Former lawmaker favored to win California House race once held by late Rep. Lantos

[Judi Lynn]

Source: International Herald Tribune/Associated Press

Former lawmaker favored to win California House race once held by late Rep. Lantos
The Associated Press
Published: April 6, 2008

SACRAMENTO, Calif.: A former congressional aide may be heading back to Washington, nearly 30 years after she was shot and left for dead on a Guyana airstrip while on a fact-finding trip into the Jim Jones cult.

Democrat Jackie Speier is the favorite to win a special election Tuesday to fill the House seat left vacant by the death of Rep. Tom Lantos, a San Mateo Democrat.

It is her second try for the seat once held by her boss, Rep. Leo Ryan, who was killed by Jones' henchmen in the same 1978 attack that seriously wounded Speier.

Ryan had gone to Guyana to investigate reports that Jones was holding followers against their will at his Jonestown compound in the small South American nation. Four other people died at the air strip with Ryan, and that same night Jones and 912 of his followers died in a mass murder-suicide, most by drinking cyanide-laced grape punch.



Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/06/america/Congress-California.php

---

Jackie Speier's the speaker

[pfitz59]

1. Tough woman

she'll probably win

[amihol]

2. Well

Do you think so? And why are you so sure?

[pacalo]

9. The word "probably" doesn't equate to the word "sure", does it?

[Book Lover]

13. Well, she is the anointed one,

so it's a safe bet.

[Judi Lynn]

4. That seems to be the way it looks, knock on wood! n/t

[Judi Lynn]

3. Here's the Wikipedia on Jackie Speier:

Karen Lorraine Jacqueline Speier,<1> usually known as Jackie Speier (born May 14, 1950), is a former Democratic member of the California State Senate who represented parts of San Francisco and San Mateo Counties. She is currently running for the vacated United States House of Representatives seat of late Congressman Tom Lantos.

Early life
Speier was born in 1950 in San Francisco and grew up in an apolitical, working-class family. She took Jacqueline as her confirmation name after Jackie Kennedy.<2> She is a graduate of Mercy High School in Burlingame. She earned a B.A. from the University of California, Davis, and a J.D. from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in 1976.<3> Speier is of Armenian descent, and has a Jewish grandfather who fled Nazi Germany.<4>


Congressional aide
Main article: Leo Ryan
Speier served as a congressional staffer for Congressman Leo Ryan. Speier was part of the November 1978, fact-finding mission to investigate allegations of human rights abuses by the Reverend Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple followers in Jonestown.<2> While the investigative team was boarding the plane to leave on November 18, they were fired at by Jones' followers. Five people died, including Ryan. Speier was shot five times, waited for 22 hours for help to arrive and survived.<5> That same day many of the remaining members of Jim Jones' cult committed mass suicide/murder. Over 900 people died that day and it remains the most numerous cult mass suicide and murder (as some victims were children and others were forced to participate). The investigative trip was initiated by the father of a child member as well as other concerned family members.

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Speier

Be sure to check the last section, under "Candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives"

[aquart]

6. Armenian, Jewish, and a victim of the Jonestown Massacre.

That is one horrific cosmic confluence.

Can't wait to see her voting record.

[NBachers]

12. Jackie is Good

I've lived in San Francisco for a long time, and kept an eye on her. I have only good things to say about Jackie Speier.

[jaysunb]

5. Great Lady & good Democrat

and still a "hottie."

Love ya J. couldn't resist. :rofl:


Show some love here: http://www.jackieforcongress.com/

[Garbo 2004]

7. Good for her. She spent many years in the CA Legislature & has support of party heavyweights.

On a personal level she's gone through some heavy stuff, not just Guyana.

[alittlelark]

10. Her husband Steven Sierra was an emergency room doctor

who was killed in a car accident a few years ago.

I remember that well....very sad.

[Auggie]

8. She'll be a good replacement for Lantos

She puts people first

[SaveAmerica]

11. This would not be the right thread to call someone a Kool-Aid drinker..