James Bernard Longley Jr. (born July 7, 1951) is an American politician from Maine. A Republican, he served one term in the United States House of Representatives representing Maine's 1st district from 1995 to 1997.
Longley strongly supported national defense (including the work done in Maine at national defense installations and at Bath Iron Works where Navy destroyers are built) and he advocated in favor of stronger fiscal discipline within the federal government.
Congressional careeredit
In one of his first actions in Congress, he offered testimony before a Congressional committee considering a minimum wage increase. In his testimony he presented the concept of cutting taxes paid by minimum wage workers to provide a greater increase in their take home pay. He pointed out that minimum wage increases cause small businesses to not only pay more in wages (hurting the businesses and forcing them in some cases to cut jobs and reduce their workforce to make up for wage increases) but that cutting the payroll taxes would actually increase the employees take home pay by a larger amount than raising the overall minimum wage. Longley noted in his testimony that minimum wage increases cause businesses, as well as employees, to pay more in federal taxes through employee percentage withholding and the business match of payroll taxes. He then accused the Democrats on the committee of only seeking a minimum wage increase to increase tax revenues for the federal government – a backdoor tax increase on American small business, he claimed. Democrats on the committee accused him of wanting to harm his constituents, led by a rant from Congressman Pete Stark, who was gaveled down by the Chairman for being out of order after Stark made reference to how they would use the issue against him in the next election. Longley's idea did not succeed.
He quickly became a prime target of the Democratic Party during the 1996 election cycle, and lost by almost 10 points to then-PortlandMayorTom Allen. In the race labor unions and left leaning groups spent millions of dollars in a coordinated effort to defeat him. It was the largest effort of its kind on behalf of a Democratic candidate (or in opposition to an incumbent Republican) within the nation during the 1996 election cycle. Of course, smaller, but similar, sums were spent by business and professional organizations, and right-leaning special interest groups, in a coordinated effort to defend the seat. Longley is the last Republican to represent Maine's 1st congressional district as of 2022.
Campaign for governoredit
In 1998, Longley campaigned for Governor and was defeated by popular incumbent Angus King, an independent. Longley came in second place and received 19% of the vote.
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James Bernard Longley Jr born July 7 1951 is an American politician from Maine A Republican he served one term in the United States House of Representatives representing Maine s 1st district from 1995 to 1997 Jim LongleyMember of the U S House of Representatives from Maine s 1st districtIn office January 3 1995 January 3 1997Preceded byTom AndrewsSucceeded byTom AllenPersonal detailsBornJames Bernard Longley Jr 1951 07 07 July 7 1951 age 72 Lewiston Maine U S Political partyRepublicanAlma materCollege of the Holy Cross BA University of Maine Contents 1 Biography 1 1 Early career 1 2 Congressional career 1 3 Campaign for governor 2 Electoral history 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksBiography editLongley was born in Lewiston Maine the son of former Independent Governor Jim Longley Sr and his wife Helen Longley attended Phillips Andover Academy He received his B A from Holy Cross and then returned to study law at the University of Maine He is also a veteran of the United States Marine Corps 1 Early career edit Before entering Congress Longley served as a trial lawyer He also managed several small businesses near Portland Maine Longley was elected as part of the Republican Revolution of 1994 narrowly defeating Dennis L Dutremble the Democratic State Senate President from Biddeford for the seat previously held by Thomas Andrews Andrews had chosen to run for the United States Senate seat being vacated by Democrat George J Mitchell Longley strongly supported national defense including the work done in Maine at national defense installations and at Bath Iron Works where Navy destroyers are built and he advocated in favor of stronger fiscal discipline within the federal government Congressional career edit In one of his first actions in Congress he offered testimony before a Congressional committee considering a minimum wage increase In his testimony he presented the concept of cutting taxes paid by minimum wage workers to provide a greater increase in their take home pay He pointed out that minimum wage increases cause small businesses to not only pay more in wages hurting the businesses and forcing them in some cases to cut jobs and reduce their workforce to make up for wage increases but that cutting the payroll taxes would actually increase the employees take home pay by a larger amount than raising the overall minimum wage Longley noted in his testimony that minimum wage increases cause businesses as well as employees to pay more in federal taxes through employee percentage withholding and the business match of payroll taxes He then accused the Democrats on the committee of only seeking a minimum wage increase to increase tax revenues for the federal government a backdoor tax increase on American small business he claimed Democrats on the committee accused him of wanting to harm his constituents led by a rant from Congressman Pete Stark who was gaveled down by the Chairman for being out of order after Stark made reference to how they would use the issue against him in the next election Longley s idea did not succeed He quickly became a prime target of the Democratic Party during the 1996 election cycle and lost by almost 10 points to then Portland Mayor Tom Allen In the race labor unions and left leaning groups spent millions of dollars in a coordinated effort to defeat him It was the largest effort of its kind on behalf of a Democratic candidate or in opposition to an incumbent Republican within the nation during the 1996 election cycle Of course smaller but similar sums were spent by business and professional organizations and right leaning special interest groups in a coordinated effort to defend the seat Longley is the last Republican to represent Maine s 1st congressional district as of 2022 Campaign for governor edit In 1998 Longley campaigned for Governor and was defeated by popular incumbent Angus King an independent Longley came in second place and received 19 of the vote Electoral history edit1994 U S House election Maine District 1 Party Candidate Votes Republican James B Longley Jr 136 316 51 88 Democratic Dennis L Dutremble 126 373 48 09 write ins 80 0 03 Majority 9 943 3 78 Turnout 262 769Republican gain from Democratic1996 U S House election Maine District 1 Party Candidate Votes Democratic Thomas H Allen 173 745 55 30 Republican James B Longley Jr Incumbent 140 354 44 68 write ins 65 0 02 Majority 33 391 10 63 Turnout 314 164Democratic gain from RepublicanSee also edit nbsp Biography portalReferences edit Beck Robin 1998 10 29 Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Longley campaigns in Boothbay Boothbay Register Archived from the original on 2006 10 08 Retrieved 2006 09 17 External links editUnited States Congress James B Longley Jr id L000431 Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on 2009 02 13 Appearances on C SPANU S House of RepresentativesPreceded byTom Andrews Member of the U S House of Representativesfrom Maine s 1st congressional district1995 1997 Succeeded byTom AllenParty political officesPreceded bySusan Collins Republican nominee for Governor of Maine1998 Succeeded byPeter CianchetteU S order of precedence ceremonial Preceded byParker Griffithas Former US Representative Order of precedence of the United Statesas Former US Representative Succeeded byWendell Baileyas Former US Representative Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title James B Longley Jr amp oldid 1179342281, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
