J. Eugene McAteer explained

J. Eugene McAteer
State Senate:California
District:9th
Term:January 2, 1967 – May 26, 1967
Preceded:John C. Begovich
Succeeded:Milton Marks
State Senate1:California
District1:14th
Term1:January 5, 1959 – January 2, 1967
Preceded1:Robert I. McCarthy
Succeeded1:Clark L. Bradley
State Assembly2:California
Birth Date:February 28, 1916
Birth Place:San Francisco, California, US
Death Place:San Francisco, California, US
Party:Democratic
Spouse:Frances
Children:3
Battles:World War II

J. Eugene McAteer (February 28, 1916  - May 26, 1967) was a San Francisco Supervisor (1953 - 1958) and a California State Senator (1959 - 1967).[1] He coauthored legislation to start the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.[2] The commission's first director, Joseph Bodovitz, said, "What people tend to forget now is how unusual it was to have anybody of McAteer's stature interested in an environmental issue in the sixties."[3]

In 1967, McAteer, a Democrat, announced his intent to run for Mayor of San Francisco in the November election, opposing the Democratic incumbent John F. Shelley as well as perennial Republican candidate, Harold Dobbs. The campaign was cut short by McAteer's untimely death at age 51 in May of that year, while playing handball at the Olympic Club's downtown facility. Shortly thereafter, attorney Joseph L. Alioto, then working on the McAteer campaign, entered the race and subsequently won that fall's election, eventually serving two terms in the office of Mayor.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gene McAteer. JoinCalifornia: Election History for the State of California.
  2. Web site: Carlsson. Chris. Saving San Francisco Bay. FoundSF.
  3. Book: Chall, Malca. The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, 1964-1973: Interviews with Joseph E. Bodovitz, Melvin B. Lane, and E. Clement Shute, Jr.. 1986. Regional Oral History Office, Bancroft Library, University of California. Berkeley. 6.