Eric Seastrand (February 7, 1938 – June 20, 1990) was an American businessman and politician from California and a member of the Republican Party. Born in

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

, Seastrand served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. He graduated from

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

and was a stockbroker.

Political career

Seastrand first ran for elective office in 1978, when he challenged freshman Democratic Rep.

Leon Panetta Leon Edward Panetta (born June 28, 1938) is an American retired politician and government official who has served under several Democratic administrations as secretary of defense (2011–2013), director of the CIA (2009–2011), White House chi ...

in the Monterey-based 16th district. Although the seat had been held by a Republican prior to Panetta's victory, Seastrand was only able to score 38.6% of the vote. In 1980, he ran for an open seat in the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. ...

(then held by Republican Bob Nimmo) but narrowly lost to Democratic assemblyman Henry Mello 48.5% to 48.1%. In 1982 Seastrand won election to the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

from the Salinas-San Luis Obispo-based 29th district, succeeding Republican Carol Boyd Hallett. He served from 1982 until his death from cancer in 1990. His wife,

Andrea Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...

, was elected in a special election to succeed him in the legislature and later served one term in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

(1995-97).Eric Seastrand-JoinCalifornia.com
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Electoral history

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seastrand, Eric 1938 births 1990 deaths Politicians from Fresno, California People from Salinas, California Military personnel from California San Jose State University alumni Businesspeople from California Republican Party members of the California State Assembly 20th-century American businesspeople Deaths from cancer in California 20th-century members of the California State Legislature