As Supervisor, Perata worked to shut down problematic liquor stores, ban cigarette advertising, and lobbied the state legislature for an assault weapons ban and funding for the mentally ill.[4] Having served eight years representing Oakland as an Alameda County Supervisor, Perata's first attempt at state politics came in the 1994 democratic primary for controller, aged 49.

[5] In 1998, Perata ran for the State Senate for the 9th District which currently includes Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Castro Valley, Dublin, El Sobrante, Emeryville, Livermore, Oakland, Piedmont, Richmond, and San Pablo.

He claimed this was necessary for self-defense due to threats on his life and the well-being of his family from some individual opponents of his pro-gun control legislative activity.

He has authored legislation requiring California utilities companies to contract for cleaner energy sources and supported tougher penalties on oil refinery emissions.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger began to speak out in favor of improving state infrastructure after Schawarzenegger's November 2005 special election ballot initiatives were defeated.

[citation needed] In a rare occurrence for Sacramento politicians, in early 2006 Perata and Schwarzenegger began to work together to piece together a bipartisan infrastructure plan that both sides of the legislature could embrace.

These measures are aimed at improving roads, mass transit, affordable housing, levee repair, and upgrading educational facilities.

"[14] Proposition 93, a term limit alteration ballot measure sponsored by Perata and Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, did not pass in February 2008.

[15] One television ad included the following line: "Don Perata, whose home was raided by the FBI in the ongoing corruption probe.

[23] If it would have passed, the measure was projected to generate over $500 million annually for cancer research by levying a new $1-per-pack tax on tobacco products in California.

After this disclosure The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights sent a letter to the Senate stating that Perata's payments for consulting work looked "like a complex and illegal money-laundering mechanism.

Exit Strategies, a political direct mail firm, was launched in 1999 by Perata's son, Nick, and based at his father's Alameda County home.

[26] Additional stories by The Chronicle during this time insinuated that Perata had carried a bill on behalf of Mercury Insurance, which may have allowed the company to circumvent Prop.

Mercury, in turn, donated $50,000 to a political committee run by Oakland developer Phil Tagami, who later hired Staples, who had previously paid Perata as a consultant.

The FBI, the US Attorney's Office, and a federal grand jury investigated whether Perata took bribes or kickbacks from friends and campaign donors in exchange for his help.

[28][29][30] That same year, Perata was also criticized when he described as "crackers" - a disparaging slang term for poor Southern whites - some San Diego-area residents who stridently opposed a bill to give illegal immigrants the ability to obtain driver's licenses.