Mervyn Dymally
Official portrait, 2008
Member of theCalifornia State Assembly from the52nd district
In office December 7, 2002 – December 1, 2008
Preceded by	Carl Washington
Succeeded by	Isadore Hall III
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's31st district
In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1993
Preceded by	Charles H. Wilson
Succeeded by	Walter R. Tucker III (redistricted)
41stLieutenant 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 theCalifornia Senate from the29th district
In office January 2, 1967 – January 6, 1975
Preceded by	Vernon Sturgeon
Succeeded by	Bill Greene
Member of theCalifornia State Assembly from the53rd 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
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 fromCalifornia. ADemocrat, he served in theCalifornia State Assembly (1963–1966) and theCalifornia State Senate (1967–1975), as the 41stlieutenant governor of California (1975–1979), and in theU.S. House of Representatives (1981–1993). Dymally returned to politics a decade later to again serve in the California State Assembly (2003–2008).^[1]

Dymally was the second African-American to hold statewide office in California, followingWilson Riles, who served asCalifornia Superintendent of Public Instruction starting in 1971.

Born inCedros,Trinidad and Tobago, Dymally first received his secondary education atNaparima College before transferring to Saint Benedict's College, both inSan Fernando. He is ofDougla (mixedAfrican andIndian) descent.^[2][3]

He moved to the United States to study journalism atLincoln University inJefferson City, Missouri. After a semester there, he moved to the greaterLos Angeles area to attendChapman University, and completed a Bachelor of Arts in education atCalifornia State University, Los Angeles in 1954.^[2] Dymally became a member ofKappa Alpha Psi fraternity in 1949.^[4] Dymally became a U.S. citizen in 1957.^[5]

In 1969, while serving in theCalifornia State Legislature, he earned a master's degree in government fromCalifornia State University, Sacramento. Dymally earned his doctorate in human behavior fromUnited States International University (later merged intoAlliant International University) inSan Diego .^[2]

Dymally was first elected to the California State Assembly, the lower house of the state Legislature, in 1962, from District 53; he was re-elected in 1964.

He was elected to the California State Senate, the Legislature's upper house, in 1966; initially for a two-year term. TheU.S. Supreme Court had ruled that state legislatures must reapportion their upper houses on the basis of population; in the process in California, the even-numbered districts elected their senators for full four-year terms in 1966. As Dymally was in District 29, he had to run again in 1968; he won and was re-elected in 1972.

In1974, Dymally was elected lieutenant governor (49.2%-46.3%) overRepublican incumbentJohn L. Harmer, who had just been appointed to fill a vacancy in the office a month earlier and until then had been Dymally's colleague in the state Senate.

Dymally was the firstTrinidadian to serve California as a state senator and as lieutenant governor.He andGeorge L. Brown ofColorado became the first twoAfrican Americans elected to the office of lieutenant governor sinceOscar Dunn did so inLouisiana duringReconstruction.^[6]

In the tightly contested race for lieutenant governor in1978, Dymally's bid for re-election was derailed when Michael Franchetti, an aide to State SenatorGeorge Deukmejian, floated a false rumor that Dymally was about to beindicted. The story, coming days before the election, harmed the Dymally campaign, and Dymally lost to RepublicanMike Curb.

Franchetti later said that the source of the rumor was aLos 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 broadcasterBill Stout, who announced it as fact on Los Angeles radio stationKNX (AM) and its CBS affiliates. (Stout's wife worked for Curb.)^[8] Then-Attorney GeneralEvelle J. Younger filed a letter of reprimand in Franchetti's personnel records, accusing him of a breach of responsibility.^[7]

Dymally was an old friend ofPeoples Temple founderJim Jones.^[9] When Jones decided to move his congregation toJonestown,Guyana, Dymally "wrote theGuyanese prime minister [Forbes Burnham] to reassure him that Jones was an upstanding citizen."^[9] The Jonestown compound would be the site of themass suicide of over 900 people on November 18, 1978.^[9]

In 1980, two years after losing the lieutenant governorship, Dymally ran for Congress inDistrict 31, against former U.S. representativeMark W. Hannaford (who had served two terms in a nearby district) and 18-year incumbentCharles H. Wilson, who had been reprimanded by his U.S. House colleagues for financial misconduct in theKoreagate scandal. Dymally won the primary with 49% of the vote, to 24% for Hannaford and just 15% for Wilson; he went on to defeatRepublican Don Grimshaw in the general election, 64%-36%. He was one of the first persons ofDougla (mixed African and Indian) origin to serve in Congress.

In 1983 Dymally joined with seven other U.S. representatives to sponsor a resolution toimpeach Ronald Reagan over his sudden and unexpectedinvasion of Grenada.^[10] He retired in 1992, after six terms in Congress.

In the 1990s, Dymally served as a paid lobbyist for the country ofMauritania, attempting to present the country as engaged in abolishing every remnant ofslavery.^[11]

Dymally came out of retirement and returned to the State Assembly in 2002 when Assemblyman Carl Washington wasterm limited. He served for six years and then, himself term-limited, ran to return to the State Senate in 2008. At 82, he was defeated in the Senate primary byRod Wright.

Dymally died in Los Angeles and is buried atHoly Cross Cemetery inCulver City.^[12][13]

Mervyn M. Dymally High School, at 88th and San Pedro streets inSouth Central Los Angeles and part of theLos 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 theWashington Post
• Appearances onC-SPAN
• Join California Mervyn M. Dymally
• Mervyn Dymally atFind a Grave

• 1926 births
• 2012 deaths
• 20th-century African-American politicians
• 20th-century United States representatives
• 21st-century African-American politicians
• 21st-century members of the California State Legislature
• African-American United States representatives
• African-American state legislators in California
• 20th-century American memoirists
• American people of Indian descent
• American politicians of Indian descent
• Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City
• California Democrats
• California politicians of Indian descent
• California State University, Sacramento alumni
• Democratic Party California state senators
• Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly
• Democratic Party United States representatives from California
• Lieutenant governors of California
• Lincoln University (Missouri) alumni
• Members of the United States Congress who became lobbyists
• Members of the United States Congress of Indian descent
• United States representatives of Asian descent
• People educated at Naparima College
• People from Siparia region
• Politicians from Compton, California
• Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United States
• Trinidad and Tobago politicians of Indian descent
• United States International University alumni

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• People appearing on C-SPAN