Curren De Mille Price, Jr. (born December 16, 1950, in Los Angeles, California) is an American politician of the Democratic Party, currently serving as a Los Angeles city council member for District 9. Price was a California State Senator, representing the state's 26th Senate District which he won in the May 19, 2009 special election to fill the seat vacated by Mark Ridley-Thomas. He previously served as a member of the California State Assembly, representing the state's 51st Assembly District. He was first elected to that position in 2006, and was re-elected in 2008. Price resigned as state senator on July 1, 2013, to be sworn in as Los Angeles city councilman. Holly Mitchell was elected to succeed him in the state senate. Price's tenure as District 9 Councilman has been marked by accusations of pay to play and FBI investigations. Background and education Price attended Morningside High School and in 1967 became the first African-American to be elected as the school's student body president. After graduation from high school, Price earned a scholarship to attend Stanford University, and in 1972, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the school in political science. Thereafter, he studied law at Santa Clara University School of Law. He graduated in 1976 with a Juris Doctor in law. Following law school, Price worked for an export management company that represented companies in the sales of industrial products in Asia and the Middle East. From 1979 to 1989, Price lived in Washington, D.C., where he was active in the telecommunications industry (satellites, cellular, paging, and cable). As an advocate for minority enterprise, he was a featured speaker at conferences sponsored by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Price returned to California in 1988, serving as a deputy to two members of the Los Angeles City Council. Career From 1993 to 1997, Price was a member of the Inglewood City Council, representing the city's District 1. In 1997, he was defeated in a bid to become the mayor of Inglewood. In 2001, he reclaimed his former city council seat and held it until his election to the state assembly in 2006. As a council member, he was the chair of the City Council Community Economic Development Committee. In addition to his council responsibilities, Price served on the Los Angeles County Commission on Insurance and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan