Lynn Schenk is a lawyer and politician who served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives as a congresswoman from San Diego. She also served as Chief of Staff to Gray Davis during his entire tenure as Governor of California. The collection consists mostly of material from these offices, including subject files, correspondence, and administrative records. There is also material relating to several political campaigns, including Schenk's own, the 2003 gubernatorial recall, and the 2004 presidential race.

Lynn Schenk was born on January 5, 1945 in the Bronx, New York. The daughter of immigrants from Eastern Europe, she and her family moved westward, finally settling in Los Angeles. Schenk received a BA from UCLA, and then earned her law degree at the University of San Diego. Politically and socially active, in 1972 she co-founded the Lawyers Club of San Diego as an organization to support female lawyers and to advocate for women's rights in general. In 1975, she was appointed a White House Fellow and worked for three years in the Office of the Vice President. In 1992, she ran for the U.S. Congress in a newly created district that encompassed most of San Diego. When she won, she became the first woman ever elected to the House of Representatives from the city, and the first Democrat in forty years. Though she lost her reelection bid in 1994, she remained active in Democratic and California politics. In 1998, governor-elect Gray Davis asked her to serve as his Chief of Staff, and she remained in that role until Davis was recalled in 2003.

21.0 linear feet (21 record cartons)

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