John F. McCarthy

John Francis McCarthy (February 18, 1924 – February 21, 1981) was a Republican member of the California Senate. Before he was in California's legislature, he was a merchant marine during the Second World War. He entered office in 1950 as a nonpartisan senator before turning Republican in 1952. He was the Senate's Minority Leader from 1967 until his retirement in 1971. During his tenure, he created and passed a bill for the formation of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in 1957. He was a strong advocate of free speech, and believed that a university is like a fourth branch of government. A lifelong resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, McCarthy represented State Senate District 13 from 1951 to 1967, and District 4 in his final term (1967–1971). He was born in San Francisco and died in the suburb of Tiburon. He had 7 children.

The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge was named in his honor.

His elder brother, Democrat Robert I. McCarthy served in the State Assembly from 1948 to 1952 and Senate from 1954 to 1958.