There were two special elections in 1979 to the United States House of Representatives in the 96th United States Congress. Both of them were won by Republicans, filling seats that were vacant since the January 3, 1979 beginning of the term.
Elections are listed by date and district.
| District | Incumbent | This race | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Party | First elected | Results | Candidates | |
| California 11 | Leo Ryan | Democratic | 1972 | Incumbent member-elect was murdered November 18, 1978. New member elected April 3, 1979. Republican gain. |
|
| Wisconsin 6 | William A. Steiger | Republican | 1966 | Incumbent member-elect died December 4, 1978. New member elected April 3, 1979. Republican hold. [2] |
|
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 population of 524,943 makes it the fourth-most populous city in Northern California, sixth-most populous city in the state, and the ninth-most populous state capital in the United States. Sacramento is the seat of the California Legislature and the Governor of California.
The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, better known by its informal name "Jonestown", was a remote settlement in Guyana established by the Peoples Temple, an American cult under the leadership of Jim Jones. Jonestown became internationally infamous when, on November 18, 1978, a total of 918 people died at the settlement, at the nearby airstrip in Port Kaituma, and at a Temple-run building in Georgetown, Guyana's capital city. The name of the settlement became synonymous with the incidents at those locations.
Leo Joseph Ryan Jr. was an American teacher and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the U.S. representative from California's 11th congressional district from 1973 until his assassination just prior to the Jonestown massacre in 1978. Before that, he served in the California State Assembly, representing the state's 27th district.
Robert Takeo Matsui was an American politician from the state of California. Matsui was a member of the Democratic Party and served in the U.S. House of Representatives as the congressman for California's 5th congressional district from 1979 until his death at the end of his 13th term.
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Mervyn Malcolm Dymally 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).
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Wisconsin Referendum 1 of 2006 was a referendum on an amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution that would invalidate same-sex marriages or any substantially similar legal status. The referendum was approved by 59% of voters during the general elections in November 2006. All counties in the state voted for the amendment except Dane County, which opposed it. The constitutional amendment created by Referendum 1 has been effectively nullified since June 26, 2015, when the United States Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that state-level bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional.
Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People details the life and ultimate demise of Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple. Written by journalist Tim Reiterman, the book reviews the history of the Peoples Temple. The book includes numerous interviews, audio tapes and documents among its hundreds of sources.
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The 2016 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. Republican nominee Donald Trump defeated Democratic former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, while Republicans retained control of Congress. This marked the first and most recent time Republicans won or held unified control of the presidency and Congress since 2004.
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The 1996 UC Davis football team represented the University of California, Davis as an independent during the 1996 NCAA Division II football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Bob Biggs, UC Davis compiled an overall record of 8–5. 1996 was the 27th consecutive winning season for the Aggies. UC Davis was ranked No. 17 in the NCAA Division II poll at the end of the regular season and advanced to the NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs, where they upset top-ranked Texas A&M–Kingsville in Kingsville, Texas in the first round. In the quarterfinals, the Aggies upset ninth-ranked Central Oklahoma at home. In the semifinals, they were defeated by sixth-ranked Carson–Newman in Jefferson City, Tennessee. The team outscored its opponents 369 to 240 for the season. The Aggies played home games at Toomey Field in Davis, California.
The 2022 California State Controller election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the California State Controller. Due to strict absolute lifetime term limit laws, incumbent Democratic State Controller Betty Yee was ineligible to run for a third term. Democrat Malia Cohen won the election, defeating Republican Lanhee Chen. Despite Chen's loss, the race was the closest of the 2022 elections in California, and Chen received more votes than any Republican candidate in the 2022 national election cycle. Chen flipped ten counties, the most that any candidate had flipped in California that year. Chen also won four congressional districts held by Democrats, while Cohen won no congressional districts held by Republicans.
John Duarte is an American politician, businessman, nurseryman, and pistachio farmer. A member of the Republican Party, he has served as the U.S. representative for California's 13th congressional district since 2023.
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The 1979 United States elections were held on November 6, 1979. This off-year election primarily involved local, state, and congressional elections.
Published in The Sacramento Bee on 9/15/2004.
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