Rep. Tony Cárdenas
Representative for California’s 29th District
pronounced TOH-nee // KAHR-deh-noss
Cárdenas is the representative for California’s 29th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2013. Cárdenas is next up for reelection in 2024 and serves until Jan 3, 2025. He is 61 years old.
![Photo of Rep. Tony Cárdenas [D-CA29]](/static/legislator-photos/412517-200px.jpeg)
Earmarks
Cárdenas proposed $41 million in earmarks for fiscal year 2024, including:
- $6 million to Alliance for Community Empowerment, Inc. for “The Resilient Reseda Facility Acquisition Initiative”
- $5 million to YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles dba Mid Valley Family YMCA for “Community Empowerment Center Renovation”
- $5 million to El Centro de Amistad, Inc. for “Mental Health Para la Comunidad del Valle”
View all requests and justifications on Cárdenas’s website »
View analysis and download spreadsheet from Demand Progress Education Fund »
These are earmark requests which may or may not survive the legislative process to becoming law. Most representatives from both parties requested earmarks for fiscal year 2024. Across representatives who requested earmarks, the median total amount requested for this fiscal year was $39 million.
Earmarks are federal expenditures, tax benefits, or tariff benefits requested by a legislator for a specific entity. Rather than being distributed through a formula or competitive process administered by the executive branch, earmarks may direct spending where it is most needed for the legislator's district. All earmark requests in the House of Representatives are published online for the public to review. We don’t have earmark requests for senators. The fiscal year begins on October 1 of the prior calendar year. Source: Appropriations.house.gov. Background: Earmark Disclosure Rules in the House
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Cárdenas is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Cárdenas has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Jun 4, 2024. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
Tony Cárdenas sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Cárdenas was the primary sponsor of 5 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 3182 (117th): Safe Sleep for Babies Act of 2021
- H.R. 1253 (116th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 13507 Van Nuys Boulevard in Pacoima, California, as the “Ritchie Valens Post Office Building”.
- H.R. 1252 (116th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 6531 Van Nuys Boulevard in Van Nuys, California, as the “Marilyn Monroe Post Office”.
- H.R. 1009 (116th): National Evaluation of Techniques for Making Energy Technologies More Efficient and Resilient Act of 2019
- H.R. 1925 (115th): At-Risk Youth Medicaid Protection Act of 2018
Does 5 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Cárdenas sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Health (35%) Crime and Law Enforcement (27%) Commerce (12%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (8%) Science, Technology, Communications (5%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Cárdenas recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 8626: To amend the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to eliminate …
- H.R. 8200: Pediatric Access to Critical Healthcare Act
- H.Res. 1162: Expressing support for the designation of April 2024 as “Second Chance Month”.
- H.R. 6400: To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to extend eligibility for …
- H.Res. 816: Expressing support for the designation of October 2023 as “National Youth Justice Action …
- H.Res. 762: Expressing support for increasing the number of Latino students and young professionals entering …
- H.R. 4974: Local 9–8–8 Response Act of 2023
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2013 to Jun 2024, Cárdenas missed 343 of 6,662 roll call votes, which is 5.1%. This is much worse than the median of 2.0% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
