GARY CONDIT
Name: Gary Adrian Condit
Born: 21 April 1948 Salina, Oklahoma
Gary Adrian Condit (born April 21, 1948) is an American politician, a Democrat
who served in the House of Representatives from 1989 to 2003. Condit represented
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 is most noted for
having an affair with murder victim Chandra Levy.
Condit was born in Woodland Junction, Oklahoma to Jean and Adrian Condit. His
father was a Free Will Baptist minister. He has two brothers, Burl and Darrell,
and a sister, Dovie Condit Wilson. When Condit was 14, his family moved to
Tulsa. He attended Nathan Hale High School where he met pep squad member Carolyn
Berry; they married on January 18, 1967. Carolyn is a Roman Catholic.
Their son, Chad, was born in July 1967. Daughter Cadee P. Condit was born in
1975 in California.
Condit came with his wife and young son to the San Joaquin Valley in the late
1960s, following his father. Rev. Condit had moved to California in search of a
new congregation, eventually becoming pastor of the Village Chapel Free Will
Baptist Church, about 100 miles from San Francisco.
Condit graduated California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock in 1972.
After a brief time with 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, Condit was elected to the California State Assembly. His campaign theme
was "A Good Example." While a member of the assembly, Condit was a member of
the "Gang of Five," a small caucus of Blue Dog Democrats. At the time, the
Democrats (led by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown) held a 44-36 majority in the
Assembly. The Gang of Five threatened to ally with the Republicans, thereby
setting up a 41-39 majority, and elect one of themselves as speaker, but this
effort failed when Republican Assemblyman Richard Longshore died, making it
impossible to get an immediate Republican total over 40 in the 80-seat Assembly.
(see "Gang of Five" below)
During his days in the California state legislature, Condit assured voters he
did not drink or smoke, but was known as a "flamboyant party boy" in the state
capitol, "with a busy social life" out of sight of his constituents.
Condit was elected to Congress in a 1989 special election, after House
Democratic Whip Tony Coelho resigned. His most important committee assignment
was as a senior member on the House Intelligence Committee in the months and
years prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.
According to Salon, Condit voted against President Bill Clinton most frequently
of all Congressional Democrats. In 1998, during the Monica Lewinsky scandal,
Condit publicly demanded that Clinton "come clean" on his relationship with the
young woman; this demand would become part of a film clip aired often during
Condit's own sex scandal.
In May 2001, Condit became the subject of national news coverage after the April
30 disappearance of Chandra Levy, a young woman working as a Washington, D.C.
intern originally from Condit's district. Police questioned him twice, and
Condit denied having an affair with her; however, after Levy's aunt went public
with conversations she had had with her missing niece about the adulterous
liaison, police questioned him a third time, and Condit confessed to the
relationship. When the affair began, Condit was 53 and Levy was 23.
While Condit was not named as 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. Public
interest was very high, and Condit's reputation suffered not just from the
contrast between his "pro-family" politics versus his adultery with a woman two
years younger than his daughter, and his attempts to mislead the police, but in
particular, from an incident in July, two months after Levy vanished, in which
Condit was caught trying to hide a gift box in a dumpster in one of Washington's
Virginia suburbs.
Suspicion deepened when Condit tried to avoid answering direct questions during
a televised interview with news anchor Connie Chung on August 23. This followed
news reports that Condit had an affair with flight attendant Anne Marie Smith.
Condit disappeared from the news after 9/11. Despite the allegations against him,
Condit was allowed to keep his seat on the Intelligence Committee, and he did
not lose his security clearance. Condit was one of just a handful of members of
Congress who were cleared to see the most sensitive information on the attacks.
On December 7, he announced he would run for re-election. He lost the primary
election in March 2002 to his former aide, then-Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza, and
left Congress at the end of his term in January 2003. (See "Trivia" below) It
was the first election Condit ever lost. Condit's most notable vote in his
last months in office was the House of Representatives resolution to expel
Congressman James Traficant after his conviction on corruption charges. In the
420-1 vote on July 24, 2002, Gary Condit was the sole "nay."
After an extensive search, Levy's remains were discovered May 22, 2002, by a man
hunting for turtles with his dog in a secluded area of Rock Creek Park in
Washington, D.C. That month, a medical examiner officially declared that Levy's
death was the result of homicide. The case remains unsolved.
Name: Gary Adrian Condit
Born: 21 April 1948 Salina, Oklahoma
Gary Adrian Condit (born April 21, 1948) is an American politician, a Democrat
who served in the House of Representatives from 1989 to 2003. Condit represented
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 is most noted for
having an affair with murder victim Chandra Levy.
Condit was born in Woodland Junction, Oklahoma to Jean and Adrian Condit. His
father was a Free Will Baptist minister. He has two brothers, Burl and Darrell,
and a sister, Dovie Condit Wilson. When Condit was 14, his family moved to
Tulsa. He attended Nathan Hale High School where he met pep squad member Carolyn
Berry; they married on January 18, 1967. Carolyn is a Roman Catholic.
Their son, Chad, was born in July 1967. Daughter Cadee P. Condit was born in
1975 in California.
Condit came with his wife and young son to the San Joaquin Valley in the late
1960s, following his father. Rev. Condit had moved to California in search of a
new congregation, eventually becoming pastor of the Village Chapel Free Will
Baptist Church, about 100 miles from San Francisco.
Condit graduated California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock in 1972.
After a brief time with 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, Condit was elected to the California State Assembly. His campaign theme
was "A Good Example." While a member of the assembly, Condit was a member of
the "Gang of Five," a small caucus of Blue Dog Democrats. At the time, the
Democrats (led by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown) held a 44-36 majority in the
Assembly. The Gang of Five threatened to ally with the Republicans, thereby
setting up a 41-39 majority, and elect one of themselves as speaker, but this
effort failed when Republican Assemblyman Richard Longshore died, making it
impossible to get an immediate Republican total over 40 in the 80-seat Assembly.
(see "Gang of Five" below)
During his days in the California state legislature, Condit assured voters he
did not drink or smoke, but was known as a "flamboyant party boy" in the state
capitol, "with a busy social life" out of sight of his constituents.
Condit was elected to Congress in a 1989 special election, after House
Democratic Whip Tony Coelho resigned. His most important committee assignment
was as a senior member on the House Intelligence Committee in the months and
years prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.
According to Salon, Condit voted against President Bill Clinton most frequently
of all Congressional Democrats. In 1998, during the Monica Lewinsky scandal,
Condit publicly demanded that Clinton "come clean" on his relationship with the
young woman; this demand would become part of a film clip aired often during
Condit's own sex scandal.
In May 2001, Condit became the subject of national news coverage after the April
30 disappearance of Chandra Levy, a young woman working as a Washington, D.C.
intern originally from Condit's district. Police questioned him twice, and
Condit denied having an affair with her; however, after Levy's aunt went public
with conversations she had had with her missing niece about the adulterous
liaison, police questioned him a third time, and Condit confessed to the
relationship. When the affair began, Condit was 53 and Levy was 23.
While Condit was not named as 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. Public
interest was very high, and Condit's reputation suffered not just from the
contrast between his "pro-family" politics versus his adultery with a woman two
years younger than his daughter, and his attempts to mislead the police, but in
particular, from an incident in July, two months after Levy vanished, in which
Condit was caught trying to hide a gift box in a dumpster in one of Washington's
Virginia suburbs.
Suspicion deepened when Condit tried to avoid answering direct questions during
a televised interview with news anchor Connie Chung on August 23. This followed
news reports that Condit had an affair with flight attendant Anne Marie Smith.
Condit disappeared from the news after 9/11. Despite the allegations against him,
Condit was allowed to keep his seat on the Intelligence Committee, and he did
not lose his security clearance. Condit was one of just a handful of members of
Congress who were cleared to see the most sensitive information on the attacks.
On December 7, he announced he would run for re-election. He lost the primary
election in March 2002 to his former aide, then-Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza, and
left Congress at the end of his term in January 2003. (See "Trivia" below) It
was the first election Condit ever lost. Condit's most notable vote in his
last months in office was the House of Representatives resolution to expel
Congressman James Traficant after his conviction on corruption charges. In the
420-1 vote on July 24, 2002, Gary Condit was the sole "nay."
After an extensive search, Levy's remains were discovered May 22, 2002, by a man
hunting for turtles with his dog in a secluded area of Rock Creek Park in
Washington, D.C. That month, a medical examiner officially declared that Levy's
death was the result of homicide. The case remains unsolved.