John Faso

John Faso

John Faso in 2016
Member-elect of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 19th district
Taking office
January 3, 2017
Succeeding Chris Gibson
Member of the New York State Assembly
from the 102nd district
In office
January 1, 1987  December 31, 2002
Preceded by Clarence Lane
Succeeded by Joel Miller
Personal details
Born (1952-08-25) August 25, 1952
Long Island, New York, U.S.
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Mary Frances Faso
Children 2
Alma mater State University of New York, Brockport
Georgetown University
Religion Roman Catholicism
Website Campaign website

John Faso (born August 25, 1952) is an American politician. He is the member-elect for the United States House of Representatives in New York's 19th congressional district. Faso served as the minority leader of the New York State Assembly from 1998 until 2002, representing the 102nd district from 1987 until 2002. A Republican, he gave up his seat in the Assembly to run for New York State Comptroller in 2002, losing to Alan Hevesi. In 2006, he made a run for Governor of New York, but was defeated by Democratic nominee Eliot Spitzer.

In 2016, he ran for U.S. Congress in New York's 19th congressional district.[1] He was the endorsed Republican, Conservative, Independence, and Reform candidate.[2] On November 8, 2016, Faso won the election to Congress for New York's 19th district, besting Democratic challenger Zephyr Teachout.[3]

Early life, education, and early career

Faso is of Italian and Irish descent, the eldest son of five children[4] He attended Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, NY, graduating in 1970. He graduated from State University of New York at Brockport. After college, Faso became a grants officer for Nassau County, New York.[5]

He graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1979.[6]

Career

After law school, Faso took county and state political jobs in Washington.[5]

1987 to 2002

Faso was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1987 to 2002.[7] He received the 1997 Nelson A Rockefeller College Award for distinguished public service.[8]

In late 1994, Faso served on George Pataki's transition team, where he chaired the budget committee.[9] He became head of the team that wrote Pataki's first budget as governor.[10] In 1995, Faso became the Ranking Member of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.[11]

Faso was the original sponsor of charter school legislation and was involved in the passage of Governor Pataki's proposal to create charter schools in New York State in 1998. He supported expanding the current cap on charter schools.[12]

2002 - 2016

From 2003 to 2006, Faso served as a member of the control board working to fix the financial and managerial issues with the City of Buffalo and the Buffalo City School District.[13]

In late 2002, Faso joined the firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips; he took a leave of absence to run for governor in 2006, then rejoined the firm.[8] In 2010, when Faso was a partner and lobbyist the firm, it agreed to be banned for five years from appearing before the state's public pension funds.[14] The ban expired in October 2015.[15] While at Manatt, Faso represented Autism Speaks, for which he successfully got a law enacted to expand health insurances coverage for children with autism.

Faso also served for seven years as a Presidential appointee to the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, which provides important training for high school history teachers across the nation. [16]

2002 State Comptroller's campaign

Faso ran for State Comptroller in November 2002, losing to Democrat Alan Hevesi by three points. Hevesi was later jailed in a pay to play scheme involving New York's state pension fund.[17]

2006 gubernatorial campaign

In 2005, Faso announced his intention to run for governor. His campaign was managed by Bill O'Reilly, a political consultant. For the Republican nomination, Faso faced former Massachusetts Governor William Weld, former New York Secretary of State Randy Daniels, and Assemblyman Patrick Manning. Weld reportedly offered Faso the chance to join his ticket as a candidate for lieutenant governor.[18] Faso pledged to continue running for governor on the Conservative line if he lost the Republican primary.[19] After a weak showing at the state Republican convention, Weld announced his withdrawal from the race.[20]

In June, the Republican State Convention voted to endorse Faso.[21] Faso's running mate was former Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef.[22]

Faso was opposed by Democratic nominee Elliot Spitzer,[23] who won with 69 percent of the vote.

2009 U.S. House campaign

After then-Representative Kirsten Gillibrand was appointed to the U.S. Senate, a special election was called in 2009 to determine her successor in New York's 20th congressional district. Faso positioned himself against Senator Betty Little and Assemblyman Jim Tedisco in the Republican primary, but eventually withdrew after party support coalesced around Tedisco.[24]

2016 U.S. House campaign

On September 14, 2015, Faso announced he would run for New York's 19th congressional district in the 2016 election.[25] Faso won the Republican primary against Andrew Heaney, 67.5% to 32.5%.[26] Republican Chris Gibson, the retiring incumbent, endorsed Faso. Faso defeated Democratic nominee Zephyr Teachout in the general election, winning 53% of the vote.[27]

Personal life

Faso and his wife, Mary Frances, have two children and have resided in Kinderhook, NY for over thirty years.[16] Faso is a Roman Catholic.[4]

References

  1. Board, Post Editorial (21 September 2015). "New York gets another chance to listen to John Faso".
  2. "Faso Releases 'Better Off'".
  3. Niedzwiadek, Nick (9 November 2016). "Faso defeats Teachout as Republicans hold NY House seats". Politico. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  4. 1 2 Healy, Patrick (October 18, 2006). "An Ill-Timed Candidate Believes His Time Is Now". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 3, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Healy, Patrick (2006-10-18). "An Ill-Timed Candidate Believes His Time Is Now". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-09-10.
  6. Herszenhorn, David M. "In the Race for Governor, a Big Divide on School Aid", The New York Times, November 2, 2006. Accessed December 6, 2007. "Mr. Faso, whose father worked as a janitor in the Catholic grammar school that he attended on Long Island, went on to Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens and the State University of New York at Brockport."
  7. Healy, Patrick (2006-10-18). "An Ill-Timed Candidate Believes His Time Is Now". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-09-10.
  8. 1 2 "John J. Faso Rejoins Manatt". Business Wire. December 1, 2006. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  9. "Faso to head Pataki budget team". News Bank. November 21, 1994.
  10. Healy, Patrick (2006-10-18). "An Ill-Timed Candidate Believes His Time Is Now". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-09-10.
  11. Dao, James (June 5, 1995). "More Budget Battles; This Year's Fiscal Fight Is Over in Albany But Squabbling May Be Worse Next Year". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
  12. Peterson, Helen (September 9, 1999). "Charter School Experiment Begins". New York Dailly News. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  13. "Colucci named to city control board". Buffalo Business Journal. Aug 29, 2006. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  14. Steyer, Robert (October 12, 2010). "Faso's law firm settles in pay-to-play probe". Crain's New York Business. PI Online.com. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  15. Lovett, Ken (October 12, 2015). "Ban on congressional candidate John Faso's old firm expiring". New York Daily News. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  16. 1 2 "Meet John". johnfaso.com. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
  17. "New York gets another chance to listen to John Faso". New York Post. September 20, 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  18. Healy, Patrick (June 1, 2006). "Weld-Faso? Faso-Weld? The Kingmaker From Nassau Holds the Cards". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 3, 2014. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
  19. Healy, Patrick (May 24, 2006). "Conservative Party Endorses Faso for Governor, Setting Up a Political Fight in G.O.P.". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 3, 2014. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
  20. "Former Mass. Gov. Weld drops out of New York race". The Washington Post. June 6, 2006. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  21. Edsall, Thomas B. (May 29, 2006). "Another Stumble for Ralph Reed's Beleaguered Campaign". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
  22. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/23/nyregion/23gov.html?pagewanted=print
  23. Healy, Patrick (2006-10-13). "Faso Jabs Sharply at Spitzer, Who Assails 'Angry' Tone". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-09-10.
  24. "Greene County GOP goes with Faso". 2009-01-24. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
  25. John Faso to kick off congressional campaign
  26. https://ballotpedia.org/New_York%27s_19th_Congressional_District_election,_2016
  27. "New York U.S. House 19th District Results: John Faso Wins". The New York Times. November 16, 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
New York Assembly
Preceded by
Clarence Lane
Member of the New York Assembly
from the 102nd district

1987–2002
Succeeded by
Joel Miller
Preceded by
Tom Reynolds
Minority Leader of the New York Assembly
1998–2002
Succeeded by
Charles Nesbitt
Party political offices
Preceded by
Bruce Blakeman
Republican nominee for Comptroller of New York
2002
Succeeded by
Christopher Callaghan
Preceded by
George Pataki
Republican nominee for Governor of New York
2006
Succeeded by
Carl Paladino
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