Fiedler, Bobbi, 1937-2019

Roberta Frances "Bobbi" Fiedler (née Horowitz; April 22, 1937 – March 3, 2019) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, she served as a U.S. Representative from California from 1981 to 1987.

Born Roberta Frances Horowitz in Santa Monica, California, she graduated from Santa Monica High School in 1955 before attending Santa Monica Technical School and Santa Monica City College through 1959. During the 1960s, she and her husband owned and operated two pharmacies in the San Fernando section of Los Angeles.

Bobbi Fiedler first entered the public spotlight when she became a vocal critic of a divisive Los Angeles busing program of the 1970s. Aimed at promoting racial integration in Southern California public schools, the mandatory busing system attracted the ire of parents throughout the district because of its tendency to force children to travel long distances to and from school. As a parent volunteer in a local elementary school, Fiedler led the charge of disgruntled parents by organizing an anti-busing group called BUSTOP. Fiedler’s notoriety from her work with the protest organization helped launch her political career. In 1977 she won election to the influential Los Angeles city board of education. From 1977 through 1987, Fiedler served as a delegate to the California State Republican conventions, and she also was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1980 and 1984. During the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas, Fiedler delivered a speech seconding President Ronald Reagan’s nomination for re-election.

In 1980, Fiedler ran as a Republican for Congress against Democrat James C. Corman, who had served 20 years in Congress. After a fierce campaign in which Corman was often picketed by anti-integration activists, the candidates entered election day in a dead heat in the polls, and Corman lost to Fiedler by 750 votes out of 200,000 cast. As a Congresswoman, Fiedler typically backed the Reagan administration and her Republican colleagues on fiscal matters, most especially in her position as a member of the Budget Committee. Nonetheless, she strayed from the party line with respect to her views towards women’s rights. During her tenure in Congress, Fiedler promoted a range of issues concerning women, such as Individual Retirement Account allotments for homemakers, child support and enforcement, welfare reform, and the Equal Rights Amendment.

As a result of 1982 reapportionment, Fiedler’s district became a Republican stronghold in California. Re-elected to both the 98th and 99th Congresses (1983–1987) with more than 70 percent of the vote, Fiedler nonetheless opted to leave her safe seat to challenge the longtime Democratic California Senator Alan Cranston in 1986. During the Republican primary, Fiedler’s candidacy fell apart when a grand jury indicted her and an aide for attempting to pay an opponent to withdraw from the race. Fiedler ultimately lost the primary, garnering just 15 percent of the vote.

Following the end of her third term in Congress, she returned to Northridge, California, where she married Paul Clarke, her former chief of staff, on February 15, 1987. Fiedler expressed interest in succeeding outgoing U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole in the fall of 1987, but the Reagan administration did not nominate her for the Cabinet position. Fiedler later worked as a lobbyist and political commentator. On March 3, 2019, Fiedler died in Northridge, California.