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CIVIC HERALD
Official portrait of Jim Costa

11th term · 21.8 years in office: 10 full terms completed, 1 in progress.

Representative · CA-21 · Democrat · since Jan 2005

Jim Costa

Bills authored 10Missed votes 26 of 524Party unity 57% derived, how we compute this

Counted from 524 roll calls and 183 sponsorship records on file.

Provisionalunreviewed: stated positions
Stray indexpending review

Who they are · every sentence carries its source

Before the votes, a life.

James Manuel Costa was born in 1952 in Fresno, California, and grew up working on his family's dairy farm.Source 2: Official website of Jim CostaSource 3: Wikipedia: Jim Costa He graduated from California State University, Fresno, with a bachelor's degree in political science in 1974.Source 3: Wikipedia: Jim Costa Before running for elected office, Costa worked as a congressional aide and as a chief of staff in the California State Assembly.Source 3: Wikipedia: Jim Costa

Costa was elected to the California State Assembly in 1978 and later served in the California State Senate from 1994 to 2002.Source 3: Wikipedia: Jim Costa He was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2004 and currently represents California's 21st Congressional District.Source 1: Jim Costa — Biographical Directory of the United States CongressSource 2: Official website of Jim CostaSource 3: Wikipedia: Jim Costa

In their own words

“Last year, I was proud to secure $1 million for the Orange Cove City Police Department to help relocate their current department into a new facility that will strengthen public safety for the community that they serve.”

Congressional Record · May 14, 2026 · Source

One rule for every member: their most recent dated, linkable statement about themselves.

The path here

  1. 1974

    Graduated from California State University, Fresno, with a bachelor's degree in political science.Source 3: Wikipedia: Jim Costa

  2. 1978-1994

    Served in the California State Assembly.Source 3: Wikipedia: Jim Costa

  3. 1994-2002

    Served in the California State Senate.Source 3: Wikipedia: Jim Costa

  4. 2005-2023

    Represented California's 20th and 16th Congressional Districts in the United States House of Representatives.Source 3: Wikipedia: Jim Costa

  5. 2023-Present

    Serving as the U.S. Representative for California's 21st Congressional District.Source 1: Jim Costa — Biographical Directory of the United States CongressSource 3: Wikipedia: Jim Costa

Next election: Nov 3, 2026general

95.04% attendance · all roll calls we have ingested

3 sources

  1. 1Jim Costa — Biographical Directory of the United States Congressbioguideopen source
  2. 2Official website of Jim Costaofficial profileopen source
  3. 3Wikipedia: Jim Costawikipediaopen source archived copy
Full record card

The record card · sourced from Bioguide, the Clerk and the FEC

21.8YRS

In office · 11th term · since Jan 2005

10,065VOTES

2024 margin of victory · 5.15%

Certified result

95.04%

Attendance

house median 97.9% (431 members)

NOV'26

Next election · general

 

Figures cover all roll calls we have ingested.

See this race →

Before Congress

  1. 1974 Graduated from California State University, Fresno, with a bachelor's degree in political science.
  2. 1978-1994 Served in the California State Assembly.
  3. 1994-2002 Served in the California State Senate.
  4. 2005-2023 Represented California's 20th and 16th Congressional Districts in the United States House of Representatives.
  5. 2023-Present Serving as the U.S. Representative for California's 21st Congressional District.
House Committee on AgricultureHouse Committee on Foreign AffairsHouse Committee on Agriculture · Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry subcommittee ranking memberHouse Committee on Foreign Affairs · Europe subcommitteeHouse Committee on Agriculture · Forestry and Horticulture subcommittee10 bills authored · 0 enacted

Says vs. does · 72 issues in 6 clusters

Stated position vs. voting record.

○ marks what they campaigned on; ▪ marks how they voted

The dashed shape is what they campaigned on. The solid shape is how they voted. Where the shapes separate, the record differs from the platform. The distance is measured. What it means is up to you.

SaysDoes
  • Economy & taxes: not yet stated. Voted 9 of 100 toward public spending.
  • Safety & enforcement: not yet stated. Voted 2 of 100 toward stricter enforcement.
  • Immigration: not yet stated. Voted 17 of 100 toward broader admission.
  • Rights & liberty: not yet stated. Voted 4 of 100 toward individual liberty.
  • Environment & energy: not yet stated. Voted 1 of 100 toward develop & extract.
  • Governance & oversight: not yet stated. Voted 14 of 100 toward disclosure & audit.
Rim = strongest position on each cluster’s named pole · Same scale for every member · How we score ▸

pending review

The stats, cluster by cluster

6 clusters · 72 issues · sorted by gap size

Each rail runs between two positions real bills take. Select a cluster to open its issues.

StatedRecordGapSorted by gap size · How we score ▸

Chips place the record relative to the middle. The number is the distance to the stated position, in points.

Issue pages

Votes by issue.

72 issues · 14 with both halves · 52 with one · 6 with neither

Sort
Regulation (cross-sector)No statements47 counted votesNot yet statedSpending vs. restraint1 statement25 counted votesAnalysisRole of governmentNo statements24 counted votesNot yet statedMarket protectionsNo statements23 counted votesNot yet statedBanking/financial rules1 statement22 counted votesAnalysisTrade & tariffs2 statements18 counted votesAnalysisAid & alliances1 statement15 counted votesAnalysisFarm policy & subsidies1 statement13 counted votesAnalysisPublic works2 statements10 counted votesAnalysisVeterans' care delivery1 statement10 counted votesAnalysis

The number is the distance to the stated position, in points.

Receipts · recent votes on passage

How Jim Costa voted.

Money & ties

Who funds Jim Costa.

How complete is this money picture?

46%of the money categories we track are publicly disclosed for this member, counting those that lawfully lag.

  • Campaign financeThrough Jun 30, 2026Lagged · 34%
  • Corporate-PAC shareNot yet derived · 22%
  • Disclosed tradesLagged · 12%
  • Lobbyist meetingsNot disclosed · 32%

Quarterly FEC filings; totals cover the period ending on the date shown.

Disclosed by the FEC; we have not built the honest derivation — same for every member.

Members must disclose trades within 45 days; this picture is always at least that far behind.

A gap in the disclosure system, not a statement about this member — lobbyist meetings are not federally disclosed for any member of Congress.

Weights are fixed product-wide and disclosed, so this percentage is comparable across members.

Who funds them · 2026 cycle · FEC through Jun 30, 2026

$1.3MTotal raised · 1 ▪ = $40.0K · 34 units, rounded up

  • PAC contributions$796.7K · 59.5%
  • Itemized individual$516.6K · 38.6%
  • Small-dollar (≤$200)$11.1K · 0.8%
  • All other$14.2K · 1.1%
FEC filing totals ↗

Disclosed trades

We hold no disclosed-trade filings for this member. That is a gap in what we have loaded; it does not mean none were filed.

FEC OpenFEC · disclosed trades: House Clerk / Senate filings.

Ideology placement

Economic (dim 1)-0.199
Social (dim 2)0.447

Voteview DW-NOMINATE · retrieved Sep 7, 2026 — an external attributed reference, shown as context.

Cite this page

Civic Herald. “Jim Costa: voting record, stated positions, funding.” https://civicherald.app/politicians/jim-costa-C001059.

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