B. F. Sisk

Bernice Frederic Sisk (December 14, 1910 – October 25, 1995) was an American politician who served as a Congressman from California from 1955 to 1979. He was a member of the Democratic Party.

Life and career Sisk was born in 1910 in Montague, Texas, the son of Lavina (Thomas) and Arthur Lee Sisk.

Congress He was elected to the House in 1954, representing a district that included Fresno, Merced and Modesto. He defeated Republican incumbent Oakley Hunter in one of the major upsets of the 1954 midterm Congressional elections. The district had been in Republican hands for all but ten years since its creation in 1913, but Sisk went on to hold the seat for 12 terms. The district would remain in Democratic hands until the election of Republican John Duarte to Congress in 2022.

Sisk was a long-time member of the House Rules Committee and the Agriculture Committee, and served as Chairman of the Cotton Subcommittee, where he helped heal the long-standing rift between southern and western cotton producers. A proponent of production inducements rather than direct farm subsidies, he backed legislation to aid the dairy, wine, sugar, fig and raisin industries.

Sisk was also a major political force in the United States Congress pushing for the creation of the Central Valley Project which eventually developed into a $37 billion water supply system that serves California's Central Valley. The B.F. Sisk Dam in Merced County, built in the 1960s, and more commonly known as the San Luis Dam, is named for him.

Sisk retired from Congress in 1978. He was succeeded by his former chief of staff, Tony Coelho.

Affiliations B. F. Sisk was a member of the Palm Avenue Church of Christ in Fresno.

Death Sisk died in Fresno on October 25, 1995.

Electoral history + California's 12th congressional district: Results 1954-1960 Year Subject Party Votes % Opponent Party Votes % 1954 | |B. F. Sisk |Democratic |63,911 |53.79 | | A. Oakley Hunter (inc.) |Republican |54,903 |46.21 1956 | |B. F. Sisk (inc.) |Democratic |69,300 |73.00 | |Robert B. Moore |Republican |40,663 |27.00 1958 | |B. F. Sisk (inc.) |Democratic |112,702 |81.12 | |Daniel K. Halpin |Republican |26,228 |18.88 1960 | |B. F. Sisk (inc.) |Democratic |141,974 |99.91 | |Others (write-in) |N/A |126 |0.09 + California's 16th congressional district: Results 1962-1972 Year Subject Party Votes % Opponent Party Votes % 1962 | |B. F. Sisk (inc.) |Democratic |108,339 |71.87 | |Arthur L. Selland |Republican |42,401 |28.13 1964 | |B. F. Sisk (inc.) |Democratic |117,727 |66.77 | |David T. "Dave" Harris |Republican |58,604 |33.24 1966 | |B. F. Sisk (inc.) |Democratic |118,063 |71.38 | |Cecil F. White |Republican |47,329 |28.62 1968 | |B. F. Sisk (inc.) |Democratic |97,476 |62.46 | |David T. "Dave" Harris |Republican |55,188 |35.36 1970 | |B. F. Sisk (inc.) |Democratic |95,118 |66.42 | |Phillip V. Sanchez |Republican |43,843 |30.62 1972 | |B. F. Sisk (inc.) |Democratic |134,132 |79.13 | |Carol Harner |Republican |35,385 |20.87 + California's 15th congressional district: Results 1974-1976 Year Subject Party Votes % Opponent Party Votes % 1974 | |B. F. Sisk (inc.) |Democratic |80,897 |72.01 | |Carol Harner |Republican |31,439 |27.99 1976 | |B. F. Sisk (inc.) |Democratic |92,735 |72.20 | |Carol Harner |Republican |35,700 |27.80