Fiedler, Bobbi (1937—)
Fiedler, Bobbi (1937—)
U.S. Republican Congresswoman from California who served three consecutive terms. Born Roberta Frances Horowitz in Santa Monica, California, on April 22, 1937; attended Santa Monica Technical School; attended Santa Monica City College, 1955–59.
Born and raised in California, Congresswoman Bobbi Fiedler worked in the pharmacy business and as an interior decorator before entering politics. She began her public career as the organizer of a citizens' group called BUSTOP, which opposed busing as a means of desegregating the Los Angeles schools. From 1977 to 1980, she served on the Los Angeles School Board, after which she entered her first congressional race, beating out ten-term incumbent and chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee James Corman by only 800 votes. Serving three consecutive House terms, Fiedler was a member of the Budget Committee where she advocated fiscal conservatism. She voted along party lines on most issues, but parted with her Republican colleagues in her support of feminist issues, including the Equal Rights Amendment. In 1986, instead of pursuing another term in the House, Fiedler made an unsuccessful bid for a Republican Senate seat.
sources:
Office of the Historian. Women in Congress, 1917–1990. Commission on the Bicentenary of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1991.