Bobbi Fiedler
| Bobbi Fiedler | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 21st district |
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In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1987 |
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| Preceded by | James C. Corman |
| Succeeded by | Elton Gallegly |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Roberta Frances Horowitz April 22, 1937 Santa Monica, California |
| Political party | Republican |
| Residence | Northridge, California |
| Alma mater | Santa Monica City College |
| Religion | Judaism |
Roberta Frances "Bobbi" Fiedler (née Horowitz; April 22, 1937) is a former U.S. Representative from California who made a name for herself as a strong opponent of forced busing.
Born Roberta Frances Horowitz in Santa Monica, California on April 22, 1937, Fiedler attended area public schools. Studies continued at Santa Monica Technical School (1955–1957) and Santa Monica City College (1955–1959).
Fiedler formed her political identity at Encino's Lanai Road Elementary School, where she mobilized other mothers to protest court-ordered busing. Fiedler formed an organization called Bustop in 1976, and the organization grew to 30,000 members in weeks. Fiedler's role in the grass-roots group helped propel her to public office, as she won a surprising upset in 1977 against Los Angeles school board president Robert Docter, who favored busing. While serving on the Los Angeles (City) Board of Education, Fiedler and fellow board member Roberta Weintraub were fierce opponents of forced busing.
In 1980, Fiedler ran as a Republican (GOP) for Congress against Democrat James C. Corman, who had served 20 years in Congress. Fiedler was an underdog, running against Corman in a district that was 62% Democratic, and with the incumbent next in line to be chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. But in a year in which Reagan's coattails drew large numbers of Democratic voters to the GOP, the National Republican Congressional Committee targeted Corman, hoping not to defeat him, but to embarrass him. Busing was the central issue in the election between Fiedler and Corman. Time magazine reported on the campaign as follows: "Again the issue is local: busing that was ordered by the California Supreme Court in 1977 to desegregate public schools in Los Angeles County.
Corman's campaign manager, Clint Reilly, later recalled that his candidate's position on racial integration drew heavy fire from Fiedler, whom he described as "the leader of LA's anti-busing movement." Reilly noted that the Republican Party raised more than a million dollars for Fiedler, and "the campaign was waged in the racially charged atmosphere of the San Fernando Valley." 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.
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