Norman Sisisky (June 9, 1927 – March 29, 2001) was a Democratic member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

from 1983 to 2001, representing the 4th District. He was a leader of the

Blue Dog Coalition The Blue Dog Coalition (commonly known as the Blue Dogs or Blue Dog Democrats) is a caucus in the United States House of Representatives comprising centrist members from the Democratic Party. The caucus was founded as a group of conservative De ...

and one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress at the time.

Biography

Sisisky was a Jew born in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Maryland but grew up in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. Upon graduating from high school, he served a two-year tour of duty in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

. In 1946, he entered

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...

, earning a business degree in 1949. Sisisky became a successful businessman, founding an independent bottling company in Petersburg that later became a part of

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

's Virginia operations. In 1973, Sisisky was elected to the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

, serving for five terms. In 1982, Sisisky was elected to Congress, defeating five-term incumbent

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 ...

Robert Daniel. A fiscal disciplinarian, he aligned himself with the Democratic Party's Blue Dog coalition. He was a leading member of the Intelligence Committee and worked closely with the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

. Sisisky died of lung cancer while in office. A special election was held June 19, 2001 to fill his seat, and Republican

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

Randy Forbes James Randy Forbes (born February 17, 1952) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. representative for , serving from 2001 to 2017. Prior to joining the United States Congress, he was a member of the Virgin ...

defeated Democratic State Senator

Louise Lucas Lillie Louise Lucas ( Boone; born January 22, 1944) is an American politician serving as a Virginia state senator, representing the 18th District in the southeast of the state since 1992. Democrats won a majority of seats in the 2019 Virginia ...

for the remainder of Sisisky's term.

Electoral history

*1982; Sisisky was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 54.38% of the vote, defeating Republican Robert Daniel. *1984; Sisisky was re-elected unopposed. *1986; Sisisky was re-elected unopposed. *1988; Sisisky was re-elected unopposed. *1990; Sisisky was re-elected with 78.55% of the vote, defeating Independents Don L. Reynolds and Loretta F. Chandler. *1992; Sisisky was re-elected with 68.37% of the vote, defeating Republican Anthony J. Zevgolis. *1994; Sisisky was re-elected with 61.61% of the vote, defeating Republican A. George Sweet, III. *1996; Sisisky was re-elected with 78.61% of the vote, defeating Republican Zevgolis. *1998; Sisisky was re-elected unopposed. *2000; Sisisky was re-elected unopposed.

References

External links

*http://www.mackler.net/tree/sisisky/ *https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/sisisky.html * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sisisky, Norman 1927 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American politicians Deaths from lung cancer in Virginia Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Jewish American military personnel Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives Members of the Virginia House of Delegates Politicians from Baltimore Politicians from Richmond, Virginia United States Navy sailors Virginia Commonwealth University alumni

Biography

Electoral history

See also

References

External links