SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Jackie Speier, a survivor of the Jonestown tragedy three decades ago, won a special congressional election to fill the seat of the late Rep. Tom Lantos.
With her win Tuesday, Speier avoided a runoff in the contest to replace the 14-term congressman, who died in February. Speier, a former state assemblywoman and senator, also plans to seek a full term in the 12th Congressional District.
Speier, 57, had nearly 78 percent of the vote in unofficial returns.
In 1978, Speier was an aide to Rep. Leo Ryan and accompanied him to Guyana. The purpose was to investigate claims that Peoples Temple leader Jim Jones was holding followers against their will at the California group’s Jonestown compound.
An ambush at the Jonestown airstrip left Ryan and four others dead and Speier severely wounded. Jones and his followers then committed mass murder-suicide, drinking cyanide-poisoned punch.
Her election Tuesday makes her a Democratic superdelegate; she told The Associated Press she supports Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who holds a 252-224 lead in superdelegates.
