Former Member of California Assembly

Gary Condit | Biography 2021

Former Member of California Assembly

• By Puja Bhetwal
• Update : April 01, 2022

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Gary Adrian Condit is an American politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1989 to 2003, representing California's 18th Congressional District.

What is Gary Condit Doing Today?

Gary Adrian Condit is a former U.S. congressman who served in the House of Representatives from 1989 to 2003, representing California's 18th Congressional District. Later, the reports of his possible affair with Chandra Levy, a Federal Bureau of Prisons intern, got publicized after Levy went missing in May 2001, and her remains were discovered a year later.

Although Condit was never legally charged in Levy's disappearance and murder, the issue cost him the Democratic primary in 2002.

After leaving the political arena, Conduit began a business with Baskin-Robbins ice cream, but it went bankrupt. Later, the court found him guilty of breach of contract and asked him to pay $98,000 in 2012. Then in 2015, Fox reported that he owed Baskin-Robbins more than $44,000. 

Also, in 2012 he started working as the President of the Phoenix Institute of Desert Agriculture, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing contemporary farming practices to developing-world desert farming.

As of now, Gary is out of politics but pitches his opinion on politics and other issues on his Twitter (@realGaryCondit). In his Twitter bio, he has described himself as a former congressman, assemblyman, county supervisor, mayor, councilman, husband, father, grandfather, and author.

Comes From Religious Family

Gary A. Condit was born to Velma Jean Tidwell (1929-2017) and the Rev. Adrian Burl Condit (1927-2021) on 21 April 1948, in Woodland Junction, Oklahoma, near a town called Salina. Condit's father preached to the town's Baptist congregation at Little Rock Church, which the family considered a second home. The Condits, including Gary's two brothers, Burl Gene and Darrell Wayne, and sister, Dovie Elaine, attended church four times a week.

When Gary was 14, Condit's family relocated to Tulsa, a location that provided his father with greater prospects as a preacher. The family resided next door to the church where his father preached in Tulsa. 

Traffic Violations Got Him Into Legal Troubles

Despite belonging to a very religious family, Gary was rebellious as a teenager. His love for driving fast cars landed him in trouble with the law several times. 

Gary worked as an oil field roustabout for a summer during his high school years, earning enough money to buy a 1964 Chevy Impala that got him into trouble. According to the Chicago Tribune, court documents show that a "Gary Adrian Condit" was ticketed three times in Tulsa in 1966: once for speeding through town, once for running a stop sign, and once for driving without a license. He failed to appear in court in each case, prompting officials to issue an arrest order. He pled guilty in two cases and was fined. 

According to The Washington Post, Tulsa police again arrested him in 1967 for recklessly driving a yellow 1967 Chevrolet Corvette at 3:53 a.m. Again, he was arrested on the spot, and his car was impounded. He was later convicted.

He And His Wife Married at 18

Condit met Carolyn Berry Condit, a blond pep girl who had a toothy grin and wore cardigans, at his high school (Nathan Hale High School). She was considered one of the most well-dressed and popular girls in high school.

They eventually started dating, and she got pregnant sometime during their final year. Both of them transferred to different schools before their senior year. Condit went to East Central High School, while Carolyn went back to Bishop Kelley High School, where she had spent her freshman year. 

Gary and Carolyn later graduated from high school in 1966. Later on 18 January 1967, the young couple traveled to the fringes of Oklahoma, across old Cherokee land, to marry in a county where tying the knot required only 15 minutes and a blood test. Both of them were 18 years old at that time. To get married in Oklahoma at the time, the male had to be 21 years old, and the female had to be 18 years old. But, according to records, Condit fudged his age on the form by seven years instead of three, indicating that he was 25.

Their son, Chad, was born that summer, and they relocated to Ceres, California, to join Rev. At that time, Condit was already preaching at a Baptist church. Gary had been canning tomatoes and selling paint at a Montgomery Ward store before running for the local office. He hadn't even graduated from Cal State Stanislaus when he decided to run.

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In 1972, Condit graduated from nearby California State University in Stanislaus with a bachelor's degree. 

He Became The Youngest Mayor in The Ceres City's History At 25

In 1972, Gary Condit did not consider politics as a career choice. He was just 23 years old and still a senior at Stanislaus State, for starters. Adding to that, he had never been a part of a political campaign. He was pleasant but not particularly gregarious. He and Carolyn had just been in town for four years.

But after one encounter with a gentleman whose son was serving in Vietnam, Condit decided to run for city council and make a positive difference, "I worked at Norris Industries making mortar shells for the Vietnam War," he shared. "I'd go to school from 8:00 in the morning to 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon and get to work at 3:00. Initially, I didn't think much about it, but because I was married and we had a child my classification for the military was different. I drove to work with an older gentleman whose son was in Vietnam."

He added, "At one point during a contract negotiation, it looked like they were going to lay people off. This gentleman said, 'Oh God, I'm going to hate it if I lose this job.' I called him Stringbean. I said, 'Stringbean, you have a son in Vietnam. You should be happy if we lose our jobs and he gets home safe.'"

Following the conversation, Condit recognized that, while people's need for work was vital, the most important thing was the end of the war. After that conversation, he felt compelled to do something to demonstrate that young to could make a positive difference. So, even though he had never attended a city council meeting before being appointed, he eventually chose to run for city council.

For a seat on the Ceres City Council, 1,300 votes were needed, and he won the vote. From 1972 to 1976, Condit served in the Ceres city council, the final two he served as mayor. At the age of 25, he was elected the city's youngest mayor in history.

He Got Elected To The California State Assembly At 34

By the time Condit was 35, the young politician had risen quickly through the ranks of the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors and the California Assembly.

Eventually, Condit and Calderon formed the "Gang of Five" with three other centrist Democrats (Steve Peace, Charles Calderon, Rusty Areias, and Jerry Eaves) in the mid-1980s. Four of the group members, including Condit, were in their late twenties to early thirties. The group rose to prominence by publicly challenging the Assembly's powerful speaker, Willie Brown, and attempting to steer policies in a more centrist direction. However, in their attempt to depose Brown, the group turned unsuccessful. As a result, members were stripped of leadership roles, committee assignments, and other benefits.

Still, Condit's power and influence, on the other hand, extended beyond the Assembly's walls. Although he and the group failed in the Democratic leadership in Sacramento, he was seen as courageous and honorable back home.

In 1989, Condit ran for Congress in a special election, seizing the opportunity. Rep. Tony Coelho, the incumbent, resigned over a financial controversy, and Condit was elected to replace him.

Began Representing the U.S. House of Representatives at 41

From 1989 to 1992, Condit served as a Democrat in the California 15th congressional district.

During his time in congress, he divided his votes at key stages during Bill Clinton's impeachment in 1998, playing both sides of the tumultuous political crisis while railing about the President's moral faults. The Blue Dogs held crucial votes for Clinton at the time.

Later, Condit and the Blue Dog's vote to approve a House Judicial Committee investigation of the President's behavior appeared bold. Still, the group supported Clinton when he desperately needed his vote on the final articles of impeachment.

Founded A Caucus The Blue Dog Coalition In The U.S. House Of Representatives

Making connections in Washington as a conservative Democrat, Condit founded the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of more than 20 Democrats who frequently support Republican-sponsored legislation across party lines.

Lost Election For The First Time After 13 Consecutive Victory

In 1992, Condit lost his first election as a member of Congress after 13 years of perfect wins. In the election, Dennis Cardoza, a state assemblyman who had worked as Condit's chief of staff, defeated Condit in the Democratic primary for the 18th Congressional District. A year later, Condit became the representative for California's 18th congressional and served as a Democrat till 2002. Later, the stench of his relationship with the missing intern Chandra Levy eventually overshadowed his political reputation.

His Relationship With Chandra Levy Came To Light Following Her Disappearance

Chandra Levy was a 24-year-old California native when she went missing in May 2001. She was last seen on 30 April 2001 when she canceled a gym membership in downtown Washington. And she was working as a Federal Bureau of Prisons' intern in Washington, D.C. at that time. On 11 May 2001, The Washington Post reported on the disappearance of Chandra Levy. 

The first piece of news did not mention Condit, which focused solely on the missing person. Then a few days later, a Washington tv news station reported that authorities of the District of Columbia had questioned a California lawmaker about his link to Levy— who was later disclosed to be Condit. 

After the news broke out, Condit's friendship with Levy soon became the subject of gossip. After being contacted by her parents for assistance, he even pledged $10,000 in prize money and published a statement describing Levy as 'a fantastic person and a terrific friend'. Although Condit's staff denied romantic involvement with Levy, he became the focus of tremendous media attention for six weeks after Levy vanished.

Even though Condit was not a suspect and there was no proof linking him to the disappearance, police and FBI inquired into his relationship with Levy and uncovered groundbreaking information on their relationship and Condit's dating life.

A few months after the disappearance of Levy, The Washington Post reported that Condit's wife saw her world turned upside down by the Chandra Levy case. Investigators interviewed Condit four times, while his wife, Carolyn Berry, met with FBI agents once. In addition, their apartment got surrounded by camera crews to learn about Condit's romantic relationship with Chandra and his involvement in Chandra's vanishing.

His One-Time Romantic Partner Said He Advised Her Not To Tell Anything After Chandra's Disappearance

Later, a United Airlines flight attendant Anne Marie Smith came out and revealed that she had an 11-month romance with him. She alleged that Condit had asked her to sign an affidavit denying their relationship and advised her not to speak to the FBI following Levy's disappearance. She told the agency that he went to great measures to hide his tracks in his affair with her, which she described as bordering on psychosis. Condit rejected the claims, but not the romance. 

Chandra Levy's Uncle Claimed Gary And Chandra Had An Affair

According to the Chicago Tribune, Levy had told her uncle's fiancee, Linda Zamsky, that she and Condit were having an affair, and she frequently visited his condo. She told Zamasky that Condit didn't permit her to carry any form of identification and asked her to get out on a different floor if a stranger joined the elevator. She also told him that Condit gave her recurring gifts, and the latter had even provided Levy with a plane ticket to her home. 

Ingmar Guandique Was Convicted Of Chandra's Murder, but the charges against him were dropped later

After one year of disappearance on 22 May 2002, in Washington's Rock Creek Park, where Levy used to jog in the morning, a man walking his dog discovered bone remains. After that, the medical examiners used dental data to conclude that the remains were those of Chandra Levy.

Then forward to 2010, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador Ingmar Guandique was accused of attacking Levy while she jogged in the park. Guandique was already in life imprisonment for sexual assault at that time. He was arrested in 2009 and was serving a 10-year sentence for attacking two other women in Rock Creek Park. Prosecutors argued Levy's death fitted a pattern of attacks he committed on female joggers. 

In November 2010, Guandique was found guilty of two charges of felony murder in Levy's death. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison after being convicted for Levy's murder after a star witness confessed his involvement in her death. The star witness was Guandique's former cellmate Armando Morales who testified that Guandique confessed he accidentally killed Levy while attempting a robbery. 

However, Guandique's defense lawyers questioned the informant's credibility and stated there was no physical evidence that linked Guandique's involvement in Levy's murder.

Guandique was later granted a new trial in 2015, with the hearing being scheduled for October of the same year. 

But in 2016, the charges against Guandique relating to Levy's death were dismissed because of a lack of adequate evidence. According to a May 2017 NBC4 Washington article, prosecutors lacked proof against him as they could neither present eyewitnesses nor DNA evidence. They admitted that the focus of early investigation on Condit led to the mishandling of evidence. Bill Miller, public information officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, later said in a news release that federal prosecutors said they could no longer prove their case against Guandique.

Public defenders then criticized the case. “This dismissal vindicates Mr. Guandique. Finally the government has had to concede the flaws in its ill-gotten conviction. It is now clear that the jailhouse informant, who was central to the government's case, was a perjurer who too easily manipulated the prosecutors," Laura E. Hankins of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia said in a statement.

"Because the government hid the identity of the jailhouse informant from the defense until just before trial and failed to provide critical documents to the defense, it took years of post-conviction investigation and litigation by the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia to uncover the extent of the flaws in Mr. Guandique's trial and to force the government to search and re-examine its own records," Hankins added.

Referencing a motion to dismiss filed in December 2015, CNN reported in July 2016 that defense lawyers said the witness who testified at trial told District of Columbia prosecutors he had never cooperated with authorities before the Guandique case. However, according to the document, he cooperated with different prosecutors over the years in exchange for convenient accommodation in jail. The motion also described how prosecutors concealed information from the defense, including Morales' original three-page statement about Guandique's supposed confession.

Gary Broke His Silence 15 Years After Chandra Levy Murder Scandal

In 2016, Conduit went officially public with his experience of being framed as the "prime suspect" of the disappearance and appeared on Dr. Phil McGraw. He even wrote a book about and launched it in 2016. 

According to Investigators, ABC News (October 2016) reports that a married man named Condit agreed that he had an affair with Levy at the time but denied any connections to her disappearance. However, he never publicly admitted to an affair with her. The report focuses on Condit's 2016's interview with Dr. Phil (first interview in fifteen years) and Condit's denial of an affair with Levy and his latest book 'Actual Malice: A True Crime Political Thriller,' a book about his career and the Chandra Levy's case.

"I saw her one time outside the office, at a restaurant, and she came by my condo once," Condit said of Levy, who was from his congressional District. "Maybe twice. Yeah, I think it was twice she came by," Condit shared to Dr. Phil. "There's nothing unusual about someone coming by my condo; a lot of people did. So people have made some speculation about that being something special," he added. 

Condit also denied having any sexual relationship with Levy. "I haven't answered that question publicly for 15 years, and I'm not going to change my position or my view on that today or any time in the future. Not only is it not relevant, but I think that people are entitled to some level of privacy," Condit told McGraw.

Condit also insisted that Levy and her family had suffered from the situation. "I'm not the victim in this. … The real victim is Chandra and her family, and there's no justice for what happened to her." "The focus needs to be on the bad guys," Peace said. "Go catch the bad guys," he said.

Chandra's Mother Claimed Gary and Chandra Weren't Just Good Friends

After the interview, Levy's mother, Susan, talked to Today and denied Condit's claim that he and her daughter were just friends. To base the point, she shared that Levy told her that her man was a high-profile person who wouldn't want to make their relationship public. 

In an interview with Today's Joe Fryer in October 2016, she argued Condit's relationship characterization. She said, "It wasn't a made-up thing, they weren't just good friends. I know otherwise, because I did talk to my daughter, and I found out who she was dating secretively because I was able to guess it."

Susan also revealed that her daughter's Chandra call history suggested a close relationship with Condit.

"We had evidence of MANY calls [Chandra] made to Condit's private office line at all hours," Susan Levy's statement read. 

He Admitted He Suffered Depression Following Chandra Levy Scandal

Even though Condit was never charged with any crime involving the Chandra Levy scandal, his alleged relationship with Levy earned him notoriety among people that ultimately ended his political career. 

The former California congressman claims in his 2016 memoir Actual Malice that he was beloved in his home state before the 2001 disappearance of his alleged lover Chandra Levy, but he became the most hated man in the country after the Levy scandal exploded in 2001. Even though he claimed his innocence in the case, he lost his fortune, work, closest friends, and colleagues. 

According to an October 2016 Radar Online article, Condit's co-author Breton Peach said Condit stayed alone the entire day for most of 2003, disappearing into the Central Valley on his motorbike. Peach also said Condit took days-long trips to Montana from his native Ceres, California. He continued the disgraced politician slept a lot, ate very little, and began suffering nightmares and shouting in his sleep.

The website also mentioned that one night Condit's wife heard him screaming, "I'm not going to wrestle with you!" while sweating and breathing heavily. "It is my choice. Guilt is something other people make you feel. I gave that up a long time ago."

The website went on to mention that Condit admitted to his co-author that he suffered from depression while living in Arizona.

Is Gary Condit Still Married Today?

As of now, there have been no reports on Condit's marriage struggles. Condit married Carolyn Berry in 1967 when they were just 18 years old. Five months after their marriage on 18 July 1968, their first child Chad Condit was born. Their second child was daughter Cadee Condit.

Condit not only started his marital life and family earlier, but he also achieved success in his political career at a young age, and his wife always supported him in achieving his personal and professional goals. 

A July 2001 Chicago Tribune article reported that Condit's wife was deeply involved in Condit's political life. His wife used to offer him advice, ride in holiday parades, and send gratitude cards to heavyweight contributors. In 1993, Condit and his wife purchased a condo in Adams Morgan, Washington D.C.

In their high school years, an August 2001 Washington Post article mentioned that Carolyn's parents supposedly were trying to put distance between her and Condit during their high school years, but the couple was undeterred.

Later, Condit lost friends and reputation because of the Chandra Levy scandal, but his wife stayed with him. His wife spent her time with him, splitting between Acorn Lane, Ceres, California, and Washington D.C. as of 2001. Condit moved to Arizona with his wife after losing his congressional seat in 2003. 

Both Condit and his wife are extremely secretive about their personal life. His wife rarely did interviews even before her husband got national attention because of his relationship with Levy. She also rarely made public appearances. She still maintains a private life at the moment.

His Wife Is Mostly Sickly

Condit's wife, who grew up with her two younger siblings in Tulsa, had health issues early. Her several friends and family members said to The Washington Post in 2001 that she had suffered from migraine headaches since her childhood, which occasionally caused painful nerve problems. Janet Pagano, who went to high school with Carolyn, told the newspaper that Carolyn was a sweet, lively girl who sometimes got headaches.

The Washington Post also reported that several people claimed Carolyn's husband suggested to other women, colleagues, and staffers that Carolyn is sickly, and her illness was the justification for his extramarital affairs. For example, during a telephone call to Larry King Live in 2001, a flight attendant, who alleged an affair with Condit, said Condit told her his wife was ill.

When she asked him if he was married during their first meeting, he said yes but also said to her that his wife was very sick and supposedly had encephalitis of the brain. She said he also maintained that his relationship with his wife was more of a friendship and that he cared about her, but stayed with her more or less to take care of her.

Condit's wife also rarely visited Condit's political circles in Washington D.C.

His Children Also Pursued Their Career In Politics

Chad went on to work as a Chief of Staff in the California State Assembly in 1997, then as an assistant to the Governor of California in 1999. Since 2011, he has worked as a Senior Legislative Assistant in the California State Assembly. He also ran for the United States House of Representatives in 2012, representing California's 10th District. But on 5 June 2012, he was defeated in the open primary. Chad was backed by his parents, Gary and Carolyn, in the bid for congress.

Cadee worked as the special assistant in the office of Californian Governor Gray Davis, with Chad working as the central valley liaison till August of 2001. Then in 2021, Cadee was appointed as the director of government relations in American Pistachio Growers (APG). 

Did You Know?

According to Celebritynetworth, Gary Condit's estimated net worth is $1 million.