A former Marine, mayor, and fifth grade teacher at Evergreen's Holly Oak school, Dan McCorquodale had lived in Santa Clara County only a few years when he was elected to represent District 3 on the board of supervisors in 1972. By campaigning door to door (wearing out twelve pairs of shoes), McCorquodale ensured a victory against conservative incumbent Charles Quinn.

A major shift in the direction of county politics took place as McCorquodale changed the role of supervisor from that of policymaker to that of a project instigator and completer. McCorquodale was able to accomplish this because the office of supervisor became a full-time position, giving the supervisors more influence over county affairs.

County government efficiency was one of Supervisor McCorquodale' s major concerns. He believed that many public services in the county were being duplicated at various levels of government. He proposed that a conference be held to find and eliminate this duplication, which had often caused residents to be taxed several times for the same service. He was a longtime chair of the Valley Medical Center Joint Conference Committee that reorganized the administration of the hospital and proposed the reconstruction that led to the re­cently approved "North Tower " project.

McCorquodale was a powerful force for effective social programs developing the "workforce" concept that replaced welfare in the county. He also worked on open space and transit projects. One of his pet projects was to revive the Suntan Special train service from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz.

In 1982 he was elected state senator for District 12 and was a powerful force for human rights, transit and environmental issues at the state level. He and his wife Jean, a real estate agency owner in San Jose, continue to be active in social causes.