After receiving his Juris Doctor degree from UC San Francisco,College of the Law in 1980,he was appointed an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Orange County. He had a 100% conviction rate prosecuting drug dealers,gang members,white collar criminals,and civil rights cases. He also served as a military prosecutor between 1980 and 1985.[citation needed] As a federal prosecutor,Umberg tried several high-profile cases including “Uranium for Tax Dollars,”“Marco Numismatics”(a nationwide fraud on seniors),and the last cross-burning case in Orange County.[1][2]
Political career
Santa Ana Poll Guard Controversy
As the federal prosecutor on duty in 1988 for the U.S. Attorney's office on Election Day,Umberg received reports that police officers were preventing Latinos from voting in Santa Ana. Umberg and another attorney responded to the location of the report,and identified a woman dressed in attire that made her appear as a police officer with a sign that said "Non-Citizens Can't Vote". Umberg noted that when he arrived the woman spoke with a Latino couple that came to vote,and after their discussion,they walked away. The Orange County Republican Party allegedly organized the effort to protect one of their incumbents,who went on to win the election by 1,000 votes.[3] Umberg resigned his position from the U.S. Attorney's office to run for the Assembly,citing the incident as his reason for running.
First stint in Assembly
Umberg was first elected to the California State Assembly in 1990,defeating incumbent Republican Curt Pringle,who was identified as the beneficiary of the previous poll guard effort.[4] Umberg was re-elected in 1992. While in the Assembly he served as Chairman of the Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee. Instead of seeking a third term in 1994,Umberg ran for Attorney General of California but lost to RepublicanDan Lungren in the general election.[citation needed] Umberg then joined the law firm of Morrison &Foerster LLP in 1995 as a partner. He was the Managing Partner of Morrison &Foerster's Orange County Office from 2003 until 2005.
Deputy Director,Office of National Drug Control Policy
During the 1996 presidential election,he served as the Director of the Clinton re-election campaign in California. Clinton appointed and the Senate confirmed Umberg as the Deputy Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (colloquially known as the Office of the Drug Czar) in 1997 where he served until 2000 directly under Director and retired U.S. Army General Barry McCaffrey.[5] In this capacity he was responsible for the development and coordination of United States policy to reduce the supply of illegal drugs,including interdiction,counter-drug intelligence,negotiation and coordination with foreign governments. Umberg held the highest level of U.S. security clearance,granting access to Top Secret information in addition to specialized Sensitive Compartmented Information. Tom also served as a senior member to the U.S./Mexico High Level Contact Group and as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Summit of the Americas in Santiago,Chile.[6]
Second stint in Assembly
In 2004,Umberg was re-elected to the Assembly to represent the 69th District. During his third term,Umberg chaired the Elections and Redistricting Committee. While in the legislature,Umberg authored over 60 measures which became law. These laws include measures dealing with hate crimes,white collar crime,campaign finance reform,high-speed rail transport,and school meal programs.[citation needed]. In 2005,Umberg was the 41st,and decisive,vote on AB 849 to legalize same-sex marriage in California. During the floor debate,Umberg stated,"It's always a dilemma whether to follow or lead. This is one of those times history is looking to us to lead," and that of all the constituents who contacted him on the bill,he had ultimately looked to his three children. "I wanted them to look back and see where I was when we could make a difference,if I stood with those who took a leadership role in terms of tolerance,equity and fairness. And I'll be proud to say I did."[7].
2006 Senate campaign
Umberg sought the seat of retiring State SenatorJoe Dunn (D) in the 2006 elections. Orange CountySupervisor and former Assemblyman Lou Correa jumped in the race in January 2006 as well. Correa received pressure from the local Democratic party for him to stay out but was pressured by the state Democratic party for him to jump in and stating that he was running in part because of the allegations about Umberg's residency. Aside from other negative articles,[8] Umberg also received criticism that he voted to legalize gay marriage.[9] Umberg attempted to get Correa off the ballot because Correa submitted more than the number of signatures required to qualify for the ballot,but ultimately failed.[10] Umberg also claimed that an alliance between Correa and State Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata to funnel funds to Correa's campaign was illegal.[11] Umberg was defeated by Correa by a 60% to 40% margin,and Correa went on to narrowly win the general election.
Orange County Supervisorial campaign
After Correa won the general election for the state Senate by a 1% margin,Umberg entered the race to replace Correa on the Orange County Board of Supervisors,representing the 1st Supervisorial District. 52% of 1st Supervisorial District voters are also voters in the 69th Assembly District,formerly represented by Umberg. 73% of 1st Supervisorial District voters are also 34th Senate District voters,so Umberg was believed to be the favorite. On 6 February 2007,Umberg received 21.4%,coming in third,far less than he had been expected to poll.[12] The winner was Garden GroveCity councilwomanJanet Nguyen.
State Senate
In 2018,Umberg entered the race for California's 34th Senatorial District,setting up a rematch against State Senator Janet Nguyen,who had won the seat in 2014 and was seeking reelection. A priority race for the legislature,Umberg received widespread support from officials across Orange and Los Angeles Counties,including U.S. Congressmembers Adam Schiff and Lou Correa. Umberg initially trailed by 19 points on election night,but steadily gained in the days following to prevail by 3,200 votes in an election where over 260,000 had voted,and was the last race to be called in California for that cycle.[13] Nguyen requested a partial recount of precincts in Santa Ana,but this did not change the outcome.[14] Nguyen never conceded to Umberg.
After being sworn in,Umberg was named Chair of the Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments by President pro tempore of the California State Senate,Toni Atkins. In 2021,Umberg was appointed Chair of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and,as Chair,held a seat on the Judicial Council of California. Umberg was reappointed Judiciary Chair by Mike McGuire after he succeeded Atkins as Pro Tem. During Umberg's tenure in the Senate,he was praised for his bipartisanship and strong record of introducing and passing legislation.[15] Umberg was considered a finalist by Governor Gavin Newsom to be appointed California Attorney General following the appointment of Xavier Becerra in the Biden Administration.[16]
In 2025,the Senate voted to reduce the number of bills individual legislators were allowed to introduce from 40 to 35. Umberg gained attention by introducing 33 bills in that year alone,the most by any legislator.[17] Of those,16 were signed by the Governor,the most policy bills signed by any single legislator,the most for any legislator that year.[18]
Elections
Umberg served as Chair of the Senate Elections Committee during the COVID-19 Pandemic,and joint-authored AB 860 which codified that county elections officials must mail a ballot to every registered,active voter ahead of the November 3,2020 General Election.[19] Umberg also authored SB 398 in response to Elon Musk's voter registration lotteries in Wisconsin's Supreme Court election.[20][21] The bill was signed by Governor Newsom on October 2,2025. Additionally,Umberg authored SB 42,a bill that would ask voters to end the statewide ban on local cities and counties from establishing public financing systems for local elections. The ban had been in place since Proposition 140 passed in 1990.[22] The measure passed the legislature and was signed by the Governor and will appear on the November 2026 ballot.
Artificial Intelligence
As Judiciary Committee Chair,Umberg played a key role in the regulation of artificial intelligence legislation. His role was even lauded as "the Chief Gatekeeper of AI".[23][24] Umberg opposed Trump Administration efforts to restrict and penalize state efforts to regulate artificial intelligence,calling it,"a dereliction of duty wrapped in yet another distraction from a fracturing MAGA movement and a president who doesn’t understand the real dangers of rapidly advancing tech".[25][26]
CARE Courts
In 2022,Umberg was asked by Governor Newsom to author SB 1338 or the Community Assistance,Recovery,and Empowerment Act,creating the state's CARE Courts which was signed by the Governor that year at a public ceremony in San Jose.[27] The program is designed to help families and reduce homelessness by using court authority to order the treatment and housing prioritization of severely mentally ill Californians. Umberg thanked legislators in his floor remarks for sharing their personal stories and stated,"There are Californians right now... that are looking for their loved ones and they're looking because they don't know what to do and they don't know how to find them help... But I am hopeful and what gives me incredible hope is the breadth and scope of the support from our colleagues... I do think we have this unique opportunity,this unique time,where we have the resources and the collective political will to make a huge difference."[28] The bill received only 1 no vote in the Senate,and 2 no votes in the Assembly. The bill was expanded in 2025 to include those with severe bipolar disorder.[29]
Housing and Project Homekey
In 2019,Umberg authored SB 450,which created a California Environmental Quality Act exemption to allow cities and counties to purchase dilapidated hotels and motels and convert them into transitional housing and was sponsored by the City of Long Beach.[30] The bill passed unanimously in the Senate and received only 2 no votes in the Assembly.[31][32] The following year,Governor Newsom implemented Project Homekey,which utilized Umberg's bill to provide funding to cities and counties to purchase hotels and motels for conversion to address the state's homelessness crisis.[33][34]
Fentanyl and Alexandra's Law
Umberg introduced several laws to combat fentanyl abuse across the state. Umberg authored bills compelling social media companies to take down pages and accounts that sold fentanyl,a "Good Samaritan law" to protect individuals from prosecution if they report overdoses to encourage reporting overdose incidents to police,and required public venues to have naloxone and other overdose reversing medications on site.[35]
In 2023,Umberg introduced SB 44,or "Alexandra's Law",named after Alexandra Capelouto who died after purchasing drugs on Snapchat mistakenly laced with fentanyl.[36][37] Variations had been introduced in previous years by Republican legislators,but the bill had been unable to receive a hearing. Alexandra's father,Matt,approached Umberg to carry the bill int he hopes it would have a better chance to succeed. The bill would have required a judge to read an admonishment to drug dealers that mistakenly deal bad drugs resulting in the death of a customer,similar to the Watson Admonishment judges issue in cases of drunk driving. This admonishment allows,but does not require,prosecutors to pursue homicide charges if the same drug dealer is responsible for subsequent customer death. Despite passing the Public Safety committee and having the majority of Senators sponsoring the bill,the bill died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
In 2024,Umberg reintroduced the bill as SB 21 with largely the same language.[38] The bill again was sponsored by the majority of Senators,but died in the Public Safety committee. Umberg gutted and amended one of his other bills,SB 22,to try and pass the bill,but it was again killed in committee. That year,the language for Alexandra's Law from SB 22 was adopted by proponents of Proposition 36 and became law when it passed in November.[39]
Personal Life
Umberg is married to Brigadier GeneralRobin Umberg,whom he met on a military flight to South Korea where they were both stationed. Tom has three children:Brett,Tommy,and Erin Umberg. Tommy and Erin Umberg both attended law school at UC Berkeley,and subsequently went into private practice.[40][41]
↑Catherine Gewertz. "U.S. Judges Restore Suit Accusing State GOP of Poll Guard Conspiracy: Appeal: Ruling revives charge that Republican Party tried to intimidate Latinos by posting uniformed monitors in Santa Ana in 1988. Published July 27, 1991, Retrieved December 5, 2025. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-07-27-me-289-story.html
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