Thomas M. Reynolds (born September 3, 1950) is an American politician from the U.S. state of New York, formerly representing the state's 27th and 26th Congressional districts 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 amid scandal at the end of the 110th Congress. He was cleared of any wrongdoing by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. Chris Lee was elected to succeed him.
Reynolds ran for the House in 1998 after Bill Paxon 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 was 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.
In the 2000 round of redistricting, a special master proposed a plan that would have made his district slightly more Democratic. Although Republicans would have still held a plurality, the 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 gerrymander his district so that it closely resembled his former territory.[6]
He was handily reelected from this reconfigured district in 2002. In 2004, his opponent was millionaire industrialistJack Davis. Reynolds won by 12 points, an unusually close margin given that he had won with 72% of the vote two years earlier. In 2006 Reynolds again defeated Davis by 4% of the vote amid the Mark Foley page scandal.
Retirement and lobbying career
On March 20, 2008, Reynolds announced he would not run for a sixth term: "it was time to take up new challenges". Aside from fallout from the scandal regarding U.S. Representative Mark Foley (R-FL), another factor was thought to be revelations that a former NRCC treasurer[who?] had embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from the committee treasury while Reynolds chaired it.[7] According to the New York Daily News political reporter Elizabeth Benjamin, the NRCC was never independently audited during Reynolds' three-year tenure as its chairman.[8]
Reynolds was the 29th Republican incumbent to announce he would not run again in 2008. Despite the perception 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.[citation needed]
In 2017, Reynolds joined Washington, D.C. lobbying firm Holland and Knight as a senior policy advisor.[9]
Rodney Alexander (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 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.[10]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.[citation needed]
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."[11] Hastert did not "explicitly recall" that conversation but said he did not dispute it.[12]
On October 2, Reynolds held a press conference[13] 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.[14]
Soon after, he made a televised campaign advertisement stating that he had 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 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, denied the accusation.[15]
References
^(PDF). Navy League. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 26, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2006.
^. highbeam.com. June 30, 1995. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
^Richard Perez-Pena (March 3, 1998). "Republicans in Assembly Select New Leader". The New York Times. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
^American Conservative Union ratings of New York state members of Congress July 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
thomas, reynolds, born, september, 1950, american, politician, from, state, york, formerly, representing, state, 27th, 26th, congressional, districts, united, states, house, representatives, reynolds, chairman, national, republican, congressional, committee, o. Thomas M Reynolds born September 3 1950 is an American politician from the U S state of New York formerly representing the state s 27th and 26th Congressional districts 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 amid scandal at the end of the 110th Congress He was cleared of any wrongdoing by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct Chris Lee was elected to succeed him Thomas M ReynoldsMember of the U S House of Representatives from New YorkIn office January 3 1999 January 3 2009Preceded byBill PaxonSucceeded byChris LeeConstituency27th district 1999 2003 26th district 2003 2009 Minority Leader of the New York State AssemblyIn office June 30 1995 March 2 1998Preceded byClarence D Rappleyea Jr Succeeded byJohn FasoMember of the New York State Assembly from the 147th districtIn office January 1 1989 December 31 1998Preceded byBill PaxonSucceeded byDaniel BurlingChair of the Erie County Republican PartyIn office 1990 1996Preceded byVictor N FarleySucceeded byRobert E DavisMember of the Erie County Legislaturefrom the 13th DistrictIn office 1983 1988Preceded byRonald P BennettSucceeded byFrederick J MarshallClerk of the Erie County LegislatureIn office 1980 1981Preceded byTerrance B NewcombSucceeded byDavid SwartsPersonal detailsBorn 1950 09 03 September 3 1950 age 72 Bellefonte Pennsylvania U S Political partyRepublicanSpouseDonna ReynoldsChildren4Residence s Clarence New York U S OccupationPolitical assistantMilitary serviceAllegiance United StatesBranch service United States Air ForceYears of service1970 1976UnitNew York Air National Guard Contents 1 Early life 2 U S House of Representatives 2 1 1998 election 2 2 Committee assignments 2 3 Political positions 2 4 Re elections 3 Retirement and lobbying career 4 National Republican Congressional Committee 5 2006 House page scandal 6 References 7 External linksEarly life EditReynolds was born in Bellefonte Pennsylvania and graduated from the Springville Griffith Institute He served in the New York Air National Guard from 1970 76 1 He entered politics as a Republican and was elected to the Concord New York town board in 1974 and to the Erie County legislature in 1982 He was a member of the New York State Assembly 147th D from 1989 to 1998 sitting in the 188th 189th 190th 191st and 192nd New York State Legislatures He was Minority Leader from June 1995 2 to March 1998 3 U S House of Representatives EditThis section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Thomas M Reynolds news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message 1998 election Edit Reynolds ran for the House in 1998 after Bill Paxon 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 was 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 Committee assignments Edit Ways and Means Committee Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee on TradePolitical positions Edit Reynolds had a conservative 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 4 Reynolds is on record as a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council ALEC 5 Re elections Edit In the 2000 round of redistricting a special master proposed a plan that would have made his district slightly more Democratic Although Republicans would have still held a plurality the 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 gerrymander his district so that it closely resembled his former territory 6 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 of the vote two years earlier In 2006 Reynolds again defeated Davis by 4 of the vote amid the Mark Foley page scandal Retirement and lobbying career EditOn March 20 2008 Reynolds announced he would not run for a sixth term it was time to take up new challenges Aside from fallout from the scandal regarding U S Representative Mark Foley R FL another factor was thought to be revelations that a former NRCC treasurer who had embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from the committee treasury while Reynolds chaired it 7 According to the New York Daily News political reporter Elizabeth Benjamin the NRCC was never independently audited during Reynolds three year tenure as its chairman 8 Reynolds was the 29th Republican incumbent to announce he would not run again in 2008 Despite the perception 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 citation needed In 2017 Reynolds joined Washington D C lobbying firm Holland and Knight as a senior policy advisor 9 National Republican Congressional Committee EditThis section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately Find sources Thomas M Reynolds news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message Reynolds served as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee from 2003 to 2006 During the 2004 House elections the Republicans gained three seats to increase their majority to 232 The 2006 House election saw a Republican loss of 30 seats losing the majority to the Democrats 2006 House page scandal EditThis section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Thomas M Reynolds news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message Main article 2006 Mark Foley scandal Rodney Alexander 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 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 10 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 citation needed 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 11 Hastert did not explicitly recall that conversation but said he did not dispute it 12 On October 2 Reynolds held a press conference 13 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 14 Soon after he made a televised campaign advertisement stating that he had 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 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 denied the accusation 15 References Edit Veterans in the US House of Representatives 109th Congress PDF Navy League Archived from the original PDF on June 26 2007 Retrieved December 9 2006 REYNOLDS HEADS ASSEMBLY MINORITY highbeam com June 30 1995 Archived from the original on September 24 2015 Retrieved December 19 2016 Richard Perez Pena March 3 1998 Republicans in Assembly Select New Leader The New York Times Retrieved February 22 2017 American Conservative Union ratings of New York state members of Congress Archived July 6 2009 at the Wayback Machine ALEC 1995 SB Tom Reynolds In the News archive org February 7 2005 Archived from the original on February 7 2005 Retrieved June 20 2017 Walsh Deidre March 20 2008 U S Rep Reynolds retires CNN Retrieved February 22 2017 Benjamin Elizabeth February 25 2008 NRCC Fraud Scandal Hits Reynolds New York Daily News Retrieved February 22 2017 Reynolds Vastola Take New Lobby Posts in Washington The Buffalo News March 15 2017 Retrieved May 21 2018 Sixteen Year Old Who Worked as Capitol Hill Page Concerned About E mail Exchange with Congressman Associated Press September 29 2006 Archived from the original on October 21 2006 Retrieved September 28 2006 Weisman Jonathan Babington Charles October 1 2006 GOP Leaders Knew Of Foley s Messages The Washington Post Retrieved September 30 2006 Internal Review of Contacts with the Office Archived from the original on October 19 2006 Retrieved October 1 2006 YouTube youtube com Retrieved December 19 2016 Reynolds and the Kiddies Daily News New York October 3 2006 Archived from the original on October 21 2006 Retrieved June 20 2017 Weisman Jonathan October 11 2006 History of Foley Messages Release Clarified by Players The Washington Post Retrieved August 4 2015 External links EditUnited States Congress Thomas M Reynolds id r000569 Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 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 Tom Reynolds profile Appearances on C SPAN Profile at Holland amp Knight LLPNew York State AssemblyPreceded byBill Paxon New York State Assembly 147th District1989 1998 Succeeded byDaniel BurlingPreceded byClarence D Rappleyea Jr Minority Leader in the New York State Assembly1995 1998 Succeeded byJohn FasoU S House of RepresentativesPreceded byBill Paxon Member of the U S House of Representatives from New York s 27th congressional district1999 2003 Succeeded byJack QuinnPreceded byMaurice Hinchey Member of the U S House of Representatives from New York s 26th congressional district2003 2009 Succeeded byChris LeeParty political officesPreceded byThomas M DavisVirginia Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee2003 2007 Succeeded byTom ColeOklahomaU S order of precedence ceremonial Preceded byBill Paxonas Former US Representative Order of precedence of the United Statesas Former US Representative Succeeded byTom Reedas Former US Representative Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Thomas M Reynolds amp oldid 1165413216, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
