Tom Berryhill Profile

California Assemblyman Tom Berryhill’s early years were spent on a farm in central California. A graduate of California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, Berryhill comes is a fourth-generation farmer and comes from a family with a history of public service. His late father, Clare Berryhill, was also an influential California lawmaker.

"My family was really engaged in politics,” Berryhill said in a telephone interview. “Over the last 30 years we have been very engaged in the democratic process.”

Republican political consultant and former Modesto resident Jennifer Jacobs, who said that she has been friends with Berryhill for thirteen years, said via e-mail:

“The Berryhill family name is synonymous with service in the valley.”

Motivated by the agricultural community of the San Joaquin Valley, in 2006 Berryhill dedicated himself to serve as assemblyman of California’s 25th district. Berryhill said he was committed to educating people in agricultural areas about the legislative process and how they could become active in passing laws to help agriculture.

"The agriculture communities were the first conservationist," he said.

He has helped introduce laws like AB 545, The Land Preservation Tax Conformity, which would help preserve farm land by increasing charitable tax deductions of farmers if they agree not to sell their land to developers. He has also succeeded in getting The Train More Nurses Act of 2007 passed, which would reform nursing programs in California community colleges and create a “Master Plan for Nursing Education” as stated on his website.

Berryhill said during his time in the legislature he wanted to work for a comprehensive water project and increase the scope of the nursing project and the California State Water Project.
“I am a champion when it comes to water policy and flood control,” he said.

Berryhill is also active among a variety of community groups and committees in the 25th district, which he has been serving since December of 2006.

The 25th district is both historically significant and contributes billions to the states economy through agriculture. It includes: Modesto, Riverbank, Oakdale, Chowchilla, Mammoth Lakes, Waterford, Sonora, Hughson, Angels Camp and Madera.

He has also championed the Donate Life California Registry, which is used to compile information on individuals who have registered as organ donors with the DMV. A heart transplant recipient himself, Berryhill has pushed to make April the official DMV/Donate Life California Month and April 4 the official DMV/Donate Life California Day.

Berryhill’s transplant has proven to be a major issue in his political career

During his college years, Berryhill used athletics as a way to keep a week heart in running order. When he was 21, he learned that his heart was wearing out and needed a new valve, ending his athletic career.

It wasn’t until 1996 when Berryhill credits a tightly contested loss for a state assembly seat as the turning point in his health.

Jacobs was chief of staff for Republican Assemblyman George House in a neighboring district when Berryhill lost that race in 1996 by less than 100 votes to Dennis Cardoza.

She wrote an online column in Oct. 2006 in which she said: “Over the past 10 years, I can only imagine the coulda-shoula-woulda thoughts that must have gone through (Berryhill’s) mind.”

After a consultation with a doctor following the election, Berryhill learned that he needed a new heart. In 2001, Berryhill successfully underwent heart replacement surgery at the age of 47 at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco.

Berryhill received attention during the Republican primary election of 2006 when GOP rival candidate Bill Conrad contended that Berryhill could not effectively run the district due to his heart transplant. Conrad’s campaign sent out mailers with the caption, “Tom Berryhill doesn’t have the HEART for State Assembly.”

The flyer also read, “Can you imagine the costs to taxpayers for a special election when poor health renders him unable to fulfill the duties of office?” and “Republicans deserve a strong candidate.”

Berryhill told the San Diego Tribune that year that Conrad, “set a new low,” and that “this is the type of thing that keeps good people from running for office.”

Conrad argued that the situation was similar to current Vice-President Dick Cheney’s heart problems.

Ultimately the voters rejected the negative ads, and Conrad, by electing Berryhill to the assembly.

Today, Berryhill is married to wife Loretta and has two daughters, Jessica and Samantha. He is also currently the only heart transplant survivor in public office in the United States.

Jacobs said that Berryhill “is serving his constituents by helping them and voting with a conscience that serves only them.”

Even former rival Conrad, who still lives in Modesto, said via telephone that while he has had a couple of issues with Berryhill’s voting record, the assemblyman is still doing “okay.”

"I don't know of any major issues we disagree on,” Conrad said. "I think he's fully capable."

The Berryhill family may soon have another member serving in the California assembly: Berryhill’s brother Bill is rumored to be running for the 26th District assembly seat that is being vacated by Republican Greg Aghazarian this year. Jacobs wrote in her 2006 column that she “was always a bit enamored with the prospects of his brother Bill... Bill, his wife and their children were ingratiating – they were humble, hard working and gave a lot of time to their community and to the (Republican) Party.”

When asked about the possibility of Bill Berryhill becoming the third member of the family to serve in Sacramento, Jacobs said “Bill Berryhill will make an outstanding Assemblyman.”