About Kevin

Congressman Kevin McCarthy, a fourth-generation Kern County resident, was elected in November 2006 to represent the 22nd District of California in the United States House of Representatives.

McCarthy is focused on representing the people of the 22nd District and the wide array of interests in his district. The 22nd District of California includes fertile agricultural lands in the Central Valley and the Central Coast, rich energy resources, strong military facilities, and growing communities.

McCarthy serves on the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees our country’s investment companies, banks, savings and loans, credit unions, insurance industry, and housing services. On the Committee, McCarthy is working to put in place new and innovative ideas to help ensure our financial policies help America’s innovators and families realize their dreams and can access many opportunities to achieve growth and prosperity. 

As a former member of the House Agriculture Committee and House Natural Resources Committee, McCarthy actively engages in policies under these committees’ jurisdiction. McCarthy remains committed to an agricultural policy that levels the playing field so American farm products can compete in the global marketplace. Additionally, McCarthy is actively looking at new ways our country can reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and updating our outdated water infrastructure in California.

In his first month in Congress, McCarthy was one of only three Republicans appointed by House Republican Leader John Boehner to serve on the House Administration Committee. He was also selected to serve as an Assistant Whip on the House Republican Whip Team. Finally, McCarthy was named to the powerful House Republican Steering Committee, which controls the committee assignments of House Republican members. His rapid ascension into leadership roles has not gone unnoticed – a Capitol Hill newspaper selected McCarthy as one of its “rising stars” in the 110th Congress and a few months later, a leading news magazine characterized Congressman McCarthy as a “young-gun” and dubbed him “the strategist” among three up and coming leaders in the House.

Congressman McCarthy was born in Bakersfield, California. Before his 21st birthday, McCarthy successfully opened and operated a small business, Kevin O’s Deli. Owning a small business gave McCarthy important experience about the difficulties that entrepreneurs face from burdensome regulations and onerous taxes. After selling his business and finishing his undergraduate degree and Masters in Business Administration at California State University, Bakersfield, McCarthy worked for former Congressman Bill Thomas, and successfully won his first election in 2000 as Trustee to the Kern Community College District

In 2002, McCarthy was elected to represent the 32nd Assembly District in the California State Assembly. As a freshman legislator, he was selected unanimously by his Republican colleagues to serve as the Assembly Republican Leader, becoming the first freshman legislator and the first legislator from Kern County to assume the top post. In this leadership role, McCarthy worked with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrat leaders in the state Assembly and Senate to address critical state issues, such as reducing California’s budget deficit, overhauling the state worker’s compensation system, and enhancing California’s poor business climate to create more opportunities for California workers and businesses.

McCarthy and his wife, Judy, have two children, Connor and Meghan, and reside in Bakersfield.