Recollections of Gary Hart

Former state senator Gary Hart died on January 27, 2022, but several weeks before, his onetime Santa Barbara field representative Michael DeLapa wrote a remembrance of their friendship.

I met Gary in 1987 on Rich Leib’s couch. Nothing funny, I assure you. I drove from Santa Barbara to Santa Monica to interview for a job as Gary’s field representative in Santa Barbara. The interview was at 8 p.m. at the apartment of a guy I never met. So that seemed a little strange to me. Even stranger was this tall, friendly, soft-spoken state senator who I remember peppering me with questions — questions about Stanford, where he had gone, and basketball, which he had played, and other sports, which we both enjoyed, and Italy, which we both had love for. Funny, he never asked about my qualifications or politics. I asked him a few things, including where he was staying. When he pointed to Rich’s couch, I knew we would be kindred spirits — Italiophilic Stanford sports enthusiasts with a predilection for couch-surfing.

Fast forward to Gary’s campaign for Congress in 1988. I was canvassing local businesses with him, and a woman in a supermarket approached us. Earnestly, she explained her love of Jesus and Christianity, and asked Gary how he felt about the Son of God. Gary, not skipping a beat, replied enthusiastically, “I support him.”