Candidate for
United States Representative; District 17; Democratic Party

Sam Farr, a Democrat, and fifth-generation Californian, represents the State's beautiful 17th Congressional District which includes all of Monterey and San Benito Counties and the city and southern parts of Santa Cruz County. He grew up in this area, where his father, Fred Farr, was a State Senator for many years.

After College, he attended the Monterey Institute of International Studies where he learned Spanish, and signed up for the Peace Corps, serving two years in Colombia, South America. He was a California Assembly staffer for a decade, and then held elective office himself when he became a Monterey County Supervisor in 1975. In 1980, he was elected to the California State Assembly, where he is known for writing one of the nations strictest oil spill liability laws, and being a champion for the organics industry. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1993 by special election when the former Congressman Leon Panetta, resigned to assume a position with the Clinton Administration. Sam was elected to a full term in Congress in 1994, and has continued to serve this District ever since. He is recognized as a leader in legislative efforts for educational excellence, environmental protection, and economic development.

Having served on so many different levels of government makes Farr an effective Representative in such an extremely diverse area. The 17th Congressional District encompasses the magnificent Big Sur coastline, the unforgettable Pebble Beach golf course, the last boardwalk amusement park on the West Coast in Santa Cruz, some of the most highly revered language schools in the country, and the fertile and famous Salinas Valley, home to John Steinbeck, and some of the nation.s richest agriculture lands. Serving such varied interests is never easy, and Sam has had remarkable success in balancing them. During his tenure, the Central Coast has become a national model for base conversion, sustainable development, marine science research, post-secondary foreign language education, agriculture and tourism.

Appropriately, Sam was born on the 4th of July, 1941. He graduated from Carmel High School and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. He and his wife Shary are longtime residents of Carmel, and have one grown daughter, Jessica. They had the honor of becoming grandparents for the very first time this past year, to a seventh generation Californian, Ella Fisher.