Well, the good news is that convicted Senator Ted Stevens has been voted out of office. Unfortunately, we here in Louisiana will likely not have that opportunity if and when Congressman Jefferson is convicted sometime next spring.
But that's besides the point of this post. And the hat tip goes to CenLamar:
As Majority Leader, [Hale] Boggs often campaigned for others. On October 16, 1972, he was aboard a twin engine Cessna 310 with Representative Nick Begich of Alaska, who was facing a possible tight race in the November 1972 general election against the Republican candidate Don Young, when it disappeared during a flight from Anchorage to Juneau. The only others on board were Begich's aide, Russell Brown, and the pilot, Don Jonz;[2] the four were heading to a campaign fundraiser for Begich. (Begich won the 1972 election posthumously with 56 percent to Young's 44 percent, though Young would win the special election to replace Begich and has won every election to the seat since then.)
In the largest search ever mounted by the U.S. military,[citation needed] Coast Guard, Navy, and Air Force planes searched for the party. On November 24, 1972, after 39 days, the search was abandoned. Neither the wreckage of the plane nor the pilot's and passengers' remains were ever found. The accident prompted Congress to pass a law mandating Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELT's) in all U.S. civil aircraft.
Both Boggs and Begich were re-elected that November. House Resolution 1 of January 3, 1973 officially recognized Boggs's presumed death and opened the way for a special election.
The connection? Mark Begich is Nick Begich's son. And Hale Boggs, is, as CenLamar also points out, the father of Cokie Roberts.
