Pete Aguilar

Snapshot

Pete Aguilar represents California's 33rd Congressional District and chairs the House Democratic Caucus, making him the highest-ranking Latino in the history of Congress. A fourth-generation Inland Empire resident born in Fontana, Aguilar earned degrees in government and business administration from the University of Redlands in 2001. Governor Gray Davis appointed him deputy director of the Inland Empire Regional Office in 2001, and he later became interim director. In 2006 he won a seat on the Redlands City Council—the youngest member in the city's history—and his colleagues appointed him mayor in 2010 and again in 2012. Voters elected him to Congress in 2014, defeating Republican Paul Chabot with 51.4% of the vote. He has won re-election five times since. Aguilar sits on the House Appropriations Committee, where he serves on the Defense and Military Construction/Veterans Affairs subcommittees. He also served on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol from 2021 to 2023. He lives in Redlands with his wife Alisha and their two sons.