Mervyn M. Dymally

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (born May 12, 1926 in Cedros, Trinidad and Tobago) is a California Democratic politician of mixed Indian and Afro-Trinidadian heritage. 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). After a 10-year retirement, he returned to politics to serve in the California State Assembly (2002-2008). Dymally was the first Trinidadian to serve as Lieutenant Governor of California. He also served as the first Trinidadian in the California State Senate prior to his time as lieutenant governor. As a member of the House of Representatives, he was one of the first persons of African and Indian origin to serve in the U.S. Congress. Along with George L. Brown of Colorado, who was also elected a lieutenant governor in 1974, Dymally was one of the two first blacks elected to any statewide office in any state since Reconstruction (Oscar Dunn of Louisiana was the first black elected lieutenant governor).