Gary Condit
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Image:GaryCondit.jpg Gary Adrian Condit (born April 21, 1948) is an American politician, a fiscally and socially conservative "Blue Dog" Democrat who served in the House of Representatives from 1989 to 2003. Condit represented the California's 18th congressional district, the northern San Joaquin Valley (when he was first elected, this district was the 15th District; it became the 18th district after redistricting following the 1990 census). He has been married to Carolyn Condit, a Roman Catholic, since 1967; they have 2 children.
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[edit] Early life and career
Condit was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His father was a Free Will Baptist minister. As an adult, Condit came with his wife and son to the San Joaquin Valley in the late 1960s. He graduated California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock, California. After a brief stint in a public relations business, Condit was elected to the Ceres City Council.
In 1974, Condit was elected mayor of Ceres, and from 1976 to 1982 was a member of the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors.
In 1982, he was elected to the California State Assembly. While a member of the assembly, Condit was a member of the "Gang of Five." At the time, the Democrats (led by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown) held a 44-36 majority in the Assembly. It was rumored that the Gang of Five sought to ally with the Republicans, thereby setting up a 41-39 majority, and elect one of themselves as speaker, but this rumored effort failed.
Condit was elected to Congress in a 1989 special election, after House Democratic Whip Tony Coelho resigned in disgrace. His most important committee assignment was as a senior member on the House Intelligence Commitee in the months and years prior to the 9/11 terror attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.
[edit] Chandra Levy's disappearance
In May 2001, Condit became the subject of national news coverage, after the disappearance of Chandra Levy, a Washington, D.C. intern originally from Condit's district. Condit admitted having an affair with Levy. <ref>http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/07/07/condit.missing.intern/</ref>
While Condit was never an official suspect in the disappearance, Levy's family (and subsequently the national media) suspected that Condit was withholding important information about the intern's disappearance. Suspicion was deepened when Condit tried to avoid answering direct questions during a televised interview with news anchor Connie Chung on August 23, 2001. This followed news reports that Condit had an affair with flight attendant, Anne Marie Smith .<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,29355,00.html</ref>
He faded from the news following 9/11, only to reappear during his announcement to run for an eighth term on December 7.
Condit lost the primary elections in March 2002 to his former aide, then-Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza, and left Congress at the end of his term in January 2003.
After an extensive search, Levy's remains were discovered a year after her disappearance by a man hunting for turtles with his dog in a secluded area of Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. In May 2002 a medical examiner officially declared that Levy's death was the result of homicide. The case remains unsolved.
[edit] Post congressional career
[edit] Lawsuits
In March 2005, a settlement for an undisclosed amount of cash was reached between Condit and Vanity Fair writer Dominick Dunne.
Condit initiated the suit against Dunne in a New York federal court in late 2002 for $11 million, claiming that statements made by Dunne about Condit slandered him. The comments indicated that Condit ordered the death of missing Modesto intern Chandra Levy in 2001. Condit's attorney said the defamation lawsuit was based on comments Dunne repeated on national radio and television programs in December 2001 where he suggested Condit frequented Middle Eastern embassies for sexual activity with prostitutes, and during those times, he made it clear that he wanted someone to get rid of Chandra Levy. Wood said that Dunne's comments "conveyed that Gary Condit was involved in her kidnapping and in her murder, that friends of Gary Condit's had her kidnapped, put in an airplane and dropped in the Atlantic Ocean." <ref>http://www.mantecabulletin.com/articles/2005/03/17/ceres/local_news/news05.txt</ref>
In July 2006, Condit sued Sonoran News, a free weekly circular, for defamation of character, after the publication wrote "that Condit was the 'main focus in the Chandra Levy case in 2001, after lying to investigators about his affair with Levy.'" <ref>http://www.modbee.com/local/story/12498935p-13215088c.html</ref>
[edit] Ice cream shop
Following his congressional career, Condit moved to Arizona. In February 2005 Condit started a Baskin Robbins ice cream shop franchise with his wife and children. In March 2006, Baskin Robbins revoked the franchising agreement, claiming the Condits owed them $14,221.29. <ref>http://www.modbee.com/local/story/12498935p-13215088c.html</ref>
[edit] Trivia
- Condit appeared in the 1988 film Return of the Killer Tomatoes, as an unbilled, unspeaking pizzeria patron during a fight sequence. Condit was friends with co-writer/producer Stephen Peace, and both were members of the California State Assembly at the time. Wearing a trucker cap, he smashes a bottle on the head of a cowboy. <ref>http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/condit1.html</ref>
- On December 12, 2001, Condit was the subject of a satirical episode of the animated series South Park, called "Butters' Very Own Episode". In the episode, he is severely ridiculed for his lack of forthrightness concerning Levy's disappearance and is categorized together with suspected murderers John and Patsy Ramsey and O.J. Simpson.
- On January 10, 2006, the California Fair Political Practices Commission filed a $2 million USD suit against Condit's son and daughter, alleging violations of the Political Reform Act. <ref>http://www.fppc.ca.gov/index.html?id=48&show=detail&prid=609</ref>
- Condit's children have been known to refer to their father by his first name instead of the traditional "Dad". This has happened most notably in interviews on Larry King Live.
[edit] References
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[edit] External links
- Official Congressional biography
- Condit's Profile on CNN
- Voting record maintained by the Washington Post
| Preceded by: Tony Coelho | United States Representative for the 15th Congressional District of California 1989–1993 | Succeeded by: Norman Y. Mineta |
| Preceded by: Richard H. Lehman | United States Representative for the 18th Congressional District of California 1993–2003 | Succeeded by: Dennis Cardoza |
