Lantos, Tom, 1928-2008

<p><b>RACES</b>
<ul>
<li> 11/07/2006 CA - District 12 Won 76.05% (+52.09%)</li>
<li> 06/06/2006 CA District 12 - D Primary Won 82.82% (+73.20%)</li>
<li> 11/02/2004 CA - District 12 Won 68.03% (+47.21%)</li>
<li> 03/02/2004 CA - District 12 - D Primary Won 73.65% (+54.06%)</li>
<li> 11/05/2002 CA DIstrict 12 Won 68.13% (+43.37%)</li>
<li> 11/07/2000 CA District 12 Won 74.52% (+53.75%)</li>
<li> 03/07/2000 CA District 12 - All Party Primary Won 74.24% (+64.11%)</li>
<li> 11/03/1998 CA District 12 Won 73.98% (+52.87%)</li>
<li> 11/05/1996 CA District 12 Won 71.69% (+47.99%)</li>
<li> 11/08/1994 CA District 12 Won 67.42% (+34.83%)</li>
<li> 11/03/1992 CA District 12 Won 68.83% (+45.50%)</li>
<li> 11/06/1990 CA District 11 Won 65.90% (+37.15%)</li>
<li> 11/08/1988 CA District 11 Won 70.96% (+46.55%)</li>
<li> 11/04/1986 CA District 11 Won 74.08% (+48.17%)</li>
<li> 11/06/1984 CA District 11 Won 69.92% (+41.67%)</li>
<li> 06/05/1984 CA District 11 - D Primary Won 89.06% (+78.13%)</li>
<li> 11/02/1982 CA District 11 Won 57.08% (+17.34%)</li>
<li> 11/04/1980 CA District 11 Won 46.39% (+3.09%)</li>
</ul>
</p>

<p>Thomas Peter Lantos (born Tamás Péter Lantos; February 1, 1928 – February 11, 2008) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from California from 1981 until his death in 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented the state's 11th congressional district until 1993 and from then the 12th congressional district, which both included the northern two-thirds of San Mateo County and a portion of the southwestern part of San Francisco after redistricting.</p>

<p>Lantos, who served as Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in his last term, announced in early January 2008 that he would not run for reelection because of cancer of the esophagus. He died before finishing his term. A Hungarian Jew, Lantos was the only Holocaust survivor to have served in the United States Congress; he survived the genocide with help from Raoul Wallenberg. In speaking before the House of Representatives after his death, Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated that Lantos "devoted his public life to shining a bright light on the dark corners of oppression. He used his powerful voice to stir the consciousness of world leaders and the public alike." U2 lead singer Bono called him a "prizefighter", whose stamina would make him go "any amount of rounds, with anyone, anywhere, to protect human rights and common decency".</p>

<p>In 2008, after his death, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which he founded in 1983, was renamed the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Its mission is partly "to promote, defend and advocate internationally recognized human rights". In the final weeks of his life, Lantos asked that a non-profit be established to carry on the work he felt so passionately about. The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice was founded later that year to carry out that wish. In 2011, the Tom Lantos Institute was set up in Budapest to promote tolerance and support minority issues in Central Europe and Eastern Europe as well as in the world.</p>

LANTOS, Thomas Peter, a Representative from California; born in Budapest, Hungary, February 1, 1928; came to the United States on an academic scholarship in 1947; B.A., University of Washington, Seattle, Wash., 1949; M.A., University of Washington, Seattle, Wash., 1950; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Calif., 1953; professor of economics; television journalist; administrative assistant, economic and foreign policy adviser, United States Senate; delegate, Democratic National Convention, 1976; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-seventh and to the thirteen succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1981-February 11, 2008); chair, Committee on Foreign Affairs (One Hundred Tenth Congress); died on February 11, 2008, in Bethesda, Md.; interment at Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D.C.