Kenneth Leon Maddy (May 22, 1934 – February 19, 2000) was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...

and

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

from

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

. Maddy was born in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

. He attended

Fresno State College California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

and graduated in 1957 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

. He served in the State Assembly for

Fresno County Fresno County (), officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 1,008,654. The county seat is Fresno, the fifth-most populous city in Cali ...

from 1971 to 1978. Maddy ran unsuccessfully for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

in the 1978 Republican primary, having finished in third place with 484,583 votes (19.2 percent). The

nomination Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In the ...

went to state

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Evelle J. Younger, but he was defeated by the Democratic Governor Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, Jr., in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. Maddy was then elected to the State Senate in a 1979 Special Election, serving there until 1998. He was the chairman for the Senate Republican Caucus from 1979 to 1983 and was the Republican Leader of the Senate from 1987 to 1995.

Legacy

*Kenneth L. Maddy Institute, Department of Political Science, California State University-Fresno *Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis *Sacramento Area Youth Golf (SAY Golf), Freeport Boulevard, Sacramento *Cal State Fresno created the Maddy Institute to help and inspire college students to work in public service. *The Oak Tree Racing Association named a stakes race in his honor in 2000. Taking place at the

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

, it’s now known as the

Senator Ken Maddy Handicap The Senator Ken Maddy Stakes is a Listed American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, two years old and older over a distance of five furlongs on the turf course scheduled in early November at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. Hi ...

, previously called the Autumn Days Handicap. *The

University of California at Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

is home to an equine drug testing laboratory named after Maddy. This lab is a joint venture between the Veterinary Medical School and the

California Department of Food and Agriculture The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is a cabinet-level agency in the government of California. Established in 1919 by the California State Legislature and signed into law by Governor William Stephens, the Department of Food a ...

's Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maddy, Kenneth L. 1934 births 2000 deaths Republican Party California state senators Republican Party members of the California State Assembly Politicians from Fresno, California Politicians from Santa Monica, California California State University, Fresno alumni 20th-century American politicians Candidates in the 1978 United States elections