James B. Utt | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 35th district |
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In office January 3, 1963 – March 1, 1970 |
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Preceded by | District created |
Succeeded by | John G. Schmitz |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 28th district |
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In office January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1963 |
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Preceded by | District created |
Succeeded by | Alphonzo E. Bell, Jr. |
Member of the California State Assembly | |
In office 1932-1936 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
James Boyd Utt March 11, 1899 Tustin, California, U.S. |
Died | March 1, 1970 Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. |
(aged 70)
Resting place | Santa Ana Cemetery in Santa Ana, California |
Political party | Republican |
Alma mater | University of Southern California (B.A., J.D) |
Profession | Lawyer in later years |
James Boyd (Jim) Utt (March 11, 1899 – March 1, 1970) was a conservative Republican U.S. representative from populous Orange County, California, from 1953 until his death from a heart attack in Bethesda, Maryland.
Utt was born in Tustin in Orange County. He attended public schools and Santa Ana Junior College. He worked in citrus processing, served in the California State Assembly from 1932 to 1936, and was an inheritance tax appraiser in the state controller's office during 1936 to 1952. In 1946, at the age of forty-seven, Utt graduated from the University of Southern California Law School, was admitted to the bar the next year, and practiced law in Santa Ana.
In 1952, Utt was first elected to the 83rd Congress. He polled 106,972 votes (63%) against the Democrat Lionel Van Deerlin, who drew 62,779 votes (37%). Utt had no serious challengers in what became an increasingly "safe" seat for him. For instance, in the heavily Democratic year of 1958, he polled 152,855 votes (58%) to Democrat T. R. Boyett's 109,794 votes (42%).
In 1962, when Richard M. Nixon lost the governorship to incumbent Democrat Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, Sr., Utt won reelection with 133,737 (68.5%) to Democrat Burton Shamsky's 61,393 (31.5%). In the wake of Barry Goldwater's landslide defeat in 1964, Utt still polled 65 percent in his district. In 1966, when Ronald W. Reagan blocked a third term for "Pat" Brown, Utt received 73.1 percent in his district (his strongest showing ever). In 1968, when Nixon was elected president, Utt drew a similar vote of 72.5%. That turned out to have been his last election, for he died in office before completing the 1969-1971 term.