Peter Clay Frusetta (July 6, 1932 - February 26, 2020) was an American rancher and politician from California and was a member of the Republican party.

Frusetta served in the United States Army between 1954 and 1956. He was deployed in Germany. Upon his return from the war, he worked on his family's cattle ranch in San Benito County.

State Assembly

Frusetta first ran for the California State Assembly in 1992, losing to entrenched incumbent Rusty Areias (D-Salinas) by 18 points.https://www.joincalifornia.com/election/1992-11-03 In 1994 he ran again for what was now an open seat (with Areias running instead for state controller). He beat Democrat Lily Cervantes by 389 votes.https://www.joincalifornia.com/election/1994-11-08 He beat her again in a 1996 rematch and served in the lower house until 2000.

In 2002 he made a run for redrawn 12th district in the state senate but lost in the GOP primary to Jeff Denham, who then went on to beat Democrat Rusty Areias in the general election.https://www.joincalifornia.com/election/2002-11-05

Electoral history + Member, California State Assembly: 1994-2000YearOfficeDemocratVotesPctRepublicanVotesPct1992California State Assembly District 28Rusty Areias64,74759%Peter Frusetta 44,90541%1994California State Assembly District 28Lily Cervantes43,30749.8%Peter Frusetta43,69650.2%1996California State Assembly District 28Lily Cervantes51,88847.3%Peter Frusetta53,64948.9%1998California State Assembly District 28Alan Styles40,65244%Peter Frusetta47,73551.6%2002California State Senate District 12Rusty Areias72,03447.1%Jeff Denham 57% Peter Frusetta 37.3%73,88748.3%

References