In 2000, Davis challenged three-term Republican incumbent Brian Bilbray in what was then the 49th District, winning with 50 percent of the vote.
Her district was renumbered the 53rd District after the 2000 Census redistricting and made somewhat more Democratic than its predecessor.
She has been reelected eight times since then without much difficulty.
She is the first Democrat to represent what is now the 53rd district for more than one term in over half a century.
 The only other Democrat to represent this district since the Harry Truman administration, Lynn Schenk, was toppled by Bilbray in the 1994 Republican wave.

Davis introduced a federal version of the California OB/Gyn law she authored at the start of every Congress from 2001 to 2009.
 Provisions of her OB/Gyn bill were included in the health care reform bill enacted into law.

In 2011, Davis voted for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 as part of a controversial provision that allows the government and the military to indefinitely detain American citizens and others without trial.

Davis is a member of the New Democrat Coalition and portrays herself as working across party lines.
She serves on the House Armed Services Committee.
She also serves on the Education and Workforce Committee, where she is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development.

In 2012, Davis filed a lawsuit to recover over $150,000 in campaign funds from her former campaign treasurer, Kinde Durkee.
Durkee was later sentenced to eight years in prison for fraud after pleading guilty to stealing seven million dollars from more than fifty people.

In September 4, 2019, Davis announced that she will not seek re-election in 2020.
In 2000, Davis challenged three-term Republican incumbent Brian Bilbray in what was then the 49th District, winning with 50 percent of the vote. Her district was renumbered the 53rd District after the 2000 Census redistricting and made somewhat more Democratic than its predecessor. She has been reelected eight times since then without much difficulty. She is the first Democrat to represent what is now the 53rd district for more than one term in over half a century.  The only other Democrat to represent this district since the Harry Truman administration, Lynn Schenk, was toppled by Bilbray in the 1994 Republican wave.
Davis introduced a federal version of the California OB/Gyn law she authored at the start of every Congress from 2001 to 2009.  Provisions of her OB/Gyn bill were included in the health care reform bill enacted into law.
In 2011, Davis voted for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 as part of a controversial provision that allows the government and the military to indefinitely detain American citizens and others without trial.
Davis is a member of the New Democrat Coalition and portrays herself as working across party lines. She serves on the House Armed Services Committee. She also serves on the Education and Workforce Committee, where she is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development.
In 2012, Davis filed a lawsuit to recover over $150,000 in campaign funds from her former campaign treasurer, Kinde Durkee. Durkee was later sentenced to eight years in prison for fraud after pleading guilty to stealing seven million dollars from more than fifty people.
In September 4, 2019, Davis announced that she will not seek re-election in 2020.
Susan Davis (politician)