Candidate for
United States Representative; District 36

Highly regarded for his enthusiastic, principled approach to leadership, Patrick "Kit" Bobko was first elected to the Hermosa Beach City Council in June 2006 to represent the residents of Hermosa Beach. He is a past Mayor and is currently serving his second term on City Council.

In 1969, Kit was born at George Air Force Base in Victorville, California, while his father was stationed there after returning from a tour in Viet Nam. Kit comes from an Air Force family. His father is a decorated combat veteran fighter pilot, and his uncle was an astronaut who piloted and commanded the space shuttle on three missions. Both Kit's father and uncle are Air Force Academy graduates, as is one of his younger brothers.

Kit's call to public service came in 1987 when President Ronald Reagan appointed him to the Air Force Academy. He graduated from the Academy in 1991 and proudly took his place among the Airmen who serve this country at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. Kit was an Aircraft Maintenance Officer whose duties included keeping a front-line fighter squadron of F-16 jets ready to deploy anywhere in the world at a moment's notice. Kit is also a graduate of the U.S. Army Airborne School and U.S. Air Force Combat Survival School.

After receiving an honorable discharge from active-duty in 1996, Kit first earned a Master's Degree in Philosophy from the University of South Carolina and then attended George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C. In law school Kit edited a law journal and worked as a Law Clerk in the District of Columbia Superior Court. He also got his first taste of politics there working on Capitol Hill in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Kit is currently a litigation partner at the well-respected California law firm of Richards, Watson and Gershon. Kit specializes in the representation of municipalities and public entities in both state and federal courts, at the trial and appellate court levels. He has been involved in handling election contests, property tax litigation, land use disputes, and federal constitutional and civil rights cases. Kit also protects the property and rights of the people of California as a City Prosecutor, and recently obtained a "gang injunction" for a community that was being terrorized by two violent rival gangs. Kit's skill in the courtroom has been acknowledged by his peers who singled him out as a Southern California "Young Super Lawyer."

During his term on City Council, Kit has effectively promoted an agenda of leaner and more efficient government, lower taxes and fees for residents, and better schools. Kit has also been a steward of the environment, and served as the Chairman of the Committee that revitalized and refurbished the city's main thoroughfare, Pier Avenue. The project earned a 2010 Environmental Achievement Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its storm water filtration system that keeps our beach and ocean clean.

Kit currently resides in Hermosa Beach, where he has lived for the past 11 years.