Jerry McNerney

Gerald Mark McNerney ( mək-NUR-nee; born June 18, 1951) is an American businessman and politician who has served as member of the California State Senate from the 5th district since 2024. A member of the Democratic Party, his district includes all of San Joaquin County and the Tri-Valley area of Alameda County. He previously served as the U.S. representative from California's 9th congressional district, based in Stockton, from 2007 until 2023.

McNerney was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the son of Rosemary (née Tischhauser) and John E. McNerney. He is of Swiss and Irish descent. He attended St. Joseph's Military Academy in Hays, Kansas, and, for two years, the United States Military Academy at West Point. After leaving West Point in 1971 in protest of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, he enrolled at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he received bachelor's and master's degrees and, in 1981, a Ph.D. in mathematics, with a doctoral dissertation in differential geometry focusing on a generalization of the Laplace–Beltrami operator.

McNerney served several years as a contractor to Sandia National Laboratories at Kirtland Air Force Base on national security programs. In 1985, he accepted a senior engineering position with U.S. Windpower (Kenetech). In 1994, he began working as an energy consultant for PG&E, FloWind, The Electric Power Research Institute, and other utility companies. Before being elected to Congress, McNerney served as the CEO of a start-up company manufacturing wind turbines, HAWT Power (Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Power).

McNerney first ran for Congress against Richard Pombo in California's 11th congressional district in the 2004 House elections. He entered the race two weeks before the primary election as a write-in candidate, encouraged by his son. He qualified as a write-in candidate for the March primary by a small margin. With no opponent, he won the primary and qualified for the November general election ballot as the Democratic nominee. He lost the general election, 61%–39%.

McNerney launched his 2006 campaign early in the fall of 2005. In June 2006 he won the Democratic primary with 52.8% of the vote, defeating Steve Filson, who had been endorsed by the DCCC, and Stevan Thomas.

In late July, Republicans Pete McCloskey and Tom Benigno, both of whom ran in the Republican primary against Pombo, endorsed McNerney. In September, analysis of the campaign was changed from "Republican safe" to "Republican favored" due to the emergence of McNerney's campaign. The report noted "a [GOP] party spokesman says it's because they want to win decisively but others speculate that internal polling has delivered bad news for the incumbent." On October 3, a poll commissioned by Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund was released with McNerney leading Pombo, 48% to 46%. Based on these events, in early October, CQPolitics.com changed their rating of this race from Republican Favored to Leans Republican.

On November 7, 2006, McNerney defeated Pombo, 53–47%.

McNerney was reelected, 55% to 45%, over Republican Lincoln Unified School Board Trustee Dean Andal.

On December 8, 2023, McNerney filed for an open seat in District 5 of the California State Senate, upending a move into the race by Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua. McNerney defeated Republican Jim Shoemaker in the general election. He assumed office on December 2, 2024.

SB 31 Expanding the Use of Recycled Water. Signed into law on Oct. 13, 2025, SB 31 helps drought-proof California by boosting the use of recycled water. It also protects the state’s fresh water supply by allowing businesses, homes, and agencies to expand their use of recycled water for irrigation and other uses, rather than relying on drinking water.

SB 86 Green Energy Manufacturing Jobs. Signed into law on Oct. 1, 2025, SB 86 creates clean manufacturing energy jobs in California by extending a key program that provides tax incentives to California green energy manufacturers. The law also adds fusion energy to the tax incentive program.

SB 279 Helping Farmers & Winegrape Growers. Signed into on Oct. 11, 2025, SB 279 reduces costs for California farmers and winegrape growers by allowing them to compost large amounts of green waste onsite during a biomass event, such as the removal of an orchard or vineyard. The bill also allows community composting programs, urban farms, and school farms to compost larger amounts of green waste onsite.

SB 543 Low-Cost Housing. Signed into law on Oct. 10, 2025, SB 543 helps address California’s housing affordability crisis by streamlining the construction of low-cost housing known as accessory dwelling units (ADUs), also called backyard cottages or in-law units, and junior accessory dwelling units (JADUs), such as an attached garage converted into living space.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, McNerney called it "a partisan body that is no longer a legitimate arbiter of our Constitution." He said it had a "far-right minority agenda" that is a "threat not only to our country, but to the world."

McNerney resides in Pleasanton, California. He and his wife, Mary, have three children. McNerney is Roman Catholic.