`There ought to be a law’: How to contact your state and federal representatives
From time to time, we get requests to publish a list of state and federal representatives and their contact information. In years past, The Modesto Bee’s opinion page did that with regularity, as a public service, to make it easier to connect with the people you elect to offices in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.
I’ve resisted this request for two main reasons: The information is readily available in a few keystrokes to anyone with internet service and, in all honesty, it’s usually less cumbersome and more accurate than a newspaper clipping. By that I mean the internet pinpoints which districts you live in, and who represents those districts, while trying to figure it out from a newspaper column can be tricky and prone to error.
Don’t believe me? Try this experiment.
On your computer or mobile device, type “legislator lookup” in your search engine, whether Google or Bing or whatever. You should get several results leading you to a site where you simply type in your address and verify, in a nanosecond, which politicians represent you in the California Senate and Assembly and in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
The best site might be openstates.org/find_your_legislator because results are comprehensive. Another, believe it or not, is secure.aspca.org/legislator-lookup provided by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. No, you don’t have to believe in its cause to use its legislator locator, which is as helpful as any. It provides multiple social media links, too.
As you might expect, the League of Women Voters has a fine legislator locator, as well: lwv.org/take-action/find-your-elected-officials.
The government has its own easy-to-use sites, if your issue is focused. So if you only want to contact a state rep, try findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov. For the House, go to house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative.
CalMatters has a locator that’s a little more fun, because you can see if your state representative is considered liberal or conservative, and to what degree. Visit calmatters.org/legislator-tracker.
We should recognize, however, that some readers will refuse to use any electronic device more complicated than a TV remote. They are valued readers and constituents whose concerns, struggles and questions are every bit as valid as anyone else’s.
So, by popular demand, here is a clippable list of state and federal representatives that might look fine on your fridge or bulletin board. We’ve tried to include brief descriptions of areas they represent, but if you live close to a border, you’ll want to look it up electronically to be sure.
California Senate
District 4 Marie Alvarado-Gil
Stanislaus County, plus all or part of Merced, Tuolumne, Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Inyo, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Nevada and Placer counties
209-576-6001
California Assembly
District 22 Juan Alanis
Modesto, Turlock, Ceres, Patterson and Newman in Stanislaus County, plus north Merced County
209-521-2201
District 9 Heath Flora
Riverbank, Oakdale, Hughson and Waterford in Stanislaus County, plus all or part of San Joaquin, Amador, Calaveras and Sacramento counties
209-599-2112
U.S. Senate
Dianne Feinstein
415-393-0707
Alex Padilla
916-448-2787
U.S. House of Representatives
District 5 Tom McClintock
Most of Modesto and Stanislaus County east of Highway 99, plus all or part of Tuolumne, Fresno, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Madera and Mariposa counties
209-550-6910
District 13 John Duarte
Stanislaus County west of Highway 99 plus Ceres, and all or part of Merced, San Joaquin, Fresno and Madera counties
209-226-6880
District 9 Josh Harder
Most of San Joaquin County, including Ripon and Escalon
209-579-5458
