In 2005, Obernolte was elected to the Big Bear City Airport Board, where he served for five years. He then served as president of the board for three years and as vice president for one year.[3][9][10]
In 2010, Obernolte was elected to Big Bear City Council, where he served as mayor.[3] He also served on the Big Bear Lake Fire Protection Board, as director of the Mojave Desert and on the Mountain Integrated Waste JPA Board, the Mountain Area Regional Transit Authority Board, and the League of California Cities Desert-Mountain Division.[8][11]
In January 2016, Obernolte was elected to serve on the California Legislative Technology and Innovation Caucus, which is co-chaired by Assembly members Ian Calderon and Evan Low.[12] He also sat on the following committees: Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media as vice chair; Budget as vice chair; Appropriations; Budget Subcommittee 6 on Budget Process, Oversight and Program Evaluation; Budget Subcommittee 6 on Budget Process, Oversight and Program Evaluation; Utilities and Commerce; Joint Committee on Arts; and Joint Legislative Budget.[13][14]
In 2016, Obernolte expressed concern over Frontier Communications's acquisition of Verizon's voice, video, data, and FiOS network, saying that the takeover "negatively affected" his constituents through poor landline telephone service.[15]
In 2016, Obernolte introduced Assembly Bill 2341, which would provide San Bernardino and other rural counties with additional judges to resolve backlogged court systems.[16] The bill would have shifted seats from Santa Clara and Alameda counties to the rural counties including San Bernardino, but died in the Senate Appropriations Committee without a hearing.[17][18]
Obernolte said that Governor Jerry Brown's $179.45 billion budget proposal was "responsible", but expressed a preference for fixing existing programs over creating new ones. He also stated an interest in funding job skills training, improving the state's Denti-Cal program, repairing infrastructure, and working on the housing crisis. Obernolte pushed for lawmakers to limit long-term funding commitments and said the budget proposal did nothing to address the "state's out-of-control pension debts and retiree health care liabilities."[20]
Obernolte co-authored Assembly Bill 1103, which would have allowed California bicyclists to roll through stop signs if it was safe to do so (the "Idaho stop").[21][22] The bill died in committee.[23]
Obernolte authored Assembly Bill 1642, which would extend the deadlines to either pay the fire tax, which is a state fire prevention fee, or file a petition for redetermination from 30 days to 60 days.[24] In July 2017, the fire fee was suspended as part of Assembly Bill 398.[25] Obernolte opposed raising fire insurance costs, which is calculated by factors in the risk of wildfire, fuels, slope and road access for emergency vehicles.[26]
Obernolte promotes accountability by local businesses to fairly compete with newer ones, therefore a wage should be determined by the business, especially small or family businesses which have been unable to compete in California due to over-regulation. He also believes in diverse skill acquisition which leads to higher wages, for example among teenagers that may benefit from working, without competing with older people for higher 'living' wages. Skill acquisition may help the decline in nationwide volunteering.[27]
In the November 2020 election, Obernolte defeated Democratic nominee Chris Bubser[32] with 56.1% of the vote to Bubser's 43.9%.[35] Obernolte was sworn in to Congress on January 3, 2021, and appointed Freshman Class Representative to the House Republican Policy Committee.[36]
2020 California's 8th congressional district primary results by county
Obernolte's first pieces of legislation to pass the House concerned the enabling of technological advancement.[44] His Fellowship and Traineeship for Early Career AI Researchers Act and Next Generation Computing Research and Development Act were included in the bipartisan H.R. 2225, the National Science Foundation (NSF) For the Future Act,[45] and H.R. 3593, the Department of Energy Science for the Future Act[46] respectively. His first standalone legislation, H.R. 3533, passed the House in September 2021. It establishes occupational series for federal positions in software development, software engineering, data science, and data management.[47]
In February 2021, Obernolte voted against the resolution that stripped Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments[48] for her incendiary and violent statements.[49] In November 2021, he voted against censuring Representative Paul Gosar, who posted an edited video of himself violently attacking Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Biden.[50]
As of October 2021, Obernolte had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 20% of the time.[51]
Along with Ted Lieu, Obernolte began chairing a bipartisan taskforce on artificial intelligence in 2024. The taskforce was established "to explore how Congress can ensure America continues to lead the world in AI innovation while considering guardrails that may be appropriate to safeguard the nation against current and emerging threats".[53][54]
Obernolte supported the overturning of Roe v. Wade and believes that because the Constitution does not mention abortion explicitly, states may outlaw it.[58]
On July 19, 2022, Obernolte and 46 other Republican representatives voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right to same-sex marriage in federal law.[59] He said, "As an ardent advocate for limited government, I do not feel that government should be empowered to dictate the terms of a marriage."[60]
In 2022, Obernolte was one of 39 Republicans to vote for the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.[61][62]
In 2023, Obernolte was among 47 Republicans to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21, which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.[63][64]
In the June primary, Obernolte finished second with 18.89% of the vote with 7,887 votes. He defeated Democrat John Coffey in the November general election with 65.9% of the vote.[74]
On January 25, 2016, Obernolte announced he would seek reelection as the representative for California's 33rd Assembly District.[75][76]
In the June primary, Obernolte finished first with 60.7% of the vote with 43,526 votes. He defeated Democrat Scott Markovich in the November general election with 60.6% of the vote.
Obernolte married his wife, Heather, in 1996, and they have two sons.[77][78] The family has lived in Big Bear Lake since 1997.[3]
Obernolte holds an airline transport pilot's license. He is a certified flight instructor and has flown light aircraft since 2005. He worked with Embraer as a member on its Pilot Advisory Board during the development of the Phenom 300.[79][80][81][82] Obernolte volunteers as a pilot with the Veterans Airlift Command and the Young Eagles.[3][83]
Obernolte holds a fifth-degree black belt in Pacific Unified Martial Arts and is co-owner and instructor at PUMA Karate in Big Bear Lake.[3][84][self-published source]
^"SEBA endorsements". San Bernardino County Safety Employee's Benefit Association. Archived from the original on January 28, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
