Mervyn Dymally

Mervyn Dymally
Member of the California State Assembly from the 53rd district
In office December 7, 2002 – December 1, 2008
Preceded by	Carl Washington
Succeeded by	Isadore Hall III
In office 1963–1967
Preceded by	Montivel Burke
Succeeded by	Bill Greene
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 31st district
In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1993
Preceded by	Charles H. Wilson
Succeeded by	Matthew G. Martínez
41st Lieutenant Governor of California
In office January 6, 1975 – January 8, 1979
Governor	Jerry Brown
Preceded by	John L. Harmer
Succeeded by	Mike Curb
Member of the California Senate from the 29th district
In office 1967–1975
Preceded by	Vernon Sturgeon
Succeeded by	Bill Greene
Personal details
Born	Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (1926-05-12)May 12, 1926 Cedros, Trinidad and Tobago
Died	October 7, 2012(2012-10-07) (aged 86) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Holy Cross Cemetery
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Amentha Wilkes Alice Gueno
Children	2
Education	Lincoln University, Missouri Chapman University California State University, Los Angeles (BA) California State University, Sacramento (MA) Alliant International University, San Diego (PhD)

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (May 12, 1926 – October 7, 2012) was a Democratic politician from California. He served in the California State Assembly (1963–66) and the California State Senate (1967–75), as the 41st Lieutenant Governor of California (1975–79), and in the U.S. House of Representatives (1981–93). Dymally returned to politics a decade later to serve in the California State Assembly (2003–08).^[1]

Dymally, of Dougla (mixed Indo-Trinidadian and Afro-Trinidadian) heritage, was the first Trinidadian to serve California as State Senator and Lieutenant Governor. He was one of the first persons of African and Indian origin to serve in the U.S. Congress.

In 1974 he and George L. Brown became the first two blacks elected to statewide office since Oscar Dunn did so during Reconstruction.^[2]

Dymally was the second African American to hold statewide office in California, following Wilson Riles who served as California Superintendent of Public Instruction starting in 1971.

Education

Dymally received his secondary education at St. Benedict and Naparima Secondary School located in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago.^[3]

He moved to the United States to study journalism at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. After a semester there he moved to the greater Los Angeles area to attend Chapman University, and completed a Bachelor of Arts in education at California State University, Los Angeles in 1954.^[3] Dymally became a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity in 1949.^[4]

In 1969, while serving in the California State Legislature, he earned a master's degree in government from California State University, Sacramento. Dymally earned his doctorate in human behavior from United States International University in San Diego (now Alliant International University).^[3]

Career

In the tightly contested race for Lt. Governor in 1978, Dymally's bid for re-election was derailed when Michael Franchetti, an aide to State Senator George Deukmejian, floated a false rumor that Dymally was about to be indicted. The story, coming days before the election, harmed the Dymally campaign, and Dymally lost to Republican Mike Curb. Franchetti later said that the source of the rumor was a Los Angeles Times reporter, who called the Justice Department trying to confirm its authenticity. Franchetti could not substantiate the rumor but included it in a report. The report was then passed to Dymally's opponent and later to a television reporter. Then-Attorney General Younger filed a letter of reprimand in Franchetti's personnel records, accusing him of a breach of responsibility.^[5]

Dymally was an old friend of Peoples Temple founder Jim Jones.^[6] When Jones decided to move his congregation to Jonestown, Guyana, Dymally "wrote the Guyanese prime minister to reassure him that Jones was an upstanding citizen."^[6] The Jonestown compound would be the site of the mass suicide of over 900 people on November 18, 1978.^[6]

In the 1990s Dymally served as a paid lobbyist for the country of Mauritania, attempting to present the country as engaged in abolishing every remnant of slavery.^[7]

Dymally came out of retirement and returned to the California State Assembly in 2002 when Assemblyman Carl Washington was term limited. He served for six years and then tried to return to the State Senate in 2008. However, he was defeated in the Democratic primary for State Senate election by Rod Wright. He died in Los Angeles and is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.^[8][9]

Mervyn M Dymally Senior High School at 88th street and San Pedro in South Central Los Angeles, part of the Los Angeles Unified School District is named in his honor.

See also

• List of African-American United States Representatives
• List of Asian Americans and Pacific Islands Americans in the United States Congress

References

External links

• United States Congress. "Mervyn Dymally (id: D000592)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Voting record from the Washington Post
• Appearances on C-SPAN