Barbara Boxer

Barbara Boxer secured 6.96 million votes during her 2004 Senate reelection campaign, setting a historical record for the highest number of votes ever cast in a United States Senate election at that time. Throughout a career spanning several decades, she shifted from local governance in Marin County to high-profile legislative roles within the United States Congress.

Early Career and Local Governance

Born in Brooklyn in 1940, Barbara Sue Levy attended George W. Wingate High School before graduating from Brooklyn College. She worked as a stockbroker during the early 1960s. After relocating to California in 1965, she became involved in political activism, co-founding the Marin Alliance in 1970. She served as a journalist and editor for the Pacific Sun and worked as a congressional aide to John L. Burton. In 1976, she won election to the Marin County Board of Supervisors, where she eventually served as the board's first female president.

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Tenure in the House of Representatives

Boxer won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, representing California’s 6th district. Campaigning under the slogan 'Barbara Boxer Gives a Damn,' she served five terms. During this period, she held positions on the Armed Services Committee and was a member of the Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families. In 1991, she led a delegation of women to the Senate Judiciary Committee during the Clarence Thomas hearings to advocate for Anita Hill. She was also implicated in the House banking scandal, later paying a fine for dozens of overdrafts.

Senate Service and Legislative Legacy

Elected to the United States Senate in 1992, Boxer served in Washington, D.C. for twenty-four years. She represented California alongside Dianne Feinstein, marking the first time a state was represented by two women in the Senate simultaneously. She held leadership roles including ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and Democratic chief deputy whip. Her legislative focus included gun control. She did not seek reelection in 2016 and was succeeded by Kamala Harris.

Post-Congressional Activities

Following her retirement from the Senate in 2017, Boxer transitioned into private sector work. In 2020, she joined the lobbying firm Mercury Public Affairs as a co-chairwoman. Her professional activities faced scrutiny in 2021 regarding her role as a registered foreign agent for the Chinese company Hikvision, a position from which she later deregistered. Later that year, she participated in the formation of a new consulting company alongside colleagues from the California office of Mercury.