Andrew J. Hinshaw

Andrew J. Hinshaw
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 40th district
In office January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1977
Preceded by	Bob Wilson
Succeeded by	Robert Badham
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 39th district
In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1975
Preceded by	District created
Succeeded by	Charles E. Wiggins
Personal details
Born	August 4, 1923 Dexter, Missouri
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	University of Southern California USC Law School

Andrew Jackson Hinshaw (born August 4, 1923) was a United States Representative who, in 1977, was convicted of accepting bribes from the Tandy Corporation in his previous job as Orange County, California, assessor. In the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Edition. January 17, 1981 Page 1 Part II Settlement Proposed in Tandy Case, Company Involved In Bribe Of Ex-Assessor Would Recover Funds. By Leo C., Wolinsky, Times Staff Writer Attorneys for the Orange County assessor’s office have tentatively agreed to settle a 10- year-old tax dispute, competing the last chapter in a bribery scandal that ended the career of former Rep. Andrew J. Hinshaw,.

The settlement, if approved by county supervisors, will return more than $200,000 to the Tandy Corp., owners of Radio Shack, the electronics firm that figured prominently in Hinshaw’s activates that the he served as Orange County’s assessor. Hinshaw’s 1976 conviction on two counts of bribery was based on allegations that he pressured Tandy into giving him free stereo equipment and contributing to his political campaigns to assure a favorable tax assessment on imports stored in the firm’s Garden Grove warehouse.

According to evidence produced during the course of the investigation “raised questions in our minds,” said Deputy County Counsel Laurance C. Watson, and prompted the county to overrule Hinshaw’s lower assessments. Tandy eventually was charged a total of $232,932 pending a final determination of the case.

In the mean time several court decisions placed the tax issue in question. Tandy filed suit against the county charging that it was being singled out in a discriminatory manner. The firm claimed Hibshaw’s final assessment had been levied lawfully. The settlement now being proposed by the county represented an end to an investigation that concluded that Hinshaw was correct in granting exemptions on six tax bills amounting to $196,109. The county proposes to refund that amount to Tandy along with interest since 1975, when the firm agreed to pay the tax bill under protest. Legal point of view “We looked at it from a purely legal point of view and I guess you could say Hinshaw was right,” Watson said.

As reported in the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Edition.

January 17, 1981 Page 1 Part II

Biography

Hinshaw was born in Dexter, Missouri and attended public schools in Michigan and Los Angeles, California. He was in the Navy in World War II from 1942 to 1945. He received a B.S. degree from the University of Southern California in 1950 and attended the USC Law School.

Hinshaw worked for 10 years for the California State Board of Equalization and five years for the Los Angeles County Assessor's Office. He entered politics as the Assessor of Orange County, California, serving from 1965 to 1972. This had been a controversial office and there had been calls from Orange County grand juries to change the extremely lenient treatment given to large landowners. This was Hinshaw's pledge, which he achieved. Hinshaw was convicted of accepting bribes while Assessor of Orange County. He served one year in prison in 1977.^[1]

In 1972 Hinshaw entered the Republican primary for California's 39th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. The district, which had been the 35th District prior to redistricting, was represented by outspoken conservative John Schmitz. Hinshaw, considered a moderate Republican by Orange County standards, was personally recruited by President Richard Nixon, whose home in San Clemente was in the district after Schmitz suggested that Nixon should not have returned from his 1972 visit to China.

Hinshaw scored a considerable upset in the Republican primary election, narrowly defeating Schmitz by 2.7 percentage points. This was tantamount to election in what has long been considered the most Republican district in California. Hinshaw was reelected in 1974 but was defeated in the 1976 primary by State Assemblyman Robert Badham, who won the general election.

References

• Andrew J. Hinshaw at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress