Chip Pashayan

Charles Sahag "Chip" Pashayan Jr. (born March 27, 1941) is an American lawyer and politician from California. He served as a Republican Congressman from the Fresno area in California's Central Valley from 1979 to 1991.

Biography Born in Fresno, Pashayan attended Bullard High School, graduated with a B.A. from Pomona College in 1963 and earned his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1968.

He is of Armenian descent.

Early career He was admitted to the California bar in 1969 and to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States in 1977. He served in the United States Army at the rank of captain from 1968 to 1970. He was special assistant to the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

He earned a B.Litt. from Oxford University in 1977.

Congress Pashayan won his first term in 1978, when he upset two-term incumbent Democrat John Hans Krebs by a 54% to 46% margin. He introduced a House resolution recognizing Bobby Fischer as the official World Chess Champion, which passed in 1986. He represented his largely rural, conservative district until 1990, when he was defeated for reelection by Democrat Cal Dooley.

Electoral history