Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (May 12, 1926 – October 7, 2012) was an American politician from California. He served in the California State Assembly (1963–66) and the California State Senate (1967–75) as the 41st Lieutenant Governor of California (1975–79) and in the U.S. House of Representatives (1981–93). Dymally returned to politics a decade later to serve in the California State Assembly (2003–08). Dymally was the first Trinidadian to serve California as State Senator and Lieutenant Governor. He was one of the first persons of Dougla (mixed African and Indian) origin to serve in the U.S. Congress. In 1974, he and George L. Brown became among the first African Americans elected to statewide state office since Oscar Dunn did so during Reconstruction. Edward W. Brooke, III (R-MA) had been elected Attorney General of Massachusetts in 1962 and 1964, and was elected to the United States Senate from Massachusetts in 1966 and 1972. Dymally was the second African-American to hold statewide office in California, following Wilson Riles who served as California Superintendent of Public Instruction starting in 1971. Early life and education Born in Cedros, Trinidad and Tobago, Dymally first received his secondary education at Naparima College before transferring to Saint Benedict's College, both in San Fernando. He is of Dougla (mixed African and Indian) descent. He moved to the United States to study journalism at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. After a semester there, he moved to the greater Los Angeles area to attend Chapman University, and completed a Bachelor of Arts in education at California State University, Los Angeles in 1954. Dymally became a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity in 1949. Dymally became a U.S. citizen in 1957. In 1969, while serving in the California State Legislature, he earned a master's degree in government from California State University, Sacramento. Dymally earned his doctorate in human behavior from United States International University in San Diego (now Alliant International University). Career In the tightly contested race for Lt. Governor in 1978, Dymally's bid for re-election was derailed when Michael Franchetti, an aide to State Senator George Deukmejian, floated a false rumor that Dymally was about to be indicted. The story, coming days before the election, harmed the Dymally campaign, and Dymally lost to Republican Mike Curb. Franchetti later said that the source of the rumor was a Los Angeles Times reporter, who called the Justice Department trying to confirm its authenticity.