Edward Vincent was elected to the California State Senate

California State Senate

The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...

 in November 2000, and represents the 25th Senatorial District which includes Compton

Compton, California

Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city of Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city to incorporate. The city is considered part of the South side by residents of Los...

, Gardena

Gardena, California

Gardena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 58,829 at the 2010 census, up from 57,746 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Gardena is located at ....

, Hawthorne

Hawthorne, California

Hawthorne is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California. The city at the 2010 census had a population of 84,293, up from 84,112 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...

, Inglewood

Inglewood, California

Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...

, Lawndale

Lawndale, California

Lawndale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 32,769 at the 2010 census, up from 31,711 according to the 2000 census...

, Lynwood

Lynwood, California

Lynwood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States of America. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 69,772, down from 69,845 at the 2000 census. Lynwood is located near South Gate and Compton in the southern portion of the Los Angeles Basin. Incorporated in...

, Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, Long Beach

Long Beach, California

Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...

, San Pedro

San Pedro, Los Angeles, California

San Pedro is a port district of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was annexed in 1909 and is a major seaport of the area...

, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Vincent and his wife Marilyn have lived in Inglewood since 1968. They have two daughters and three grandchildren.

Life before politics

Born in Steubenville, Ohio

Steubenville, Ohio

Steubenville is a city located along the Ohio River in Jefferson County, Ohio on the Ohio-West Virginia border in the United States. It is the political county seat of Jefferson County. It is also a principal city of the Weirton–Steubenville, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, Vincent showed a love for sports and a desire to succeed. This helped him to gain an athletic scholarship to the University of Iowa

University of Iowa

The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

 in 1952. There he majored in Public Relations

Public relations

Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....

 and Advertising

Advertising

Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

. Moreover, Vincent excelled on the football field, receiving All Big Ten and All-American honors. As the third draft choice of the 1956 Los Angeles Rams, Vincent played in several games before being sidelined by injuries.

While serving in the military, Vincent received all Army and all Service Football Team honors. After an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army in 1959, Vincent continued his education, earning a BA

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree in Corrections and Social Welfare from California State University, Los Angeles

California State University, Los Angeles

California State University, Los Angeles is a public comprehensive university, part of the California State University system...

. He then embarked upon a 35-year career with the Los Angeles County Probation Department

Los Angeles County Probation Department

The Los Angeles County Probation Department provides services for those placed on probation within Los Angeles County, California, USA. Donald H. Blevins is the current Chief Probation Officer...

.

Local politics

Vincent was elected to the Inglewood Unified School District's Board of Trustees, where he served as president from 1978 to 1979. Moreover, he represented the residents of District No. 4 on the Inglewood City Council from 1979 to 1983. In 1983, Vincent began his term as the first African-American Mayor of the City of Inglewood and was re-elected for three additional terms. He was also commissioner of the State of California World Trade Commission.

State Assembly

Vincent served as a member of the California State Assembly

California State Assembly

The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...

  from 1996 to 2000, representing the 51st Assembly District. In the Assembly, he chaired the Elections, Reapportionment, and Constitutional Amendments Committee as well as the California Horse Racing Industry Committee. On October 24, 2000, Vincent received the Cuactemoc Award

Cuauhtémoc

Cuauhtémoc was the Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521...

for outstanding public service on behalf of farm workers. The award was presented by La Cooperativa.

State Senate

Between 2000 and 2008 Vincent served in the State Senate. He was a member of the Senate Committees on Agriculture, Governmental Organization, and Health. He also chaired the Select Committee on the Horseracing Industry. In this function, he authored legislation on gambling licenses, state teacher retirement benefits, horse racing, and community care facilities. He was forced to leave the Senate in 2008 due to term limits.