John Francis Seymour Jr. (born December 3, 1937) is an American retired politician who served as a

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

from 1991 to 1992. A member of the Republican Party, he was appointed to continue

Pete Wilson Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 36th governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as a United States senator from California betw ...

's term but lost the

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

to finish it to Democratic candidate and former San Francisco Mayor

Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she wa ...

. As of 2022, he is the most recent member of the Republican Party to serve as a U.S. Senator from

. Seymour was also the last U.S. Senator from

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

until

Alex Padilla Alejandro Padilla ( ; born March 22, 1973) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from California since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Padilla served as the 30th secretary of state of California from 201 ...

took office on January 20, 2021, replacing

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

when she was inaugurated as

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

Life and career

Born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Seymour attended public schools in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. He served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

from 1955 to 1959 and graduated from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

in 1962. Seymour was the President of the California Association of Realtors from 1978 to 1982, and worked in the real estate business from 1962 to 1981. Seymour served Anaheim as a member of its

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

from 1974 to 1978, as the 39th Mayor of Anaheim from 1978 to 1982, and as a State Senator from 1982 to 1991. In the California Senate, he voted to ban assault weapons, to outlaw discrimination against people with AIDS, and to increase spending for social programs including education and mental health benefits. As Mayor of Anaheim, Seymour was instrumental in recruiting the Los Angeles Rams to move to

Anaheim Stadium Angel Stadium of Anaheim is a baseball stadium located in Anaheim, California. Since its opening in 1966, it has served as the home ballpark of the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB), and was also the home stadium to the Los Angel ...

. In 1991, Seymour was appointed to the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

to serve in the seat Wilson had vacated to become governor. Seymour's appointment lasted until the 1992 special election to select a replacement who would serve until the normal expiration of Wilson's term in 1995. Former San Francisco Mayor

defeated Seymour in the special election. After his Senate term, Seymour served as director of the California Housing Finance Agency for two years, and later served as CEO of the nonprofit Southern California Housing Development Corporation and on the boards of directors of several housing-related companies including

IndyMac Bank IndyMac, a contraction of Independent National Mortgage Corporation, was an American bank based in California that failed in 2008 and was seized by the United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Before its failure, IndyMac Ban ...

, Orange Coast Title Insurance, Los Angeles Federal Savings Bank, and Irvine Apartment Communities. Seymour currently lives in

San Marcos, California San Marcos ( ; Spanish for " St. Mark") is a city in the North County region of San Diego County, California. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 94,833. It is the site of California State University San Marcos. The city is borde ...

References

Retrieved on 2008-03-31

External links

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Join California John Seymour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seymour, John F. 1937 births Living people Republican Party California state senators Mayors of Anaheim, California Military personnel from Illinois People from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania Politicians from Chicago United States Marines Republican Party United States senators from California 20th-century American politicians

Life and career

See also

References

External links