50 Facts About Richard Pombo

On January 4,2010, Richard Pombo announced his candidacy for Congress in California's 19th congressional district to succeed retiring fellow Republican George Radanovich, although he did not live in the district.

Richard Pombo came in third in that four-way GOP race, with 20.8 percent of the votes.

Richard Pombo was born in Tracy, California, 18 miles south of Stockton.

Richard Pombo attended Cal Poly, Pomona, for three years before dropping out to work for his family's cattle and dairy business.

Richard Pombo is married to the former Annette Cole and has three children.

From 1990 to 1992, Richard Pombo served on the Tracy City Council.

In 1992, Richard Pombo won the Republican primary by defeating several candidates in a race for an open seat in a district newly created by redistricting.

Richard Pombo was reelected from this district in 1994,1996,1998, and 2000.

However, Richard Pombo's district was significantly altered as a result of the 2000 round of redistricting.

Richard Pombo lost his share of Sacramento County to the 3rd district, and lost most of Stockton to the 18th District.

Richard Pombo was reelected in 2002 and 2004 after the redistricting.

Richard Pombo was a member of the conservative Republican Study Committee.

Richard Pombo was given the nickname "The Marlboro Man" by President George W Bush.

Richard Pombo co-wrote a book in 1996 with Joseph Farah of WorldNetDaily about private property issues, entitled This Land is Our Land: How to End the War on Private Property.

The San Joaquin County Citizen's Land Alliance, founded in July 1997, has been described as a group, co-founded by Richard Pombo, that included farmers and other landowners advocating for private property rights and opposing government encroachment on these rights.

Richard Pombo owned land adjacent to the abandoned railroad line, and argued that the abandoned easement should legally revert to the adjacent property owners rather than to the local park district.

Richard Pombo further argued that as the easement was granted based on a promise that the land would be used for railroad purposes only, that the easements ended entirely when they were abandoned.

Richard Pombo's case resulted in Congress passing the Rails to Trails Act.

An advocate for the Center for Democracy and Technology said the bill went further than Richard Pombo acknowledged insofar as it allowed for the warrantless collection of large amounts of data as long as no specific individual was being targeted.

Richard Pombo was a co-chair of the House Energy Action Team, whose stated goal was to find alternative energy solutions.

Richard Pombo was an early member of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, a Republican caucus that promotes the interest of Hispanic and Portuguese Americans.

Richard Pombo was a member and former Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, which is made up of Western State members of Congress concerned about Endangered Species Act reform, water rights, private property rights, and other issues affecting the western states.

Richard Pombo was, as of 2007, co-chair of the Portuguese Caucus, a coalition of Members of Congress who promote positive Portuguese-American relations, and a group he is said to have founded.

Richard Pombo had accepted more money from Abramoff than had any other member of Congress.

On January 8,2006, the Los Angeles Times alleged that Richard Pombo helped one of Abramoff's clients, the Mashpee Indians in Massachusetts, gain federal recognition as a tribe.

In return, Richard Pombo received campaign contributions from both the tribe and Abramoff.

On October 11,2006, it was reported that Richard Pombo "says he never worked with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff in his fourteen years in Congress, but billing records suggest at least two interactions between the two in 1996".

Richard Pombo led an effort to build a multilane freeway through the mostly uninhabited Diablo Range to facilitate Bay Area-bound commuting from the greater Tracy area.

In 2004, Richard Pombo's office sent a letter to then-Secretary of the Department of the Interior Gale Norton, urging the suspension of environmental guidelines opposed by the wind power industry.

Richard Pombo's parents have received hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties from wind-powered turbines on their 300-acre ranch.

Between 2000 and 2004, Richard Pombo used his campaign and PAC funds to pay his brother Randall $272,000, and his wife $85,000.

Richard Pombo's wife continued to be paid at the rate of $3,000 per month.

In October 2004, Richard Pombo used the franking privileges afforded members of Congress to mail approximately 175,000 copies of a two-page leaflet that openly praised the House Resources Committee and the Bush administration for overturning Clinton Administration limits on snowmobiling in national parks.

At Yellowstone, Richard Pombo had a lengthy meeting with the park superintendent, which a spokesman charactizered as official.

The Los Angeles Times was told that Richard Pombo had shown up for his meeting but "they were not there".

The Tracy Press was told that Richard Pombo met with the park's acting superintendent.

On September 23,2006, the Central Valley Record reported that East Bay Representative George Miller and six other House Democrats had requested that Richard Pombo hold "immediate" congressional hearings concerning oil lease payments to the Interior Department.

Richard Pombo proposed legislation to sell roughly a quarter of the land managed by the National Park Service.

Richard Pombo supported oil drilling in the ANWR, despite concerns about the ecosystem and opposition from moderate Republicans.

In September 2005, Richard Pombo helped write a revision of the 1973 Endangered Species Act.

The League of Conservation Voters added him to their Dirty Dozen list in 2010, even though this list is typically reserved for sitting members of Congress; and Warner Chabor, the organization's CEO, stated, "Having Richard Pombo represent a district that includes Yosemite National Park is like electing Godzilla as mayor of Tokyo".

Amid these growing scandals, Richard Pombo faced serious primary opposition for the first time since his initial race in 1992.

Richard Pombo's leading opponent was former congressman Pete McCloskey, a leading moderate Republican.

Richard Pombo defeated McCloskey in the primary with 61 percent of the vote.

Apart from prevailing national Democratic trends and the corruption allegations dogging him, Richard Pombo was the number one national target of environmental groups.

Since Richard Pombo left office, no other Republican has represented a significant part of the Bay Area in Congress.

On January 4,2010, Richard Pombo announced his candidacy for Congress in California's 19th congressional district after Congressman George Radanovich, a fellow Republican, announced he wouldn't run for reelection.

Richard Pombo said he "didn't think [he] would ever run again, but when George Radanovich announced he wasn't running, my phone rang off the hook".

Richard Pombo followed up his candidacy for Congress announcement by signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform on January 5,2010.

Richard Pombo previously signed it as Representative of California's 11th congressional district.