Joe Simitian is married to Mary Hughes, a Bay Area political consultant. Simitian proposed to Mary Hughes on election night on November 14th 1996 upon being elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors representing District 5.[1]
Joe Simitian was elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in November 1996, to represent District 5, which includes Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Palo Alto, Cupertino, Mountain View, Saratoga, and Stanford, as well as portions of Sunnyvale and San Jose.
Assemblyman
Assemblymember Joe Simitian was elected to the California State Assembly in November 2000, and re-elected in November 2002, to represent the 21st Assembly District, which includes all or part of 13 cities in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
State Senate
Joe Simitian was elected to the California State Senate in November 2004 and is currently serving as State Senator for District 11. He ran in the Democratic primary against former Assemblyman and San Mateo County Supervisor Ted Lempert and won, and prevailed in the general election.
Senate Committees
Senator Simitian sits on numerous committees, including the Senate Environmental Quality.
Boards/Commissions
Regional leadership as President of the Santa Clara County School Boards’ Association, President of the League of California Cities Peninsula Division and Chairperson of the Santa Clara County Intergovernmental Council (IGC)
Representative of the President of the United States, 1994 U.S. Delegation to Observe Elections in El Salvador
Elections Supervisor, 1997 and 1998 Bosnian Elections, Seconded by the U.S. Department of State, serving with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
Volunteer, International Rescue Committee (IRC), 1999 refugee relief and resettlement efforts in Albania and Kosovo