Steve Bennett’s public life has run through Nordhoff High School, Ventura City Hall, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors and, now, the California State Assembly. He spent twenty years teaching economics and American history at Calabasas and Nordhoff high schools, later leading Nordhoff’s counseling department and working as an assistant principal. His electoral career began with a 1991 write-in campaign for the Ventura City Council and continued through repeated county contests before his election to the Assembly. Along the way, his record included repeated efforts on campaign-finance limits, as well as actions concerning worker pay, offshore drilling and the rules governing local political power. He now represents Assembly District 38.
ROOTS AND FIRST OFFICE
Bennett was born in Indianapolis on Dec. 31, 1950. He graduated from Brown University with an honours degree in economics in 1972 and received a master’s degree in education from Butler University in 1976. He married Leslie Ogden, has four children and moved to Ventura.
In the 1990s, Bennett served as spokesman for Voters for Alternate Sites and was a leader of the Alliance for Ventura’s Future. His first City Council campaign, in 1991, was a write-in effort. Endorsed by Patagonia and the Ventura Sierra Club, he finished fifth among 18 candidates. Two years later, he placed second and won a council seat.
Bennett served from 1993 through 1997, then declined to run again under his promise to serve only one term. His council record included a 1994 vote for a resolution opposing Proposition 187, a 1995 vote to have the city attorney support Santa Barbara’s appeal concerning a federal court ruling, and a 1997 vote against term limits for members of Ventura’s boards, commissions and committees.
FROM CITY HALL TO SACRAMENTO
Bennett announced his campaign for the Ventura County Board of Supervisors on April 7, 1999. He defeated Jim Monahan and Rosa Lee Measures in the initial election, then beat Monahan in the runoff. He won again against Jeffrey Ketelsen in 2004, ran without opposition in 2008, defeated Bob Roper after a 2012 contest that also included Christy Weir and Neal Andrews, and beat Dave Grau in 2016. Term limits prevented a sixth term, and Matt LaVere succeeded him.
There was one attempted departure from that county path. Bennett announced a campaign for the United States House of Representatives on Nov. 16, 2011, but withdrew at the California Democratic Party’s state convention. Julia Brownley won the seat in 2012.
Bennett later ran for the Assembly from the 37th Assembly District. He placed second in the primary behind Republican Charles W. Cole, then defeated Cole in the general election. In the state house, Bennett has served on the Budget, Education, Elections, Privacy and Consumer Protection, Rules, and Water, Parks and Wildlife committees. He is also a member of the California Legislative Progressive Caucus.
THE POLICY SIGNATURE
The most persistent part of Bennett’s record is his attention to the terms under which political money enters local government. On the City Council, he proposed a $100 limit on campaign contributions. He also pushed for a 1998 ballot initiative prohibiting organized groups from donating to candidates. As a county supervisor, he proposed an eleven-member ethics panel. These were efforts aimed not merely at officeholders but at the machinery around them: contributors, organized groups and the local bodies responsible for enforcing political rules.
His policy record also identifies the constituencies and interests he has repeatedly placed before public agencies. Bennett supported raising the minimum wage to $8 an hour for workers receiving medical benefits. He called for a resolution prohibiting new federal leases for offshore oil and gas drilling. In 2024, he authored legislation barring the commercial farming of octopuses; Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it in September.
Taken together, the record is clearest on campaign-finance restrictions, worker pay, offshore protection and animal welfare. The documented record includes repeated efforts on campaign-finance restrictions, as well as individual actions involving wage standards, offshore drilling and commercial octopus farming.
- State Assembly · Assembly District 38 · 2022–present
- State Assembly · Assembly District 37 · 2020–
Steve Bennett’s public life has run through Nordhoff High School, Ventura City Hall, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors and, now, the California State Assembly. He spent twenty years teaching economics and American history at Calabasas and Nordhoff high schools, later leading Nordhoff’s counseling department and working as an assistant principal. His electoral career began with a 1991 write-in campaign for the Ventura City Council and continued through repeated county contests before his election to the Assembly. Along the way, his record included repeated efforts on campaign-finance limits, as well as actions concerning worker pay, offshore drilling and the rules governing local political power. He now represents Assembly District 38.
ROOTS AND FIRST OFFICE
Bennett was born in Indianapolis on Dec. 31, 1950. He graduated from Brown University with an honours degree in economics in 1972 and received a master’s degree in education from Butler University in 1976. He married Leslie Ogden, has four children and moved to Ventura.
In the 1990s, Bennett served as spokesman for Voters for Alternate Sites and was a leader of the Alliance for Ventura’s Future. His first City Council campaign, in 1991, was a write-in effort. Endorsed by Patagonia and the Ventura Sierra Club, he finished fifth among 18 candidates. Two years later, he placed second and won a council seat.
Bennett served from 1993 through 1997, then declined to run again under his promise to serve only one term. His council record included a 1994 vote for a resolution opposing Proposition 187, a 1995 vote to have the city attorney support Santa Barbara’s appeal concerning a federal court ruling, and a 1997 vote against term limits for members of Ventura’s boards, commissions and committees.
FROM CITY HALL TO SACRAMENTO
Bennett announced his campaign for the Ventura County Board of Supervisors on April 7, 1999. He defeated Jim Monahan and Rosa Lee Measures in the initial election, then beat Monahan in the runoff. He won again against Jeffrey Ketelsen in 2004, ran without opposition in 2008, defeated Bob Roper after a 2012 contest that also included Christy Weir and Neal Andrews, and beat Dave Grau in 2016. Term limits prevented a sixth term, and Matt LaVere succeeded him.
There was one attempted departure from that county path. Bennett announced a campaign for the United States House of Representatives on Nov. 16, 2011, but withdrew at the California Democratic Party’s state convention. Julia Brownley won the seat in 2012.
Bennett later ran for the Assembly from the 37th Assembly District. He placed second in the primary behind Republican Charles W. Cole, then defeated Cole in the general election. In the state house, Bennett has served on the Budget, Education, Elections, Privacy and Consumer Protection, Rules, and Water, Parks and Wildlife committees. He is also a member of the California Legislative Progressive Caucus.
THE POLICY SIGNATURE
The most persistent part of Bennett’s record is his attention to the terms under which political money enters local government. On the City Council, he proposed a $100 limit on campaign contributions. He also pushed for a 1998 ballot initiative prohibiting organized groups from donating to candidates. As a county supervisor, he proposed an eleven-member ethics panel. These were efforts aimed not merely at officeholders but at the machinery around them: contributors, organized groups and the local bodies responsible for enforcing political rules.
His policy record also identifies the constituencies and interests he has repeatedly placed before public agencies. Bennett supported raising the minimum wage to $8 an hour for workers receiving medical benefits. He called for a resolution prohibiting new federal leases for offshore oil and gas drilling. In 2024, he authored legislation barring the commercial farming of octopuses; Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it in September.
Taken together, the record is clearest on campaign-finance restrictions, worker pay, offshore protection and animal welfare. The documented record includes repeated efforts on campaign-finance restrictions, as well as individual actions involving wage standards, offshore drilling and commercial octopus farming.
The record
3,981 events, each with its sourceAB 220 Jackson Assembly Third Reading
AB 221 Ramos Assembly Third Reading
AB 224 Bonta Assembly Third Reading
AB 250 Aguiar-Curry Assembly Third Reading
ACR 75 Alanis Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1356 Dixon Assembly Third Reading
AB 1332 Ahrens Assembly Third Reading
AB 261 Quirk-Silva Assembly Third Reading
AB 671 Wicks Assembly Third Reading
AB 264 Carrillo Assembly Third Reading
AB 283 Haney Assembly Third Reading
AB 715 Zbur Assembly Third Reading
AB 323 Fong Assembly Third Reading
AB 5 Berman Assembly Third Reading
AB 1026 Wilson Assembly Third Reading
AJR 7 Addis Assembly Third Reading
AB 1390 Solache Assembly Third Reading
AB 1410 Garcia Assembly Third Reading
AB 1112 Wallis Assembly Third Reading
AB 527 Papan Assembly Third Reading
AB 1104 Pellerin Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 49 Muratsuchi Third Reading Urgency
AB 968 Boerner Assembly Third Reading
AB 967 Valencia Assembly Third Reading
AB 1207 Irwin Assembly Third Reading
AB 1470 Haney Assembly Third Reading
AB 546 Caloza Third Reading Urgency
AB 940 Wicks Assembly Third Reading
AB 686 Berman Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 682 Ortega Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 1272 Dixon Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 665 Chen Assembly Third Reading
AB 1199 Patterson Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 1056 Bennett Assembly Third Reading
AB 1299 Bryan Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 1318 Bonta Third Reading Urgency
AB 648 Zbur Assembly Third Reading
AB 1338 Solache Assembly Third Reading
AB 424 Davies Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
ACR 84 Hoover Consent Calendar Second Day
AB 1130 Berman Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 1021 Wicks Assembly Third Reading
AB 317 Jackson Assembly Third Reading
AB 1376 Bonta Assembly Third Reading
AB 408 Berman Assembly Third Reading
AB 615 Davies Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 1387 Quirk-Silva Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 894 Carrillo Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
SCR 49 Wahab Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 1370 Patterson Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session