Marc Berman
Marc Berman is a progressive, prolific, and deeply experienced California lawmaker who has represented the heart of Silicon Valley and the San Mateo coast in the State Assembly since 2016. A former attorney, nonprofit leader, and city councilmember, Berman has built one of the Legislature's strongest records on elections, housing, education, and environmental policy.
Born in Dallas, Texas, Berman was raised in Palo Alto, California, and graduated from Palo Alto High School. He earned a degree in Political Science from Georgetown University in 2002 and went on to earn his law degree from the University of Southern California, where he was elected president of the Student Bar Association and served for two years on the Southern California Law Review. After law school, he built his legal career at two prominent firms — Latham & Watkins LLP and Merino Yebri, LLP — where he successfully represented pro bono clients seeking protection under the Violence Against Women Act and individuals seeking asylum from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Before entering electoral politics, Berman transitioned from law into the nonprofit world, working as development director of the Silicon Valley Education Foundation, a nonprofit focused on increasing access to high-quality STEM education and closing the achievement gap in Bay Area public schools. He then served on the Palo Alto City Council, where he developed a reputation as a leader on infrastructure improvement and financial transparency — and notably took a pro-housing stance that set him apart from many of his Palo Alto colleagues who favored slower growth.
Berman was first elected to the California State Assembly in November 2016, and now represents the 23rd Assembly District, which spans southern San Mateo County and northern Santa Clara County — from the heart of Silicon Valley over the hills to the Coastside communities. He was first elected with 54.4% of the vote in 2016, then cruised to reelection in 2018 and 2020 with more than 75% of the vote in both races. He won reelection again in the November 2024 general election, defeating Lydia Kou, with his current term ending December 2026.
In Sacramento, Berman has compiled a remarkably productive legislative record. He chairs the Assembly Business and Professions Committee, which oversees health care professional licensing, occupational licensing, vocational education, and regulation of the legal cannabis industry. He also chairs the Select Committee on the Master Plan for Higher Education in California. Among his landmark achievements: he authored the law that bans the sale of new gas-powered small engines starting in 2024, and authored the bill that made California a permanent vote-by-mail state. He also authored landmark legislation to reform the college transfer process from a student perspective, wrote legislation to make it easier for Californians to cancel subscriptions online, established the first-in-the-nation firearm violence prevention training program for physicians, provided suicide prevention training for middle and high school students, and created a Sexual Assault Survivors' Bill of Rights.
On the thorny issue of deepfakes, Berman introduced legislation to ban the knowing and malicious distribution of manipulated videos or images falsely depicting the words or acts of a political candidate within 60 days of an election, unless accompanied by a clear disclaimer. He has also been a consistent pro-housing voice in the Legislature, advocating for policies to increase production and address California's chronic affordability crisis.
Berman lives in Menlo Park with his wife Aimee Gildea and their dog, Maven. His blend of legal expertise, nonprofit leadership, local government experience, and a decade in the Legislature have made him one of the most substantive and effective members of the California Assembly.