Michael J. Machado is a Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 politician from Linden, California

Linden, California

Linden is a census-designated place in San Joaquin County, California, United States. The population was 1,784 at the 2010 census, up from 1,103 at the 2000 census...

. He served from 200-2008 in the California State Senate

California State Senate

The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...

. Machado represented the 5th District, which includes the cities of Tracy

Tracy, California

Tracy is the second most populated city in San Joaquin County, California, United States and an exurb of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 82,922 at the 2010 census.-History:...

, Manteca

Manteca, California

Manteca is a city in , USA. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 67,096.- History :Manteca is a city in the Central Valley of California, 76 miles east of San Francisco. It was founded in 1861 by Joshua Cowell. Cowell claimed around and built houses on what is now the corner of Main...

 and Stockton

Stockton, California

Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...

 in San Joaquin County

San Joaquin County, California

San Joaquin County is a county located in Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, just east of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 685,306. The county seat is Stockton.-History:...

; Suisun City

Suisun City, California

Suisun City is a city in Solano County, California, United States. The population was 28,111 at the 2010 census. The city takes its name from the adjacent Suisun Bay, which in turn is named for the Suisunes, a Native American tribe of the area.-Geography:...

, Fairfield

Fairfield, California

Fairfield is a city located in Solano County in Northern California, USA. It is generally considered the midpoint between the cities of San Francisco and Sacramento, approximately from the city center of both cities, approximately from the city center of Oakland, less than from Napa Valley, 18...

, Dixon

Dixon, California

Dixon is a city in northern Solano County, California, United States, located from the state capital, Sacramento. The population was 18,351 at the 2010 census. Other nearby cities include Vacaville, Winters and Davis....

 and Vacaville

Vacaville, California

Vacaville, California is a city located in the northeastern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area in Solano County. The city is nearly half way between Sacramento and San Francisco on I-80. It sits approximately from Sacramento, and from San Francisco...

 in Solano County

Solano County, California

Solano County is a county located in Bay-Delta region of the U.S. state of California, about halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento and is one of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. The county's population was reported by the U.S. Census to be 413,344 in 2010...

; Davis

Davis, California

Davis is a city in Yolo County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, West Sacramento

West Sacramento, California

West Sacramento is a city in Yolo County, California. It is contiguous with Sacramento, but is separated by the Sacramento River which is also the county line, so West Sacramento is in a different county than Sacramento...

, Winters

Winters, California

Winters is a city in Yolo County, California. The population was 6,624 as of the 2010 census. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is near Lake Berryessa. It is noted as the one-time residence of cartoonist R...

 and Woodland

Woodland, California

Woodland is the county seat of Yolo County, California, located approximately northwest of Sacramento, and is a part of the Sacramento - Arden-Arcade - Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 55,468 at the 2010 census.Woodland's origins trace back to 1850 when California...

 in Yolo County

Yolo County, California

Yolo County is a county located in the northern part of the U.S. state of California, bordered by the other counties of Sacramento, Solano, Napa, Lake, Colusa, and Sutter. The city of Woodland is its county seat, though Davis is its largest city....

; as well as Walnut Grove

Walnut Grove, California

Walnut Grove is a census-designated place in Sacramento County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 and a portion of Elk Grove

Elk Grove, California

Elk Grove is a city in Sacramento County, California, located just south of the state capital of Sacramento. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 153,015...

 in Sacramento County

Sacramento County, California

Sacramento County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Sacramento, which is also the state capital. As of 2010 the county had a population of 1,418,788....

.

Background

Machado graduated with a degree in Economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

 from Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

, earned his master's degree in agricultural economics

Agricultural economics

Agricultural economics originally applied the principles of economics to the production of crops and livestock — a discipline known as agronomics. Agronomics was a branch of economics that specifically dealt with land usage. It focused on maximizing the crop yield while maintaining a good soil...

 from the University of California, Davis

University of California, Davis

The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...

, and in 1988 attended the Harvard Agribusiness School in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. Machado served in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 during the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

. Prior to entering the State Legislature, he served on the board of a major California food processor and worked for the Agency for International Development in Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

 and Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 assisting farmers with the transition from a closed to an open market economy.

In addition to his legislative duties, Machado owns and operates a family farm in Linden. He and his wife Diana have three children: Erahm, Melissa and Christopher (deceased).

California State Assembly

Machado represented the California State Assembly

California State Assembly

The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...

's 17th District from 1994 to 2000. He distinguished himself as a pragmatic legislator who supports education reform, "balanced" environmental regulations and tax relief for all Californians. Since his election in 1994, Machado has authored legislation protecting school children from perpetrators by creating safety zones around schools, establishing drug rehabilitation programs in county jails, and providing a moratorium on gun shows illegally selling weapons. During the last legislative session, he was instrumental in crafting legislation designed to stop the unfair practice of “predatory lending.”

California State Senate

Two of the Senator's most notable accomplishments have been authoring Proposition 13, the Safe Drinking Water, Clean Water, Watershed Protection, and Flood Protection Bond Act, and assisting in the passage of Proposition 50, the Water Security, Clean Drinking Water, Coastal and Beach Protection Act of 2002.

Machado currently chairs the Senate Committee on Revenue and Taxation and the Sub-Committee on Delta Resources. He also serves on the Senate Committees on Budget and Fiscal Review, Local Government, Natural Resources and Water, and Transportation and Housing. Additionally, he is a member of the Select Committees on the California Correctional System.

Machado has been supported by Handgun Control, the California League of Conservation Voters

League of Conservation Voters

The League of Conservation Voters is a political advocacy organization founded in 1969 by American environmentalist David Brower in the early years of the environmental movement. LCV's mission is to "advocate for sound environmental policies and to elect pro-environmental candidates who will adopt...

, California Nurses’ Association, California Teachers Association

California Teachers Association

The California Teachers Association , initially established in 1863 as the California Educational Society, is by far the largest teachers' union in the state of California. It is considered by many to be the most powerful union in California...

, Building and Construction Trades, and many other labor groups. Machado has also received the support of the California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (CARAL) and Planned Parenthood.

External links

• State Senate website
• http://www.ucop.edu/state/advocacy/biographies/SDMachado05.pdf