Mary Bono

Mary Bono, born in 1961, Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from California (1998- ). Bono was elected in April 1998 to fill the seat vacated by the death of her husband, Representative Sonny Bono.

Mary Bono was born Mary Whitaker in Cleveland, Ohio. She received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California in 1984. After graduating from college, she worked as the business manager for a restaurant that she owned with her husband, and as a homemaker.

After Bono’s husband, Republican congressman Sonny Bono, died in a skiing accident in January 1998, she decided to run for his vacant seat representing California’s 44th Congressional District. In a special election on April 7, 1998, Bono won easily, receiving 60 percent of the vote.

The 44th District extends from Palm Springs, just east of the coastal counties around Los Angeles, all the way east to California’s border with Arizona. It is a district heavily populated with wealthy retirees in the cities of Palm Springs and Palm Desert. It also contains rapidly growing towns such as Moreno Valley, which did not exist in 1980 and had 118,000 residents in 1990. Despite the fast-paced development, farming still plays a major role in the district, with cotton, date, and livestock producers struggling to keep scarce water resources from being diverted to the booming urban and suburban areas.