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Former member of Congress · last served 111th Congress

Official portrait of Rep. James L. Oberstar

James L. Oberstar

DEMOCRAT U.S. Representative · MinnesotaHouse 1975–2011 (MN-8)

James Oberstar was a Democratic U.S. representative from Minnesota, first elected to Congress in 1975, who sponsored 26 bills that became law (100th–111th Congress).

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331Bills & resolutions sponsored100th–111th Congress (excludes amendments)
77Passed a chamberof 331 bills & resolutions sponsored
26Became law25 substantive + 1 ceremonial · 100th–111th Congress
—Broke with partyNo roll calls in PORKER’s records (they start in 2011)
—Missed votesNo roll calls in PORKER’s records (they start in 2011)
—Pork: own shareFY2024 earmarks: not in office

How we count: “Broke with party” is a yes/no roll call where the member voted against most of their own party on that vote (party as recorded; even splits not counted). “Pork: own share” splits each earmark shared by several members evenly among them.

Recent votes

No recorded roll-call votes in PORKER’s records. Roll-call records start in 2011.

5 most recent bills

Top bills sponsored

Laws first, then bills that passed a chamber, were reported from committee, or drew the most cosponsors.

Elections Rep. Oberstar has won

Rep. Oberstar has won 17 U.S. House elections (1976–2008). Of the contested races, margins ran from 29.2 to 74.4 points.

010204060Margin of victory, points (axis starts at 0)1976: unopposed1976MN-81978, MN-8: won by 74.4 points19781980, MN-8: won by 42.5 points19801982, MN-8: won by 53.5 points19821984, MN-8: won by 35.1 points19841986, MN-8: won by 45.1 points19861988, MN-8: won by 49.0 points19881990, MN-8: won by 45.9 points19901992, MN-8: won by 29.4 points19921994, MN-8: won by 31.4 points19941996, MN-8: won by 42.1 points19961998, MN-8: won by 39.5 points19982000, MN-8: won by 42.0 points20002002, MN-8: won by 37.4 points20022004, MN-8: won by 33.1 points20042006, MN-8: won by 29.2 points20062008, MN-8: won by 35.5 points2008
Democratic winRepublican winseat changed partyunopposed
Elections won17 in the data (1976–2024); losses are not listed
Closest win: 29.2 points2006, MN-8
Won an open seat or took one from the other party0 of 17 elections (open seat or changed party)
Seat history, Minnesota’s 8th districtWinners, most recent three: Chip Cravaack (R) 2010 → Richard M. Nolan (D) 2012–2016 → Pete Stauber (R) 2018–2024. Elections shown, not terms; special elections not included.

Full election history for this seat →

Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. House V15 / U.S. Senate V8 (CC0), retrieved 2026-10-18; winners matched to member records by seat and term. Results run through the 2024 elections; nothing from 2026 is shown until it is certified. A margin is a fact about one election, never a score of how well a member represents anyone, and PORKER does not rank members by it.

How has Minnesota’s 8th district done while Rep. Oberstar served?

2005 to 2010 in MN-8: typical household income was down 5% after inflation, the share of people below the poverty line was up 2.5 points, and the share of workers looking for a job was up 2.7 points.

Typical household income · after inflationMinnesota $80.2KU.S. $72.4KMN-8 $65.5K
MN-8: $68.6K in 2005 → $65.5K in 2010
MN-8 down 5%Minnesota down 5%U.S. down 3%
Share of people below the poverty lineU.S. 15.3%MN-8 13.7%Minnesota 11.6%
MN-8: 11.2% in 2005 → 13.7% in 2010
MN-8 up 2.5 pointsMinnesota up 2.4 pointsU.S. up 2.0 points
Share of workers looking for a jobU.S. 10.8%MN-8 9.4%Minnesota 8.3%
MN-8: 6.6% in 2005 → 9.4% in 2010
MN-8 up 2.7 pointsMinnesota up 2.8 pointsU.S. up 3.9 points

Each mini chart has its own scale, fitted to its lines (it does not start at zero), so compare the numbers, not the heights. Teal = district, oxblood = state, grey = U.S.

While they served, not because of them. This shows what happened in Minnesota’s 8th district during Oberstar’s time representing it (1975 to 2011). It does not say what the member did or caused. It is not a score, and PORKER never ranks members on it.

One set of district lines. MN-8 was redrawn in 2022 (the survey year the new lines first appear), but every survey year in Oberstar’s term so far (2005 to 2010) uses the same lines, so they can be compared. The Census Bureau has no 2020 yearly estimate.

See the full 20-year record →Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates (tables B19013, B17001, B23001) and BLS CPI-U-RS for inflation, retrieved October 18, 2026. “About the same” means the change is inside the 90% margins of error. Who held the seat: Congress.gov member service records, year level.

Official records on bills this member sponsored

111th Congress. What Congress.gov lists for the 38 bills sponsored.

RecordBillsSource
Bills sponsored38Source: Congress.gov member record, PORKER copy of October 26, 2026 ↗ See them →
With a sponsor’s constitutional-authority statement0None listed
With a CBO cost estimate listed17See the 17 →
With a committee report listed18See the 18 →
With a Congress.gov note5See the 5 →
Evidence
How counted
Bills where this member is the lead (first-listed) sponsor in the 111th Congress, read from the stored Congress.gov bill records
Fields
cboCostEstimates, committeeReports, constitutionalAuthorityStatementText, notes
PORKER copy refreshed
October 26, 2026 (nightly)

Read this first. These are counts of records Congress.gov lists. Many bills never get a CBO estimate or a report, so a zero is not a mark against a member. We never show this as a score.

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Data as of Oct 26, 2026 · Sources: Congress.gov, Senate.gov, House Clerk, Appropriations Committee earmark tables. PORKER is non-partisan.