# Carlos Moorhead

Carlos John Moorhead (May 5, 1922 – November 23, 2011) was an American lawyer and politician who served twelve terms as a United States Congressman from California from 1973 to 1997.

## Early life and education

Born in Long Beach, he attended the public schools of Glendale, graduated from Herbert Hoover High School (Glendale) in 1940 and earned a B.A. from UCLA in 1943 and a J.D. from the University of Southern California Law School in 1949.

## World War II

He served in the United States Army from 1942 to 1945 and attained the rank of lieutenant colonel.

## Career

Moorhead was admitted to the California State Bar in 1949 and commenced practice in Glendale; he was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court in 1973, and was a member of the California Law Revision Commission.

### California assembly

From 1967 to 1973, he was a member of the California State Assembly for the 43rd district.

### Congress

He was elected as a Republican to the 93rd and to the eleven succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1973, to January 3, 1997. He was best known for supporting President Richard Nixon during impeachment hearings, voting ‘no’ on all three articles of impeachment.
He was not a candidate for reelection to the 105th Congress.

## Death

He died after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease in 2011.

## Electoral history

1972 United States House of Representatives elections in California, 20th district :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Carlos Moorhead | 120,299 | 57.4 |
| | Democratic | John Binkley | 89,219 | 42.6 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 209,518 | 100.0 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
1974 United States House of Representatives elections :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Carlos Moorhead (incumbent) | 78,983 | 55.8% |
| | Democratic | Richard Hallin | 62,770 | 44.2% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 141,753 | 100.0% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic |
1976 United States House of Representatives elections :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Carlos Moorhead (incumbent) | 114,769 | 62.6% |
| | Democratic | Robert S. Henry | 68,543 | 37.4% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 183,312 | 100.0% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
1978 United States House of Representatives elections :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Carlos Moorhead (incumbent) | 99,502 | 64.6% |
| | Democratic | Robert S. Henry | 54,442 | 35.4% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 153,944 | 100.0% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
1980 United States House of Representatives elections :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Carlos Moorhead (incumbent) | 115,241 | 63.9% |
| | Democratic | Pierce O'Donnell | 57,477 | 31.9% |
| | Libertarian | William V. Susel | 7,705 | 4.3% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 180,423 | 100.0% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
1982 United States House of Representatives elections :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Carlos Moorhead (incumbent) | 145,831 | 73.6% |
| | Democratic | Harvey L. Goldhammer | 46,521 | 23.5% |
| | Libertarian | Robert T. Gerringer | 5,870 | 3.0% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 198,222 | 100.0% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
1984 United States House of Representatives elections :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Carlos Moorhead (incumbent) | 184,981 | 85.2% |
| | Libertarian | Michael B. Yauch | 32,036 | 14.8% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 217,017 | 100.0% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
1986 United States House of Representatives elections :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Carlos Moorhead (incumbent) | 141,096 | 73.8% |
| | Democratic | John G. Simmons | 44,036 | 23.0% |
| | Libertarian | Jona Joy Bergland | 3,114 | 1.6% |
| | Peace and Freedom | Joel Lorimer | 2,930 | 1.5% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 191,176 | 100.0% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
1988 United States House of Representatives elections :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Carlos Moorhead (incumbent) | 164,699 | 69.5% |
| | Democratic | John G. Simmons | 61,555 | 26.0% |
| | Peace and Freedom | Shirley Rachel Isaacson | 6,298 | 2.7% |
| | Libertarian | Ted Brown | 4,259 | 1.8% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 235,811 | 100.0% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
1990 United States House of Representatives elections :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Carlos Moorhead (incumbent) | 108,634 | 60.0% |
| | Democratic | David Bayer | 61,630 | 34.1% |
| | Libertarian | William H. Wilson | 6,702 | 3.7% |
| | Peace and Freedom | Jan B. Tucker | 3,963 | 2.2% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 180,929 | 100.0% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
1992 United States House of Representatives elections in California :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Carlos Moorhead (Incumbent) | 105,521 | 49.7 |
| | Democratic | Doug Kahn | 83,805 | 39.4 |
| | Green | Jesse A. Moorman | 11,003 | 5.2 |
| | Peace and Freedom | Margaret L. Edwards | 7,329 | 3.5 |
| | Libertarian | Dennis Decherd | 4,790 | 2.3 |
| | Independent | Ballantyne (write-in) | 2 | 0.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 212,450 | 100.0 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
1994 United States House of Representatives elections in California :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Carlos Moorhead (Incumbent) | 88,341 | 53.0 |
| | Democratic | Doug Kahn | 70,267 | 42.1 |
| | American Independent | Bill Gibbs | 4,328 | 2.6 |
| | Libertarian | Dennis Decherd | 3,838 | 2.3 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 166,774 | 100.0 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |