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About Kevin

Congressman Kevin McCarthy was born in Bakersfield, California, and is a fourth-generation Kern County resident. He was first elected to represent the 22nd District of California in the United States House of Representatives in November 2006, and has focused his work in Congress to represent his constituents from California’s 22nd District in Congress. In November 2008, he was reelected to his second term.

For the 111th Congress, Republican Whip, Eric Cantor, appointed McCarthy to serve in the House Leadership as the Chief Deputy Republican Whip, the highest appointed position in the House Republican Conference. Congressman McCarthy also serves on the Financial Services Committee and was reappointed to the House Administration Committee.

Congressman’s McCarthy’s rise in leadership has not gone unnoticed. Newsweek magazine included a quote in their November 2008 magazine calling McCarthy one the GOP’s “most persuasive compelling members.”  Roll Call newspaper named Congressman McCarthy the 110th Congress’ “Rookie of the Year”. Additionally, early in the 110th Congress, McCarthy was named by the Weekly Standard as one of three “Young Guns of the House GOP,” and was dubbed “the strategist” among the three up and coming leaders in the House.

During the 110th Congress, McCarthy served on the following five standing House Committees: Financial Services, Homeland Security, Natural Resources, Agriculture, and House Administration. During this first term, McCarthy was one of only three Republicans appointed by House Republican Leader John Boehner to serve on the House Administration Committee and became the Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Elections. McCarthy was also named to the powerful House Republican Steering Committee, which controls the committee assignments of House Republican members. 

Before his 21st birthday, McCarthy successfully opened and operated a small business, Kevin O’s Deli. Owning a small business gave McCarthy important experience about the difficulties that entrepreneurs face from burdensome regulations and onerous taxes. After selling his business and finishing his undergraduate degree and Masters in Business Administration at California State University, Bakersfield, McCarthy worked for former Congressman Bill Thomas, and successfully won his first election in 2000 as Trustee to the Kern Community College District. 

 In 2002, McCarthy was elected to represent the 32nd Assembly District in the California State Assembly.  As a freshman legislator, he was selected unanimously by his Republican colleagues to serve as the Assembly Republican Leader, becoming the first freshman legislator and the first legislator from Kern County to assume the top post.  In this leadership role, McCarthy worked with the Governor and Democrat leaders in the state Assembly and Senate to address critical state issues, such as reducing California’s budget deficit, overhauling the state worker’s compensation system, and enhancing California’s poor business climate to create more opportunities for California workers and businesses.

The 22nd District of California includes fertile agricultural lands in the Central Valley and the Central Coast, rich energy resources, strategic military facilities, and growing residential communities. 

McCarthy and his wife, Judy, have two children, Connor and Meghan, and they reside in Bakersfield where he travels back every weekend from Washington D.C.