Thomas M. Reynolds
Encyclopedia
Thomas M. Reynolds commonly known as Tom Reynolds, is a politician
from the U.S. state
of New York
, formerly representing the state's 26th Congressional district
in the United States House of Representatives
. Reynolds was chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee
, the official Republican House campaign organization, for the 2006 election cycle. He retired at the end of the 110th Congress. Chris J. Lee was elected to replace him.
and graduated from the Springville-Griffith Institute. He served in the New York Air National Guard
from 1970 to 1976, and was elected to the Concord, New York
town board in 1974. Reynolds was elected to the Erie County
legislature in 1982. He was elected to the New York Assembly as a Republican
from Erie County in 1988.
was forced out of his leadership role in the House Republican leadership ranks because of his role in a coup attempt against Newt Gingrich
. Paxon endorsed Reynolds, who had managed several of his past campaigns, as his successor. There was controversy because Reynolds did not live in Paxon's district, his Springville
home being in the neighboring district of fellow Republican Jack Quinn
who was running for his own reelection. Reynolds would not move into the district until eight months after the election when he purchased a home in Clarence
— near Amherst
, one of the larger towns in the seven-county district.
voting record in Congress. His 83 percent rating from the American Conservative Union
tied him with Peter T. King
of Long Island as the third most conservative among the state's 29 Representatives as of the 110th Congress. Only Representatives Randy Kuhl
(92%) and Vito Fossella
(84%) received higher ratings.
proposed a plan that would have made his district slightly more Democratic
. Although Republicans would have still held a plurality, this proposed plan would have left Reynolds vulnerable to a primary with a moderate Republican. According to one political strategist, Reynolds and his allies in Washington wanted a district that would let him vote "like a Southern conservative." With the help of Vice President Dick Cheney
, Reynolds pressured the state legislature to redraw his district so that it closely resembled his former territory.
He was handily reelected from this reconfigured district in 2002. In 2004, his opponent was millionaire industrialist Jack Davis
. Reynolds won by 12 points, an unusually close margin given that he had won with 72 percent of the vote two years earlier. In 2006 Reynolds again defeated Davis by 4% of the vote amid the Mark Foley page scandal.
hundreds of thousands of dollars from the committee treasury while Reynolds chaired it. According to New York Daily News
political reporter Elizabeth Benjamin, the NRCC was never independently audited during Reynolds' three-year tenure as its chairman.
Reynolds was the 29th Republican incumbent to announce he would not run again in 2008. Despite the perception (see above) that Reynolds had the district redrawn to protect him, it is actually a somewhat marginal district on paper; it has a Cook Partisan Voting Index
of R+3.
from 2003 to 2006. While he oversaw a three-seat Republican gain in the 2004 elections, he also oversaw the 29-seat loss that allowed the Democrats to regain control of the House.
(R-Louisiana
), the sponsor of a House page
(from his district) who received e-mails from Representative Mark Foley
, told reporters that he learned of the e-mails from the page's family in November, 2005. Alexander said the family did not want the matter pursued. Alexander also said he passed information that Foley had appeared overly friendly first to Majority Leader John Boehner, and later to Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee
. Carl Forti, a spokesman for the GOP campaign organization, said Reynolds also was told by Alexander that the parents did not want to pursue the matter and that they did not want a large-scale investigation.
Reynolds later issued a statement that he had spoken with House Speaker Dennis Hastert
about the matter early in 2006. According to the Washington Post, "Republican insiders said Reynolds spoke out because he was angry that Hastert appeared willing to let him take the blame for the party leadership's silence." Hastert did not "explicitly recall" that conversation but said he did not dispute it.
On October 2, Reynolds held a press conference on the matter, from Buffalo
at Daemen College
while surrounded by numerous children of his adult supporters. He said he took the Foley matter to his "supervisor" as soon as he found out about it. Reynolds claimed that he had no knowledge of any sexual conversations or e-mails between Foley and the page until after it was disclosed in the media. Soon afterwards, he came out with a television campaign advertisement claiming that he had no knowledge of the depth of Foley's transgressions until afterwards.
In December, 2006, Reynolds was largely exonerated by the Republican-controlled House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
, which probed the Foley case. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported in its December 9 edition that "Rep. Tom Reynolds told the truth when he said he told House Speaker Dennis Hastert about ex-Rep. Mark Foley's questionable e-mails to congressional pages, the House ethics committee has concluded," while the Associated Press reported "the House ethics committee on Friday cleared Rep. Thomas Reynolds and his ex-chief of staff Kirk Fordham of wrongdoing in the congressional page scandal."
On page 76 of its report, the committee reported they had uncovered the fact that "the communications directors for both the House Democratic Caucus and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also had copies of the e-mails in the fall of 2005," months prior to Reynolds' knowledge of the incident. During the 2006 campaign, Republicans charged that Democrats had prior knowledge of Foley's inappropriate e-mails with a House page. Democrats, including DCCC
Chairman Rahm Emanuel
, vehemently denied the accusation which was subsequently proven to be a lie.
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
from the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, formerly representing the state's 26th Congressional district
New York's 26th congressional district
The 26th Congressional District of New York is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in Western New York. It includes all of Genesee, Livingston, and Wyoming counties, and parts of Erie, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans counties...
in the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. Reynolds was chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee
National Republican Congressional Committee
The National Republican Congressional Committee is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives....
, the official Republican House campaign organization, for the 2006 election cycle. He retired at the end of the 110th Congress. Chris J. Lee was elected to replace him.
Early life
Reynolds was born in Bellefonte, PennsylvaniaBellefonte, Pennsylvania
Bellefonte is a borough in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It lies about twelve miles northeast of State College and is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area...
and graduated from the Springville-Griffith Institute. He served in the New York Air National Guard
New York Air National Guard
The New York Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of New York. It is, along with the New York Army National Guard, an element of the New York National Guard. It is considered a part of the United States Air Force, as well as its state mission...
from 1970 to 1976, and was elected to the Concord, New York
Concord, New York
Concord is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 8,526 at the 2000 census. The town is believed to be named after Concord, Massachusetts by early settlers from New England....
town board in 1974. Reynolds was elected to the Erie County
Erie County, New York
Erie County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 919,040. The county seat is Buffalo. The county's name comes from Lake Erie, which in turn comes from the Erie tribe of American Indians who lived south and east of the lake before 1654.Erie...
legislature in 1982. He was elected to the New York Assembly as a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
from Erie County in 1988.
1998 election
Reynolds ran for the House in 1998 after Bill PaxonBill Paxon
L. William Paxon , known as Bill Paxon, is a lobbyist and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York.-Early life:...
was forced out of his leadership role in the House Republican leadership ranks because of his role in a coup attempt against Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....
. Paxon endorsed Reynolds, who had managed several of his past campaigns, as his successor. There was controversy because Reynolds did not live in Paxon's district, his Springville
Springville, New York
Springville is a village in the southeast part of the town of Concord in Erie County, New York, United States. Springville is the principal community in the town and a major business location in south Erie County. The population was 4,252 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara...
home being in the neighboring district of fellow Republican Jack Quinn
Jack Quinn (politics)
John Francis "Jack" Quinn is the President of Erie Community College and a former politician from the State of New York. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives....
who was running for his own reelection. Reynolds would not move into the district until eight months after the election when he purchased a home in Clarence
Clarence, New York
Clarence is a town located in the northeastern part of Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 30,673 according to the 2010 census. This represents an increase of 17.42% from the 2000 census figure . Clarence is also the name of a postal district in the south part of the town...
— near Amherst
Amherst, New York
Amherst is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 122,366. This represents an increase of 5.0% from the 2000 census. The town is named for Jeffrey Amherst, a British Army officer of the colonial period...
, one of the larger towns in the seven-county district.
Committee Assignments
- Ways and Means Committee
- Subcommittee on Select Revenue MeasuresUnited States House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue MeasuresThe Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measure is a subcommittee of the Committee on Ways and Means in the United States House of Representatives.-Jurisdiction:From the House rules:...
- Subcommittee on TradeUnited States House Ways and Means Subcommittee on TradeThe House Way and Means Subcommittee on Trade is one of the six subcommittees within the House Ways and Means Committee-Jurisdiction:From the House Rules:...
- Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures
Political positions
Reynolds had a "conservative"Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
voting record in Congress. His 83 percent rating from the American Conservative Union
American Conservative Union
The American Conservative Union is an American political organization advocating conservative policies, and is the oldest such conservative lobbying organization in the country.-Organization:...
tied him with Peter T. King
Peter T. King
Peter T. "Pete" King is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party. King's central Long Island district includes parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties....
of Long Island as the third most conservative among the state's 29 Representatives as of the 110th Congress. Only Representatives Randy Kuhl
Randy Kuhl
John R. "Randy" Kuhl, Jr. is an American Republican politician, and former member of the United States House of Representatives from New York. He represented New York's 29th congressional district for two terms before being defeated for reelection by Eric Massa on November 4, 2008 by margin of...
(92%) and Vito Fossella
Vito Fossella
Vito John Fossella, Jr. is a U.S. Republican politician from the state of New York who formerly represented the state's 13th Congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives for six terms, from 1997 to 2009 serving as the lone Republican from New York City. Fossella, a Staten Island...
(84%) received higher ratings.
Re-elections
In the 2000 round of redistricting, a special masterSpecial master
In law, a special master is an authority appointed by a judge to make sure that judicial orders are actually followed.In England, at common law, there were "Masters in Chancery," who acted in aid of the Equity Courts. There were also "Masters in Lunacy," who conducted inquiries of the same nature...
proposed a plan that would have made his district slightly more Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. Although Republicans would have still held a plurality, this proposed plan would have left Reynolds vulnerable to a primary with a moderate Republican. According to one political strategist, Reynolds and his allies in Washington wanted a district that would let him vote "like a Southern conservative." With the help of Vice President Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
, Reynolds pressured the state legislature to redraw his district so that it closely resembled his former territory.
He was handily reelected from this reconfigured district in 2002. In 2004, his opponent was millionaire industrialist Jack Davis
Jack Davis (industrialist)
John "Jack" Davis is an American industrialist and politician from Newstead, New York. He made his fourth bid for New York's 26th congressional district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the special election held on May 24, 2011. The election was held to fill the seat vacated by...
. Reynolds won by 12 points, an unusually close margin given that he had won with 72 percent of the vote two years earlier. In 2006 Reynolds again defeated Davis by 4% of the vote amid the Mark Foley page scandal.
Retirement
On March 20, 2008 Reynolds announced he would not run for a sixth term, saying "it was time to take up new challenges." In addition to the fallout from the Mark Foley scandal (see below), another factor was thought to be revelations that the former NRCC treasurer had embezzledEmbezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
hundreds of thousands of dollars from the committee treasury while Reynolds chaired it. According to New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
political reporter Elizabeth Benjamin, the NRCC was never independently audited during Reynolds' three-year tenure as its chairman.
Reynolds was the 29th Republican incumbent to announce he would not run again in 2008. Despite the perception (see above) that Reynolds had the district redrawn to protect him, it is actually a somewhat marginal district on paper; it has a Cook Partisan Voting Index
Cook Partisan Voting Index
The Cook Partisan Voting Index , sometimes referred to as simply the Partisan Voting Index , is a measurement of how strongly an American congressional district or state leans toward one political party compared to the nation as a whole...
of R+3.
NRCC
Reynolds served as chairman of the National Republican Congressional CommitteeNational Republican Congressional Committee
The National Republican Congressional Committee is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives....
from 2003 to 2006. While he oversaw a three-seat Republican gain in the 2004 elections, he also oversaw the 29-seat loss that allowed the Democrats to regain control of the House.
2006 House page scandal
Rodney AlexanderRodney Alexander
Rodney McKinnie Alexander is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district covers twenty-two parishes in roughly the northeast quadrant of the state...
(R-Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
), the sponsor of a House page
United States House of Representatives Page
United States House of Representatives Page Program was a program run by the United States House of Representatives, under the office of the Clerk of the House, in which appointed high school juniors acted as non-partisan federal employees in the House of Representatives, providing supplemental...
(from his district) who received e-mails from Representative Mark Foley
Mark Foley
Mark Adam Foley is a former member of the United States House of Representatives. He served from 1995 until 2006, representing the 16th District of Florida as a member of the Republican Party....
, told reporters that he learned of the e-mails from the page's family in November, 2005. Alexander said the family did not want the matter pursued. Alexander also said he passed information that Foley had appeared overly friendly first to Majority Leader John Boehner, and later to Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee
National Republican Congressional Committee
The National Republican Congressional Committee is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives....
. Carl Forti, a spokesman for the GOP campaign organization, said Reynolds also was told by Alexander that the parents did not want to pursue the matter and that they did not want a large-scale investigation.
Reynolds later issued a statement that he had spoken with House Speaker Dennis Hastert
Dennis Hastert
John Dennis "Denny" Hastert was the 59th Speaker of the House serving from 1999 to 2007. He represented as a Republican for twenty years, 1987 to 2007.He is the longest-serving Republican Speaker in history...
about the matter early in 2006. According to the Washington Post, "Republican insiders said Reynolds spoke out because he was angry that Hastert appeared willing to let him take the blame for the party leadership's silence." Hastert did not "explicitly recall" that conversation but said he did not dispute it.
On October 2, Reynolds held a press conference on the matter, from Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
at Daemen College
Daemen College
Daemen College is a liberal arts college located on Main Street in Amherst, New York.-History:Daemen was founded in 1947 as Rosary Hill College for women by the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity, headed by Mother Magdalene Daemen...
while surrounded by numerous children of his adult supporters. He said he took the Foley matter to his "supervisor" as soon as he found out about it. Reynolds claimed that he had no knowledge of any sexual conversations or e-mails between Foley and the page until after it was disclosed in the media. Soon afterwards, he came out with a television campaign advertisement claiming that he had no knowledge of the depth of Foley's transgressions until afterwards.
In December, 2006, Reynolds was largely exonerated by the Republican-controlled House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
United States House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
The Committee on Ethics, often known simply as the Ethics Committee, is one of the committees of the United States House of Representatives. Prior to the 112th Congress it was known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct....
, which probed the Foley case. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported in its December 9 edition that "Rep. Tom Reynolds told the truth when he said he told House Speaker Dennis Hastert about ex-Rep. Mark Foley's questionable e-mails to congressional pages, the House ethics committee has concluded," while the Associated Press reported "the House ethics committee on Friday cleared Rep. Thomas Reynolds and his ex-chief of staff Kirk Fordham of wrongdoing in the congressional page scandal."
On page 76 of its report, the committee reported they had uncovered the fact that "the communications directors for both the House Democratic Caucus and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also had copies of the e-mails in the fall of 2005," months prior to Reynolds' knowledge of the incident. During the 2006 campaign, Republicans charged that Democrats had prior knowledge of Foley's inappropriate e-mails with a House page. Democrats, including DCCC
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. They play a critical role in recruiting candidates, raising funds, and organizing races in districts that are expected to yield...
Chairman Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Israel Emanuel is an American politician and the 55th and current Mayor of Chicago. He was formerly White House Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama...
, vehemently denied the accusation which was subsequently proven to be a lie.
External links
- Federal Election Commission — Thomas M Reynolds campaign finance reports and data
- On the Issues — Thomas Reynolds issue positions and quotes
- OpenSecrets.org — Tom Reynolds campaign contributions
- Project Vote Smart — Representative Thomas M. Reynolds (NY) profile
- SourceWatch Congresspedia — Tom Reynolds profile
- Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Thomas Reynolds voting record
- Congressman Tom Reynolds official campaign site
- Tom Reynolds Watch