administration's energy policies this election year. "I wish I had enough expense allowance to get one of those new S's that Solyndra's going to make down there - the electric car," Stark said, after being asked about the company....

Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont, has made some nasty charges during his 19 terms in Congress. Stark has called a female colleague a "whore," a male colleague a "little fruitcake," and a black Cabinet member "a disgrace to his race." At a political debate last month, Stark accused Democratic challenger Eric Swalwell, a Dublin city councilman, of accepting "hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes" - without presenting any proof. Later, Stark issued a lukewarm apology. At a Chronicle editorial board meeting Tuesday, Stark completed the crazy circle when he accused someone in the room of giving money to Swalwell's campaign...

California Rep. Pete Stark, the 20-term South Bay Democratic Congressman, raised eyebrows in a public debate last month by accusing his primary challenger of misconduct — taking “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in bribes — without any evidence. On Tuesday, he was at it again — but this time his target was columnist Debra J. Saunders, whom he wrongly accused during a Chronicle editorial board meeting of contributing to Democratic opponent Eric Swalwell’s campaign.Stark was forced to publicly apologize to Swalwell last month after his unsubstantiated charges. On Tuesday, he had to apologize again, after he said he had documentation proving Saunders – who writes the Chronicle’s “Token Conservative” blog”...

A short YouTube video for voters in California's 15th district concerning incumbent and candidate Pete Stark, his residency and apparent senile dementia. Pete Stark, the representative from Maryland?

Democrats in House of Reps. joined J Street in supporting Obama administration's attempt to force Israel into making painful concessions Seventy-four Democrats in the House of Representatives have joined the dovish J Street organization in supporting the Obama administration's attempt to force Israel into making painful concessions to the Palestinian Authority. “In our view, support for a two-state resolution is inseparable from such support for Israel, its special relationship with the United States, and its very survival as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people,” the letter said. Seven Jewish members signed the letter, including Reps. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), John...

An East Bay congressional candidate is on the warpath after the longtime incumbent he's challenging him publicly accused him of accepting bribes, yet hasn't produced evidence. Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont, leveled the accusation against fellow Democrat, Dublin councilman and Alameda County prosecutor Eric Swalwell during a candidates' forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of the Eden Area on Tuesday night at Hayward City Hall. Stark, 80, said Swalwell, who was elected to the Dublin council in 2010, has taken "hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes" from the Lin family -- among the city's most prominent real estate...

The House of Representatives passed a bi-partisan resolution Tuesday night reaffirming “In God We Trust” as the official motto of the United States. The 396-9 vote came at the request of Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA) – in part over President Obama’s refusal to correct remarks he made that misstated the motto as “E pluribus unum” instead of “In God We Trust.”Lawmakers voting against “In God We Trust” include Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich), Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA),...

Our favorite psychotic statesman, Pete Stark from the San Francisco Bay Area, has a rigged poll (analysis of rigging here) to which he invited his socialist-leaning constituents to respond.Might be worth providing your opinions.Drop by the survey site (https://forms.house.gov/stark/webforms/survey.htm) and when asked for your zip code, use any of the following zip codes which are in Pete’s district.9408394536-9453994540-9454694552, 94555, 94557, 9456094577-9457994580, 9458794603, 94605, 94614, 94621950029503595132, 95134, 95152

Yes indeed. Everyone knew. That was the point of last night’s post. And in fact, what you’re about to hear isn’t the first case of a Solyndra employee insisting that the whole enterprise was widely known to be a bust inside HQ. Remember this snippet from a recent Mercury News story? One former employee, Mohammed Walahi, who began working as a process technician for Solyndra in 2005, showed up at the company Thursday morning to file a workers’ compensation claim for a repetitive stress injury and was surprised to see FBI agents instead of security guards. Solyndra’s employees were laid...

At a townhall meeting on July 23, 2011, Rep Pete Stark said that he believes the debt limit is a 'political charade'. Stark says, "You've heard a lot about the Debt Limit. And I guess that's - I don't know how many of you are worried about it or concerned about it. The fact is I think it's a political charade." "I'm afraid that the Democrats have done that in the past, threatened to shut down the government. I don't think there's a chance that it will happen. I think the last time somebody did, they lost enough seats in...

Wha-wha-what?? I look at someone like Pete Stark and wonder how in the world did he make it in any career– and with utter bewilderment on how he has been elected over a dozen times to be the representation for his constituents! His arrogance has already been on display when he said at this very same townhall meeting that the government has the right to do whatever they want. But someone was saving this little jewel for a new day as he goes on to say that E-Verify and denying illegals the right to work would be unconstitutional. This was...

Power: The federal government, according to Democratic Rep. Pete Stark, can do anything it wants. If there are indeed no checks on the state's power, as the congressman claims, then the state is a tyrant. Stark, who represents San Francisco's East Bay area, let the left's secret slip when he told constituents at a July 24 town-hall meeting in Hayward that he believes "there are very few constitutional limits that would prevent the federal government from rules that could affect your private life." His response came in reply to a constituent's thoughtful question about the federal health care overhaul. She...