Tucker, Walter R., III (Walter Rayford, III), 1957-

<p>Walter Rayford Tucker III (born May 28, 1957) is an American politician and minister who served as mayor of Compton and a U.S. Representative from California.</p>

<p>Tucker was born in Compton, California, the son of Walter R. Tucker, Jr., a dentist who was mayor of Compton beginning in 1981. The younger Tucker finished Compton High School in 1974 as class valedictorian and attended Princeton University for the next two years. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 1978 with a degree in political science and earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1981. He was admitted to the California State Bar in 1984.</p>

<p>Tucker was a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney from 1984 to 1986, when he began in private practice as a criminal defense attorney. After Tucker's father died while still in office as mayor of Compton, the younger Tucker won a special election to replace him, becoming the youngest mayor in the city's history at age 33. He served from 1991 to 1992, during the civil unrest in Los Angeles County spawned by the Rodney King verdict.</p>

<p> In 1992, Tucker was elected to the House of Representatives as a Democrat, defeating Lynn Dymally, the daughter of the retiring Representative Mervyn Dymally.</p>

<p>Tucker resigned from Congress on December 15, 1995, due to scandals involving accepting and demanding bribes while mayor of Compton. Tucker was sentenced to 27 months in prison in 1996 for extortion and tax evasion.</p>

<p>Tucker began his active ministry while at the Federal Prison Camp in Lompoc, California. After his release he was hired as the Helps Ministry manager for Crenshaw Christian Center in Los Angeles, and he then joined with Charles Colson's Prison Fellowship Ministry as Los Angeles area director. He moved with his family to Chicago, Illinois, where for nine years he was pastor of the From the Heart Church Ministries of Chicago. He is now the pastor of the Truth and Love Christian Church in Carson, California.</p>

<p>Hailing from a Southern California political dynasty, the well–educated and ambitious Walter R. Tucker III began his career in elected office by taking his father’s seat as the youngest mayor of Compton, California. He subsequently defeated an incumbent’s daughter for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Tucker arrived in Washington in 1993 with the goal of “bring[ing] positive attention to Compton,” a city that had recently been wracked by destructive race riots.</p>

<p>Born May 28, 1957, Tucker was one of four children in a prominent political family in Compton, California. His father, Walter R. Tucker II, worked as a dentist who entered politics in 1967, when he won election to the Compton school board. He was eventually elected mayor of Compton. Tucker’s mother, Martha, was a real estate agent and writer. The Tucker family was often referred to as the “Kennedys of Compton” because of its political power. Tucker graduated from Compton High School in 1974. He attended Princeton University from 1974 to 1976 before returning home to finish his studies at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles in 1978. Tucker went on to earn his J.D. at Georgetown University Law School in Washington, DC, in 1981, after which he returned to Compton to practice law. Tucker served as deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County from 1984 to 1986. He also earned a certificate of ordination from the School of the Word and practiced as an associate minister of the Bread of Life Christian Center in Carson. Tucker’s wife, Robin, and their two children—Walter IV and Autumn—lived with the extended Tucker family in a sprawling home near Compton city hall.</p>

<p>Tucker entered elective politics when his father died of cancer in his third term as Compton’s mayor in 1991. Tucker ran to succeed him and, on April 16, 1991, became Compton’s youngest mayor. Tucker’s mayoral tenure focused on economic improvement in the impoverished city. Once a bustling economic center—former President George H. W. Bush had a home in the city in the late 1940s—Compton experienced an economic downturn starting when race riots broke out in 1965. High poverty, crime, and gang violence had since plagued much of the city.</p>

TUCKER, Walter R., III, a Representative from California; born in Compton, Los Angeles County, Calif., May 28, 1957; attended Princeton University, 1974-1976; B.A., University of Southern California, 1978; J.D., Georgetown University School of Law, 1981; admitted to the bar in 1984 and commenced the practice of law in Compton; deputy district attorney, Los Angeles County, 1984-1986; mayor of Compton, 1991-1992; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Third and One Hundred Fourth Congress and served from January 3, 1993, until his resignation on December 15, 1995.