Jim Bates (politician)

Jim Bates (born July 21, 1941) is a former Democratic politician from San Diego, California. He served four terms in the United States House of Representatives, 1983–1991.

Bates was born in Denver, Colorado, and graduated from East High School (Denver) in 1959. He joined the United States Marine Corps in 1959, and served in the Corps until 1963. Relocating to San Diego, Bates became a banker and later a businessman in the aerospace industry.

Bates was elected to the San Diego city council in 1971 and served until 1974. He was elected chairman of the San Diego County board of supervisors in 1974, and held the position until 1982. At the time he was the youngest chairman of the Board. While serving (1975) he obtained his bachelor's degree from San Diego State University.

Bates resigned from the board to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing California's newly created 44th Congressional District. His district was created after the 1980 census round of redistricting as the most Democratic district in the San Diego area; it included much of the territory represented for 18 years by Lionel Van Deerlin before his defeat by Duncan Hunter. Bates was easily re-elected in 1984, 1986, and 1988.

However, in 1990, Bates was bogged down in a scandal involving charges of sexual harassment. His Republican opponent was Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a naval "ace" during the Vietnam War. Cunningham hammered Bates about the scandal, promising to be "a congressman we can be proud of." Cunningham won by 50,377 votes to 48,712 votes; his win meant that the San Diego area was represented entirely by Republicans for only the second time since the city was split into two districts after the 1960 census. Bates was later implicated in the House banking scandal. Bates ran in the Democratic primary in June 1992 but lost the nomination to his former aide, Bob Filner, who used the sexual harassment case against him.