Hugh De Lacy

Who was Hugh De Lacy?

Emerson Hugh De Lacy, known as Hugh De Lacy, an American politician, served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1945 to 1947. He represented the First Congressional District of Washington as a Democrat.

De Lacy was elected to the Seattle City Council in 1937. He was subsequently elected as President of the Washington Commonwealth Federation, a left-wing pressure group within the Washington State Democratic Party that was controlled by the Communist Party USA. According to historian of American Communism Harvey Klehr, De Lacy was a secret member of the Communist Party USA at the time of his 1937 election.

De Lacy's party membership was first publicly revealed by the former Executive Secretary of the Washington Commonwealth Federation, Howard Costigan, who declared in sworn testimony delivered to the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1954 that he had sat with De Lacy on the governing bureau of the Seattle district of the CPUSA from 1937 to 1939.

De Lacy was elected to the United States Congress in 1944, replacing fellow Democrat Warren G. Magnuson who had retired from the House to run for United States Senate.