Kathleen Sullivan Alioto

Who is Kathleen Sullivan Alioto?

Kathleen Sullivan Alioto is an American educator and politician who served as a member of the Boston School Committee from 1974 to 1979; its president in 1977. She was succeeded on the school committee by her sister, Jean Sullivan McKeigue.

Alioto is the daughter of Billy Sullivan, founder and longtime owner of the New England Patriots.

From 1974 to 1976, Sullivan dated the then-closeted Barney Frank. In April of 1976, Sullivan's father suggested that while she was attending a convention in San Francisco, she lunch with former San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto. Sullivan and Alioto married in 1978 and remained together until his death in 1998. Their wedding was performed by excommunicated priest and activist Joseph O'Rourke.

Alioto was a Democratic Party primary election candidate for the United States Senate in 1978; she finish third.

Alioto has two children, Patrick Joseph Sullivan Alioto and Domenica Alioto.