Donald J. Albosta

Donald Joseph Albosta (born December 5, 1925) is a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.

Albosta was born in Saginaw, Michigan and attended Saginaw and Chesaning public schools. He graduated from Chesaning Agricultural School, and attended Delta College in Bay City.

He served in the United States Navy, was a farmer, owner, and developer of Misteguay Creek Farms. He served as Albee Township Trustee and was associate director of the Saginaw County Soil Conservation District. He was Saginaw County Commissioner from 1970 to 1974 and served in the Michigan State House of Representatives from 1974 to 1976, representing the 86th District. In 1976, he first ran for the United States House of Representatives, losing to incumbent Elford Cederberg.

In 1978, Albosta unseated the incumbent Cederberg and was elected as a Democrat from Michigan's 10th congressional district to the Ninety-sixth Congress and to the two succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1979 to January 3, 1985. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Ninety-ninth Congress, losing to Bill Schuette. He also ran unsuccessfully against Schuette in 1986. Albosta is a resident of St. Charles, Michigan.

Albosta was chair of the House Subcommittee on Human Resources which conducted an investigation into the so-called October Surprise, in which the presidential campaign of Ronald Reagan was alleged to have orchestrated delaying the release of U.S. hostages held by Iran until after the election as well as allegations that the Reagan campaign stole President Carter's briefing materials, a controversy known as Debategate. The subcommittee's final report in 1984 excoriated Reagan's campaign staff for employing unethical, if not illegal tactics. Albosta's committee spent over $500,000 on the investigation, but never identified a culprit. This did not play well with voters in his district and he was defeated in November 1984. It was later revealed that the person behind the leaked briefing books was Paul Corbin, a former aide to Robert Kennedy and a disgruntled Ted Kennedy supporter.^[1]

His daughter, Christine C. White, was appointed in March 2003 as the Director of Agriculture Policy for the Michigan Department of Agriculture.

Notes

1. ^ Paul Corbin

References

• Donald J. Albosta at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Elford Cederberg	United States Representative for the 10th Congressional District of Michigan 1979 – 1985	Succeeded by Bill Schuette

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Name	Albosta, Donald J.
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Date of birth	December 5, 1925
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