Bradley, Tom, 1917-1998

<p><b>RACES</b>
<ul>
<li> 04/11/1989 Los Angeles Mayor Won 51.90% (+23.95%)</li>
<li> 11/04/1986 CA Governor Lost 37.38% (-23.16%)</li>
<li> 06/03/1986 CA Governor - D Primary Won 81.53% (+75.02%)</li>
<li> 04/09/1985 Los Angeles Mayor Won 67.61% (+37.08%)</li>
<li> 07/19/1984 US Vice President - D Convention Lost 0.00% (-99.90%)</li>
<li> 11/02/1982 CA Governor Lost 48.09% (-1.19%)</li>
<li> 06/08/1982 CA Governor - D Primary Won 61.08% (+35.89%)</li>
<li> 04/07/1981 Los Angeles Mayor Won 63.83% (+31.60%)</li>
<li> 04/05/1977 Los Angeles Mayor Won 59.41% (+31.31%)</li>
<li> 05/20/1973 Los Angeles Mayor Won 56.34% (+12.69%)</li>
<li> 04/03/1973 Los Angeles Mayor - Primary Won 35.38% (+6.53%)</li>
<li> 04/10/1971 Los Angeles City Council - District 10 Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 05/27/1969 Los Angeles Mayor Lost 46.74% (-6.51%)</li>
<li> 04/01/1969 Los Angeles Mayor - Primary Won 41.80% (+15.71%)</li>
<li> 04/04/1967 Los Angeles City Council - District 10 Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 04/02/1963 Los Angeles City Council - District 10 - Special Election Won 62.76% (+25.51%)</li>
<li> 04/02/1963 Los Angeles City Council - District 10 Won 62.79% (+25.59%)</li>
</ul>
</p>

<p>The late mayor of Los Angeles, Bradley spent a year in the Somerton Negro School, Arizona Historical Society’s records from Yuma’s Heritage Library archives show. Charles Urtuzuastegui, a long-time former Somerton resident, said in a phone interview that he and Bradley were both in second grade at the same time, but not in the same classroom.</p>

<p>One portion of the old school building housed the Blacks; another area housed the students of Mexican descent and Native American pupils, he explained. He said that the Bradleys — sharecroppers from Texas – were traveling through Somerton heading to California when their car broke down. Not having money for car repairs, they had to work in the nearby fields to earn enough to fix the car before moving on to California.</p>

<p>Thomas Bradley (December 29, 1917 – September 29, 1998) was an American politician and police officer who served as the 38th Mayor of Los Angeles from 1973 to 1993. He was the first and thus far only black mayor of Los Angeles, and his 20 years in office mark the longest tenure by any mayor in the city's history. His election as mayor in 1973 made him the second black mayor of a major U.S. city. Bradley retired in 1993, after his approval ratings began dropping subsequent to the 1992 Los Angeles Riots.</p>

<p>Bradley, a Democrat, also ran for Governor of California in 1982 and 1986, but was defeated both times by Republican candidate George Deukmejian. The racial dynamics that appeared to underlie his narrow and unexpected loss in 1982 gave rise to the political term "the Bradley effect." In 1985, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP.</p>

<p>Bradley, whose grandfather was a slave, was born on December 29, 1917, to Lee Thomas and Crenner Bradley, poor sharecroppers who lived in a small log cabin outside Calvert, Texas. He had four siblings — Lawrence, Willa Mae, Ellis (who had cerebral palsy) and Howard. The family moved to Arizona to pick cotton and then in 1924 to the Temple-Alvarado area of Los Angeles during the Great Migration, where Lee was a Santa Fe Railroad porter and Crenner was a maid.</p>

<p>Thomas J. “Tom” Bradley, five-term Mayor of Los Angeles and the first major black candidate for Governor of California, was born in Calvert, Texas, on December 29, 1917, the son of Lee Thomas Bradley, a railroad porter, and Crenner Bradley, a maid. He was the grandson of former slaves.</p>

<p>Bradley graduated from Los Angeles Polytechnic High School in 1937, and then attended the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) until 1940 when he left the institution to join the Los Angeles Police Department. While at UCLA, Bradley joined Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. In 1941 Bradley married Ethel Arnold. The couple had three children, Lorraine, Phyllis, and a baby who died on the day of her birth.</p>

<p>Bradley rose to become a Lieutenant by 1960, the highest ranking African American at that time. While serving on the force, he earned his law degree at Southwestern University in Los Angeles.</p>

<p>Admitted to the bar in 1962, he served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1963 to 1972. Bradley’s sprawling 10th District in West Central Los Angeles covered the Crenshaw area, a multiethnic community that included many white voters. With this base Bradley forged a coalition between middle class blacks and whites which was a major factor in his political success.</p>