Sherman served on the California State Board of Equalization from 1991 to 1996. He chaired the board from 1991 to 1995.[7] It was reported that the campaign for the Board of Equalization involved numerous attacks. Claude Parrish, Sherman's opponent, said that an attorney general candidate declined to endorse Sherman due to a post on the state's elected tax appeals board. Sherman replied, calling it "one of the most outrageous hit pieces in contemporary California political history".[8]
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
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Sherman then ran for the seat, and won the seven-candidate Democratic primary with 54% of the vote.[9] In the general election, he defeated Republican nominee Rich Sybert (also the 1994 nominee), 49%–44%.[10] He has not faced another contest nearly that close since. In 1998, he was reelected with 57% of the vote.[11] Since then, he has been reelected every two years with at least 62%.[12]
Redistricting following the 2010 census drew the homes of Sherman and fellow Democrat Howard Berman, who had previously represented the 28th district, into the 30th district.[13][14] The redrawn 30th was more Sherman's district than Berman's; so, Sherman retained about 60% of his former territory, while Berman kept 20% of his former voters.[15][16] On June 5, 2012, Sherman faced Berman in the primary for the 30th district. Sherman finished first, leading 42% to 32%.[17] Due to California's new election system, which put the two candidates who received the most votes in the primary against each other, regardless of party, the two faced each other again in the general election.[18] Neither candidate was endorsed by the state Democratic Party.[19]
In the general election, Sherman defeated Berman, 60%–40%.[25]
Tenure
First elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1996, Sherman is serving his 12th term in Congress. He is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.[7] Sherman has held over 160 Town Hall meetings since being elected to Congress.[26]
Serving on the House Budget Committee in 1997, Sherman authored the Sherman Amendment to the Budget Resolution, providing an additional $700 million for the acquisition of environmentally important lands in FY 1998.[28] Sherman has earned a 100% rating from the Sierra Club[29] and the League of Conservation Voters.[30]
Congressman Brad Sherman joins with members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) at a local supermarket in Sherman Oaks
In 2022, Sherman expressed concern about the construction of an underground metro line connecting San Fernando Valley with the influent neighborhood of Westside. Sherman asked the LA Metro to listen to concerns by prominent Westside NIMBYs, such as Fred Rosen and the Bel Air Association Metro Committee. In his letter to LA Metro, Sherman argued that a subway station would not useful in Westside because students at University of California, Los Angeles (which is located in Westside) do not like using the subway.[32]
Economy
During the debate over the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, Sherman was an early and outspoken critic of the proposal, leading the House revolt against the bill, a move that made him "spectacularly unpopular with both the Republican and Democratic leaderships, not to mention K Street".[33] He argued that Bush and his advisors had created a panic atmosphere in an effort to get lawmakers to rubber-stamp the bill.[34]
Sherman opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), arguing that they cost American jobs, fail to protect foreign workers, harm the environment, and cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars.[35] He has also opposed a Free Trade Agreement with South Korea, arguing that such an agreement could undermine U.S. security and economic interests by benefiting China and North Korea.[36]
Sherman has said he is "opposed to creating a voucher system for Medicare". He wants to avoid "turn[ing] Social Security into a welfare program", instead keeping it "for people who contribute to it".[39] Sherman has consistently earned a 100% rating from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare and the AARP.[40] He supports the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Sherman helped secure funds to develop a new women's and children's patient wing at El Proyecto del Barrio's Family Health Care Clinic in Winnetka.[41]
Housing
Sherman introduced the Preserving Equal Access to Mortgage Finance Programs Act (HR 1754), which raises the conforming loan limit for FHA loans in high-cost areas such as Sherman's district.[42][43]
Foreign relations
In August 2010, Sherman introduced legislation aimed at rescinding China's Most Favored Nation status as long as there was not "a more level playing field between our two nations".[44] He said, "the U.S.-China trade relationship is horrendously lopsided".[44]
Sherman has introduced or co-sponsored more than 20 bills in the 111th and 112th Congresses that he says "enact tougher sanctions to isolate Iran economically and diplomatically".[45] His efforts have included legislation designed to close loopholes for U.S. companies with subsidiaries operating in Iran, and to curtail U.S. funding of international organizations providing loans to Iran.[46]
Sherman has been a strong supporter and advocate of the U.S-Israel relationship, consistently supporting aid to Israel.[47] In 2016, he called the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Washington's chief pro-Israel lobbying and advocacy organization, "the single most important organization in promoting the U.S.-Israel alliance".[48] In 2004, Sherman first introduced the U.S.-Israel Energy Cooperation Act.[49] It provides grants to joint ventures between American and Israeli academics and private companies that conduct research and develop energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies.
On July 9, 2014, Sherman appeared as a guest commentator on the Al Jazeera America's network. During his appearance, he criticized the network's Qatar-based owners for funding Hamas. Sherman said: "Every one of those rockets [fired by Hamas into Israeli cities] is a war crime, almost every one. Of course it's a war crime committed by Hamas. And of course the owners of this TV network help fund Hamas." Sherman emphasized that Hamas often aims attacks at civilian targets. The Qatari government owns Al Jazeera.[50]
In December 2014, Sherman and Representative Pete Roskam requested new sanctions on Qatar in a letter to Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew. They also asked for a detailed accounting of public and private financing from within Qatar for Hamas, Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the al-Nusra Front.[51]
Sherman and other pro-Israel members of Congress have introduced legislation to allow Israel to be part of the visa waiver program.[52][53] The legislation failed because the Israeli government was unwilling to grant reciprocal visa-free travel for all U.S. citizens.[53]
Sherman urged the Trump administration to take a tougher line on China by imposing sanctions on Chinese officials who are responsible for human rights abuses against the UyghurMuslim minority in China's Xinjiang region. In March 2019, Sherman and other lawmakers wrote Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a letter that read in part, "This issue is bigger than just China. It is about demonstrating to strongmen globally that the world will hold them accountable for their actions."[58]
Internet policy
In 2011, Sherman co-sponsored SOPA, a controversial copyright bill.[59] His 2012 opponent, Howard Berman, was an original co-sponsor of SOPA.[60]
In December 2017, eight former aides to Sherman said that his offices in Washington, D. C., and California had a toxic environment characterized by frequent "verbal abuse from the congressman and senior staff who made them feel bullied and demoralized".[72] A focus of the criticism was Matt Dababneh, Sherman's district director and a close advisor,[72] who began working for Sherman in 2005 and became district director to Sherman in 2009.[73] Dababneh was elected to the California State Assembly in 2013[73] and resigned from that body after allegations of sexual assault and other misconduct were made against him.[72] Former employees in Sherman's office told the Los Angeles Times that Dababneh frequently made inappropriate sexual remarks, including degrading and sexist comments and bragged about his sexual exploits.[72] No one suggested that Sherman knew of Dababneh's conduct but several staffers said the office environment did not encourage reporting and that Sherman would not have been receptive to complaints about a trusted advisor.[72]
Sherman has acknowledged being "a demanding boss" but "denied that his management style contributed to the silence about Dababneh's behavior".[72] Surveys of Capitol Hill staff rated Sherman as one of the worst members of Congress to work for with high staff turnover rates.[72]
In January 2018, Sherman held a town hall meeting in Reseda, where a questioner who supported a Democratic primary challenger to Sherman accused Sherman of having an inadequate sexual harassment policy. Sherman replied: "We have five different ways to report sexual harassment in my office. One among those is to talk to me personally. And I talk to each staff member several times a year about the office policy." The exchange was cut from a video of the event that Sherman's office posted to YouTube; the office said that it excluded from the highlight reel "all questions asked by a questioner working with an opponent's campaign if the questioner failed to disclose that fact in their question".[74]
Impeachment
On July 12, 2017, Sherman introduced an Article of Impeachment (H. Res. 438) against President Donald Trump for High Crimes and Misdemeanors on the grounds that Trump attempted to obstruct justice by firing James Comey from the FBI.[75][76][77] Sherman had only one co-sponsor, Al Green, who first called for Trump's impeachment in May 2017.[78]
On December 3, 2006, Sherman married Lisa Nicola Kaplan, a foreign affairs officer for the U.S. State Department.[89] The couple's first child, Molly Hannah Sherman, was born on January 14, 2009.[90] Their second, Naomi Claire Sherman, was born on February 6, 2010.[91] Their third, Lucy Rayna Sherman, was born on August 8, 2011.[92]
