Bono, Mary, 1961-

<p>Mary Bono (née Whitaker and formerly Mary Bono Mack, born October 24, 1961) is an American politician, businesswoman and lobbyist who served Palm Springs and most of central and eastern Riverside County, California in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1998 to 2013.</p>

<p>A member of the Republican Party, Bono was first elected to Congress in 1998 to replace her late husband, Sonny Bono, who had died in office months earlier. She sat on the Energy and Commerce Committee and was Chairwoman for the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade. In 1998, Bono served on the House Judiciary Committee that approved articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton. Bono served in Congress until losing her 2012 re-election bid.</p>

<p>In March 2013, Bono became a senior vice president at the Washington, D.C.-based federal affairs firm Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting. In 2018, she founded the political affairs consulting firm Integritas by Bono.</p>

<p>A month after the death of Congressman Sonny Bono in a skiing accident, Mary Bono announced her candidacy for the special election to fill her late-husband’s seat. “When Sonny was in office, I never spoke on issues. It was my responsibility to be a loving wife rather than a lobbyist,” she told the Orange County Register in 1998. “This is my chance to represent myself.” Bono earned a reputation as a moderate on social issues, an advocate for environmental protections, and—as chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade—a crusader against prescription drug addiction.

<p>Mary Bono was born Mary Whitaker in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 24, 1961, one of four children raised by Clay Whitaker, a surgeon, and Karen Whitaker, a chemist. When she was two years old, her family—including siblings Stephen, David, and Katherine—moved to South Pasadena, California, where she grew up as an accomplished gymnast. In 1984 she earned a BA in art history from the University of Southern California. While celebrating her graduation with a meal at BONO Restaurant, she met the owner, entertainer Sonny Bono. In February 1986, she married Bono and eventually raised two children with him, Chesare and Chianna. Mary Bono worked as a personal fitness instructor and helped manage her husband’s businesses. From 1988 to 1992, Bono served as the first lady of Palm Springs, California, while her husband was mayor. During that time, she also served on the board of the Palm Springs International Film Festival. In 1994 Sonny Bono was elected to the U.S. House as a Republican in a district encompassing the city of Palm Springs.</p>

<p>On January 5, 1998, Sonny Bono died in a skiing accident in South Lake Tahoe, California. Citing a desire to continue her husband’s work, but also to recycle grief into action, Mary Bono announced in early February that she would run in the April 7 special election to fill her husband’s seat. “I don’t think anyone expects me to be an expert on anything,” Bono said. “You’re going to tell me— what—that because I don’t have my J.D. or something, I’m not qualified? I think that people truly don’t want that. I don’t think they want a robotic politician in there.” She faced Democrat Ralph Waite, an actor whose work commitments kept him out of the district for much of the time leading up to the election. In April, Bono defeated him with 65 percent of the vote. In the following November, she prevailed against Waite again for a full term in the 106th Congress (1999–2001), this time with 60 percent of the vote. Bono won her next four elections by a similar margin.</p>