Daniel P. Gordon

Daniel P. Gordon, Jr.
Member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from the 71st district
In office January 4, 2011 – January 4, 2013
Preceded by	John J. Loughlin, Jr.
Succeeded by	Dennis Canario
Personal details
Born	(1969-05-12) May 12, 1969
Political party	Republican (until 2011) Libertarian (2011-present)
Residence	Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Alma mater	Marine Corps Institute
Military service
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1987–1991

Daniel P. Gordon, Jr. (born May 12, 1969) is an American politician and construction contractor. Gordon was a libertarian member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives. Gordon was elected as a Republican Representative in November 2010 for the 71st District, defeating Democratic candidate George S. Alzaibak. In September 2011 he was expelled from the Republican caucus for allegedly making derogatory comments about other Republicans online. Gordon changed his party affiliation from Republican to Libertarian, becoming the only Libertarian Party member in any United States legislature during that time.^{[citation needed]}

Rhode Island House of Representatives

Elections

• 2010. Republican State Representative John J. Loughlin, Jr. decided to retire to run for Rhode Island's 1st congressional district, vacated by retiring Democrat U.S. Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy. Gordon decided to run for Rhode Island's 71st house district, based in Jamestown, Portsmouth, and Little Compton. The district had eight precincts. Gordon became the Republican nominee and narrowly defeated Democratic nominee George Alzaibak 50.4%-49.6%, a difference of just 47 votes.

• 2012. Gordon tried to run for re-election in the November 6, 2012 general election as a Libertarian, but failed to get enough signatures to get on the ballot. He ran as a write-in candidate and lost the election to Democrat Dennis Canario by a wide margin, thus leaving no Libertarians in any state legislature in the country.^{[citation needed]}

Tenure

In March 2011, he made a controversial comment on an online article reporting that Tiverton High School started the school's first Gay-Straight Alliance.

In September 2011, Gordon was arrested in Massachusetts. This exposed Gordon's extensive criminal record, which was reported by local newspapers. In defense, he told his constituents that his problems stemmed from PTSD, which caused his alcoholism. He argued both problems were due to his service in the Gulf War. He also claimed he was injured by shrapnel in Baghdad. Gordon's Marine Corps records obtained by The Associated Press, listed him as an aircraft technician who served from 1987-1991 in Japan and the Gulf War. He did not earn a Purple Heart as he claimed, although he did win one award for his time stationed in Japan and a National Defense Service Medal, given to all personnel on active duty at the time of the Gulf War.