Randy Kuhl

Infobox_Congressman
name = Randy Kuhl, Jr.


date of birth = birth date and age|1943|04|19
place of birth = Bath, New York
state = New York
district = 29th
preceded = Amo Houghton
succeeded = Incumbent
term_start = January 3, 2005
party = Republican
spouse = in a relationship with Linda Rothfuss
religion = Episcopalian
residence= Hammondsport, New York
occupation= attorney
alma_mater= Union College, Syracuse University

John R. "Randy" Kuhl, Jr. is a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New York. He represents New York's 29th congressional district ( [http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/ny29_109.gifmap] ), centered on a rural portion of upstate New York's Southern Tier. He is generally considered among the strongest Congressional supporters of Bush administration policies, and is widely regarded as considerably more conservative on most issues than his predecessor representing the 29th district, Amo Houghton.

Early life and education

Kuhl was born April 19, 1943 in Hammondsport, New York, where he now lives. He graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York with a B.A. in civil engineering in 1966, and then got a law degree from Syracuse University College of Law in 1969. He was admitted to the New York Bar in 1970. [http://www.bipac.net/page.asp?content=meet_house&parent=BIPAC&g=WASHINGTON "Meet the Freshmen of the House of Representatives"] , BIPAC, November 2004, accessed September 24, 2006]

New York legislature

Kuhl was a member of the New York Assembly from 1981 to 1987 and the New York Senate from 1987 to 2004. His career included posts as the attorney for several municipalities including Steuben County. He was appointed the Senate's Assistant Majority Leader for Operations at the beginning of the 1995 legislative session. During his time in the legislature, he was a practicing lawyer with an office in Bath.

House of Representatives

2004 election

In 2004, Kuhl ran for the House seat of retiring U.S. Representative Amo Houghton, a Republican multimillionaire who had displayed a moderate bent during 18 years in Washington. In the Republican primary, Kuhl, who was supported by Houghton, [Crestia DeGeorge, [http://rochester-citynews.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A2922 "The race for Amo Houghton's seat"] , "Rochester City News" (weekly)] defeated Monroe County Legislator Mark Assini. He then defeated 27-year-old Democrat Samara Barend.

The campaign finished out with harsh television commercials casting Barend as devious and untrustworthy and Kuhl as a drunken driver whose breakup with his wife in the 1990s shed doubts on his fitness to hold office. Kuhl, who had been heavily favored in the Republican-leaning 29th District (registered Republicans outnumbered registered Democrats 3-2), won with 51% of the vote, as opposed to Barend's nearly 41%. (Conservative Party candidate Mark Assini, who dropped out of the race in September 2004, garnered 6%.) He was succeeded in the Senate by Republican George Winner.

Political positions

Kuhl, a veteran New York politician, was the most politically experienced freshman of the 2004 House class. He is considered a fairly reliable conservative who generally votes against abortion rights, gun control and tax increases. He has the second highest lifetime rating (87.5%) from the American Conservative Union out of the 29 Representatives from New York state. [ [http://www.acuratings.org/2006all.htm#NY American Conservative Union ratings of New York state members of Congress] ] He is, however, a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership.

Kuhl has said he will fight to make President Bush's tax cuts permanent. In addition, he has also advocated for a 10-cent reduction in federal gasoline taxes [ [http://kuhl.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=65980 KUHL REINTRODUCES GAS PRICE RELIEF BILL] ] .

He has supported the Iraq war and rebuilding efforts, saying "we must see this effort through."

Since the Democratic Party has taken over the House of Representatives in the 2006 elections, Kuhl has shifted his focus somewhat. He has opposed the military's "stop-loss" policy [ [http://kuhl.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=55734 KUHL TO GATES: END THE “STOP-LOSS” PROGRAM] ] and recently addressed the issue of parents who both serve in the military [ [http://kuhl.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=59860 KUHL ASKS DOD TO REVIEW DEPENDENTS POLICY] ] .

Kuhl is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he cosponsored H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. [ [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.04777: Thomas (Library of Congress): HR 4777] ]

In September 2007, Kuhl was noted in the news as being one of the most outspoken opponents of a plan by former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer to allow illegal aliens to apply for driver's licenses. [Milton, Pat. [http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--driverslicenses0922sep21,0,993610.story New York to allow illegal immigrants to get drivers' licenses] . Associated Press. 22 September 2007.] He also became a prominent opponent of the SCHIP expansion, a stance for which he has earned significant animosity from various groups including MoveOn, the Service Employees International Union, and even former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. [Miller, Rick. [http://www.oleantimesherald.com/articles/2007/10/15/news/doc470f9a79a314a126929242.txt Kuhl battered for voting against SCHIP] . Olean Times Herald. 15 October 2007.]

During his time as a state senator, Kuhl was an advocate of New York City secession and introduced several bills (unsuccessfully) to separate Upstate New York from downstate. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9802EED91531F937A15756C0A96F958260 "The Big City; The Moochers From Upstate? Cut 'Em Loose"] , John Tierney, The New York Times, May 24, 1999]

Randy Kuhl voted for the Bailout bill on October 3, after voting against it the first time. [ [http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll681.xml] ]

Committee Assignments

*Agriculture Committee
**Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture
*Education and Labor Committee
**Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education
**Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness
*Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
**Subcommittee on Aviation
**Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management
**Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment
*Deputy Minority Whip

Personal

Congressman Randy Kuhl is a graduate of Hammondsport Central School, and earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Union College (1966), and in 1969 received his Juris Doctor from Syracuse University College of Law. He successfully ran for the New York State Assembly in 1980, the New York State Senate in 1986, and the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004 where he now serves and represents the people of the 29th District.

Randy Kuhl currently lives in Hammondsport and is the father of three sons.

2006 re-election campaign

Kuhl's Democratic opponent in the 2006 elections was former Navy officer Eric Massa of Corning, a former Republican.

In March 2006, Kuhl invited President George W. Bush to Canandaigua. Bush spoke at Canandaigua Academy, a public high school. After the high school visit Bush's motorcade visited Ferris Hills, a senior living community for upper-income residents. (The trip had previously been billed as including a visit to a "nursing home".) President Bush took questions for about fifteen minutes from these seniors about his new prescription-drug plan, Medicare Part D.

In September 2006, Kuhl welcomed Vice President Dick Cheney to a major fundraiser in Rochester. Kuhl said he couldn't agree more with Cheney's assessment that combating terrorists around the world stands as the top issue of this campaign. A flow of bad news from the war zone needs to be countered by a frank discussion of reality, he said. "They don't necessarily understand the full importance of our presence there," he said of his Finger Lakes and Southern Tier constituents. [Robert J. McCarthy, [http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060923/1020468.asp "Cheney beats war drums stumping for Kuhl"] , "Buffalo News", September 23, 2006]

Preliminary results from the November election showed Kuhl narrowly beating Massa by a margin of approximately 5,600 votes (out of about 193,000 cast). [Election results from [http://election.cbsnews.com/campaign2006/county.shtml?state=NY&race=H&jurisdiction=29 "CBS News"] , November 7, 2006] Massa had initially refused to concede the election and was expected to file a challenge, but on November 15, 2006 Massa conceded the election and contacted Kuhl to congratulate him. [ [http://www.stargazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061115/NEWS01/61115029 "Massa concedes, calls to congratulate Kuhl"] , "Elmira Star Gazette", November 15, 2006] According to the final election results, which were certified by the New York State Board of Elections on December 14, 2006, Kuhl won by a margin of 6,033 votes (out of 206,121 cast). [ [http://www.elections.state.ny.us/portal/page?_pageid=35,1,35_8301:35_8306&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL NYS Board of Elections Results] ]

References

External links

* [http://kuhl.house.gov/ U.S. Representative Randy Kuhl] official House site
*CongBio|k000364
* [http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/can_detail/H4NY29080 Federal Election Commission — John Kuhl] campaign finance reports and data
* [http://www.ontheissues.org/NY/Randy_Kuhl.htm On the Issues — Randy Kuhl] issue positions and quotes
* [http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.asp?cid=N00026087 OpenSecrets.org — John R. Kuhl Jr] campaign contributions
* [http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=BS022193 Project Vote Smart — Representative John R. 'Randy' Kuhl Jr. (NY)] profile
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Randy_Kuhl SourceWatch Congresspedia — Randy Kuhl] profile
* [http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/k000364/ Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Randy Kuhl] voting record
* [http://www.kuhlforcongress.com/ Congressman Randy Kuhl] official campaign site