Mervyn Dymally

Mervyn Dymally
Member of the California State Assembly from the 52nd district
In office December 7, 2002 – December 1, 2008
Preceded by	Carl Washington
Succeeded by	Isadore Hall III
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	Walter R. Tucker III (redistricted)
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 January 2, 1967 – January 6, 1975
Preceded by	Vernon Sturgeon
Succeeded by	Bill Greene
Member of the California State Assembly from the 53rd district
In office January 7, 1963 – January 2, 1967
Preceded by	Montivel Burke
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	California State University, Los Angeles (BA) California State University, Sacramento (MA) United States International University (PhD)

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (May 12, 1926 – October 7, 2012) was an American politician from California. He served in the California State Assembly (1963–1966) and the California State Senate (1967–1975) as the 41st lieutenant governor of California (1975–1979) and in the U.S. House of Representatives (1981–1993). Dymally returned to politics a decade later to serve in the California State Assembly (2003–2008).^[1]

Dymally was the first Trinidadian to serve California as state senator and lieutenant governor. He was one of the first persons of Dougla (mixed African and Indian) origin to serve in the U.S. Congress.

In 1974, he and George L. Brown became among the first African Americans elected to statewide state 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.

Born in Cedros, Trinidad and Tobago, Dymally first received his secondary education at Naparima College before transferring to Saint Benedict's College, both in San Fernando. He is of Dougla (mixed African and Indian) descent.^[3][4]

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.^[5] Dymally became a U.S. citizen in 1957.^[6]

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 (later merged into Alliant International University) in San Diego .^[3]

In the tightly contested race for lieutenant 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.^[7] The report was passed to Curb's office with the rumor part erased, after which it moved to broadcaster Bill Stout who announced it as fact on Los Angeles radio station KNX (AM) and its CBS affiliates. (Stout's wife worked for Curb.)^[8] Then-Attorney General Younger filed a letter of reprimand in Franchetti's personnel records, accusing him of a breach of responsibility.^[7]

Dymally was an old friend of Peoples Temple founder Jim Jones.^[9] 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."^[9] The Jonestown compound would be the site of the mass suicide of over 900 people on November 18, 1978.^[9]

In 1983 he joined with seven other Congressional Representatives to sponsor a resolution to impeach Ronald Reagan over his sudden and unexpected invasion of Grenada.^[10]

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.^[11]

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 ran for 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.^[12][13]

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.

• List of African-American United States representatives
• List of Asian Americans and Pacific Islands Americans in the United States Congress
• List of minority governors and lieutenant governors in the United States

• United States Congress. "Mervyn Dymally (id: D000592)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Voting record from the Washington Post
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Join California Mervyn M. Dymally
• Mervyn Dymally at Find a Grave