Richard William Pombo, GOIH (born January 8, 1961) is an American lobbyist for mining and water-management companies and former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, having represented California's 11th congressional district from 1993 to 2007. Pombo lost a reelection bid to Democratic challenger Jerry McNerney on November 7, 2006.
On January 4, 2010, 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. Pombo came in third in that four-way GOP race, with 20.8 percent of the votes.
Early life and career
Pombo was born in Tracy, California, 18 miles south of Stockton. He attended Cal Poly, Pomona, for three years before dropping out to work for his family's cattle and dairy business. He is a descendant of Portuguese immigrants. Pombo is married to the former Annette Cole and has three children. Even after being elected to Congress, he returned to his 500-acre (2 km2) ranch near Tracy every week. Pombo is a Roman Catholic.
From 1990 to 1992, Pombo served on the Tracy City Council.
House of Representatives
1992 election
In 1992, Pombo won the Republican primary by defeating several candidates in a race for an open seat in a district newly created by redistricting. California had added seven seats in the House after the 1990 census. Pombo's strongest opponent in the Republican primary was moderate Republican Sandra Smoley, a Sacramento County Supervisor.
In November, although the district had a Democratic majority and was carried by Bill Clinton, Pombo nonetheless defeated Democrat Patti Garamendi (wife of current California Congressman John Garamendi).
1994–2000 elections
Pombo was reelected from this district in 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2000.
2002–2004 elections
For his first five terms, Pombo represented a district covering almost all of San Joaquin County and a large slice of Sacramento County. However, Pombo's district was significantly altered as a result of the 2000 round of redistricting. He lost his share of Sacramento County to the 3rd district, and lost most of Stockton to the 18th District. The district was pushed westward into the San Francisco Bay Area when it picked up some of the more Republican-leaning portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, which had previously been part of the East Bay–based 10th district. Pombo was reelected in 2002 and 2004 after the redistricting.
Political positions
In Congress, Pombo had a conservative track record. In 1994, during the Republican Revolution, he was one of the signatories of the Contract with America. He was a member of the conservative Republican Study Committee. He was given the nickname "The Marlboro Man" by President George W. Bush.
Private property rights
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 Pombo, that included farmers and other landowners advocating for private property rights and opposing government encroachment on these rights. As of March 2018 it was being led by Gary Barton as CEO Michael Petz as CFO, with Nanette Martin serving as corporation secretary, and as of that date it was listed as terminated (its registration having expired).
Pombo's association with the defense of private property rights was spurred by the Southern Pacific Railroad's abandonment of the Altamont Pass route through Tracy. Pombo owned land adjacent to the abandoned railroad line, and argued that the abandoned easement should legally revert to the adjacent property owners (such as himself) rather than to the local park district. He 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.
Pombo's case resulted in Congress passing the Rails to Trails Act. In a New York Times editorial, Pombo was called "an outspoken product of the extreme property rights movement." In 2005, he proposed legislation that would allow mining companies to buy lands on which they have staked claims, even if there is no evidence of valuable minerals on that land; according to the editorial, "This has nothing to do with mining, and everything to do with stealing land that is owned by the American people."