Finally, the answer to a question that probably only three or four people have ever wondered… is Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer Sr. the legislator with the longest name ever?
Yes.
Well, kind of. Using his full name, Jones-Sawyer’s 28 characters come in as the easy winner. The second-longest legislator name belonged to Juanita Millender-McDonald (25 characters).
The issue is this; the Assemblyman actually uses the 18-character “Reggie Jones-Sawyer.” The shorter version of his name falls a bit farther down the list (being 120th doesn’t carry quite the prestige of #1).
You can decide for yourself.
- Some recent legislators and their name lengths:
Negrete McLeod, Gloria (19 characters)
Villaraigosa, Antonio (19 characters)
Ducheny, Denise Moreno (19 characters)
Hollingsworth, Dennis (19 characters)
Jackson, Hannah-Beth (18 characters)
Jones-Sawyer, Reggie (18 characters)
UPDATED 9/9/2013: Michael Lynch of Assemblyman Jones-Sawyer’s office has provided me with one of his boss’s business cards, which does indeed list the longer version of the name.