Early Life and Career
Mack was born Mary Whitaker in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Karen Lee (née Taylor), a chemist, and Dr. Clay Westerfield Whitaker, a physician and World War II veteran. In 1963, in her second year, she moved with her parents to South Pasadena, California.
She graduated from the University of Southern California in 1984 with a bachelor of arts in art history. She was an accomplished gymnast in her youth.
In 1986, she married actor/singer Sonny Bono and moved to Palm Springs where the two operated a restaurant they owned. Sonny Bono served as Mayor of Palm Springs from 1988 to 1992 before being elected to Congress in 1994. Sonny Bono died in a skiing accident on January 5, 1998.
Subsequently, she won the Republican nomination for the special election to succeed him. She then won in the special election held on April 7, 1998. She won a full term later that same year, in November 1998. She was re-elected continuously until the Democratic candidate, Dr. Raul Ruiz, a physician, defeated her in the 2012 general election.
Read more about this topic: Mary Bono Mack
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