Jay Obernolte
RepublicanU.S. Representative, CA-23| Age | 55 (b. 1970-08-18) |
| Gender | Male |
| In office since | 2021-01-03 (~5 yrs) |
| Religion | Protestant |
| Education | B.S. in Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology (1992); M.S. in Artificial Intelligence, University of California, Los Angeles (1997); Doctor of Public Administration, California Baptist University (2020) |
| Prior occupation | Video game developer; founder, owner and president of FarSight Studios (independent video game developer founded 1990) |
| Military service | No |
| Birthplace | Chicago, Illinois |
| Marital status | married — Heather Obernolte |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence | Big Bear Lake, California |
Pending research: race / ethnicity · languages · notable relatives · openly lgbtq.
Career & politics
| First elected | 2005 |
| Previous offices | Big Bear City Airport Board member (2005-2010) · Big Bear Lake City Council member (2010-2014) · Mayor of Big Bear Lake (2012-2014) · California State Assembly, 33rd District (2014-2020) · U.S. House of Representatives, California's 8th District (2021-2023) |
| Committees | House Committee on Energy and Commerce · House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology · House Committee on the Budget |
| Caucuses | Republican Study Committee · Republican Governance Group · Congressional Western Caucus · Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus / bipartisan AI Task Force (co-chair) |
| Leadership | Chair, House Republican Policy Committee (2026-present) · Co-chair, bipartisan House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence (2024) |
| Ideology | Republican; rated conservative. Voteview maintains a DW-NOMINATE profile for him (specific numeric score not retrieved). |
| Signature legislation | Next Generation Computing Research and Development Act (incorporated in H.R. 2225) · Fellowship and Traineeship for Early Career AI Researchers Act · H.R. 3533 (occupational series for federal software and data positions) |
Financial
Net worth: disclosed $30,000,002–$75,000,000 (2023) · estimate
| FarSight Studios, Inc. | business_owned · $25,000,001–$50,000,000 · 2023 |
| FarSight Technologies, Inc. | business_owned · $5,000,001–$25,000,000 · 2023 |
Scandals & crimes ledger
No recorded incidents. Under the adjudicated-only methodology, an entry appears only when a court or official body has formally acted and the record is cited.