Ex-Aide Wounded in Cult Inquiry Wins House Seat in California

Jackie Speier, who as a Congressional aide nearly 30 years ago was shot and left for dead on a Guyana airstrip, won a special election Tuesday for the House seat once held by her former boss.

A former California state lawmaker, Ms. Speier had nearly 78 percent of the vote with 71 percent of the precincts reporting in a five-way race.

The district had been represented for the last 27 years by Representative Tom Lantos, a Democrat who died in February.

Ms. Speier’s former boss, Representative Leo J. Ryan, was killed in on Nov. 18, 1978, on a fact-finding trip looking into the cult led by Jim Jones. Ms. Speier was seriously wounded. More than 900 cult members committed suicide or were slain.

She lost a special election to succeed Mr. Ryan but has represented much of the area as a San Mateo County supervisor, assemblywoman and state senator.