Schenk, Lynn, 1945-

Variant names

Dates:

Birth 1945-01-05

Gender:

Female

Nationality: Americans

Language: English

Biographical notes:

Lynn Alice Schenk (born January 5, 1945) is an American politician and lawyer from California. A member of the Democratic Party, she served one term in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995.

Born in the Bronx, she attended public schools in the Bronx and Los Angeles, and graduated from Hamilton High School. She received her B.A. from U.C.L.A. in 1967 and her J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1970. Schenk did post-graduate study in international law at the London School of Economics. In 1972, she helped to form the Lawyers Club of San Diego, which worked for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and on other women's rights issues, and married a University of San Diego law professor, C. Hugh Friedman. From 1972 to 1976, Schenk worked as an attorney for the San Diego Gas and Electric Company.

Schenk dove into politics when she received a prestigious position as a White House Fellow in 1976. She subsequently worked as a special assistant to Vice Presidents Nelson A. Rockefeller and Walter F. Mondale. The White House experience landed her a place in California Governor Jerry Brown’s cabinet. She held the position of deputy secretary for the California department of business, transportation, and housing from 1977 until 1980. In 1980, Lynn Schenk became the first woman secretary of that department, serving for three years. After an unsuccessful campaign for San Diego County supervisor in 1984, she returned to private law practice. Schenk worked as the California co–chair for the presidential campaign of Michael Dukakis in 1988. From 1990 to 1993, she served as a commissioner and vice chair of the San Diego unified port district. In her role as commissioner she was responsible for overseeing San Diego Bay, where she spearheaded environmental protection programs.

In 1992, Schenk won the Democratic nomination to run for Congress from California's 49th congressional district, covering most of San Diego. Redistricting after the 1990 U.S. Census had created an open seat in much of an area previously represented by six-term Republican incumbent Bill Lowery. Schenk won, becoming the first Democrat to represent the area in 40 years. During her time in Congress, Schenk attempted to balance a policy of environmental protection, which she forged as a local politician with the business interests and booming biotechnical industry in her district. Her vote in favor of President Bill Clinton's five-year budget plan, which sought to lower the federal deficit by cutting spending and raising taxes for wealthy Americans, was a primary factor in her 1994 loss.

Upon her departure from Washington, Lynn Schenk did not stray from the political arena. She eventually became the chief of staff to California Governor Gray Davis. In 1998, she made an unsuccessful bid for attorney general of California. After the campaign, Schenk served as an educational advisor and on the board of directors for a California biotechnical company.