Tim Holden
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| Tim Holden | |
|---|---|
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 17th district |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2003 |
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| Preceded by | George Gekas |
| Succeeded by | Jim Gerlach |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 6th district |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 1993 |
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| Preceded by | Gus Yatron |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 5, 1957 St. Clair, Pennsylvania |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Gwen Holden |
| Residence | St. Clair, Pennsylvania |
| Alma mater | Bloomsburg University |
| Occupation | real estate/insurance agent |
Thomas Timothy "Tim" Holden (born March 5, 1957) is the U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district, serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
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[edit] Early life, education, and early career
Holden graduated from St. Clair Area High School in St. Clair, Pennsylvania in 1975. In 1980, he earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. He became a licensed real estate agent, and later an insurance broker in 1983. He has worked as a probation officer and as Sergeant-at-Arms for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and was the sheriff of Schuylkill County.
[edit] U.S. House of Representatives
[edit] Elections
In the 1990s, he represented Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district based in Reading and including Berks and Schuylkill counties. The district was populated mostly by Reagan Democrats who were still willing to vote Republican in most elections (it voted for George H. W. Bush in 1992, Bob Dole in 1996 and George W. Bush in 2000), but Holden was re-elected four times without serious opposition.
- 1992
After redistricting, incumbent Democrat U.S. Congressman Gus Yatron decided to retire. In the Democratic primary, Holden defeated Warren Haggerty and John Reusing 39%-32%-28%.[1] In the general election, he defeated Republican nominee John E. Jones III, a local government solicitor, 52%-48%.[2]
- 1994
Holden won re-election to a second term by defeating Republican nominee Fred Levering 57%-43%.[3]
- 1996
Holden won re-election to a third term by defeating Republican nominee Christian Leinbach, a staffer to U.S. Senator Rick Santorum,[4] 59%-41%.[5]
- 1998
Holden won re-election to a fourth term by defeating Republican nominee John Meckley 61%-39%.[6]
- 2000
Holden won re-election to a fifth term by defeating Republican nominee Thomas Kopel 66%-34%.[7]
- 2002
Pennsylvania lost two districts after the 2000 United States Census. The Republican-controlled General Assembly dismantled the 6th, splitting its territory among three other districts. The legislature considered placing Holden's home in Schuylkill County in the 11th District, a heavily Democratic area in northeastern Pennsylvania. This would have forced a primary matchup with Paul Kanjorski, an eight-term Democrat who was slightly more liberal than Holden. Eventually, it moved Holden's home to the Republican-leaning Harrisburg-based 17th District, represented by 10-term Republican George Gekas.[8] On paper, the redrawn 17th appeared to so heavily favor Gekas that it appeared unwinnable for a Democrat, even one as conservative as Holden. To some, it was a blatant gerrymander intended to force Holden into retirement. Gekas retained 60% of his former territory, and George W. Bush had carried the newly drawn district with 57% of the vote in 2000.[9] However, to the surprise of many observers, Holden did not retire, instead opting to run in a district that was 65% new to him (a small corner from the even more Republican 9th District was moved to the 17th). Gekas was forced into his first real campaign ever. Holden managed to gain endorsements from much of Gekas' old base, much to Gekas' surprise. Even Gekas' hometown paper, The Patriot-News, endorsed Holden, saying that the 17th was not the same district that elected Gekas in 1982. Gekas got another rude surprise when Holden visited African American neighborhoods such as Uptown and Allison Hill after finding out that Gekas had never set foot in these neighborhoods in his congressional career. He asked the residents of these neighborhoods not to vote for a congressman who didn't bother to visit them. In November 2002, in one of the biggest upsets in recent political history, Holden narrowly defeated Gekas.
- 2004
Holden ran for re-election against Republican lawyer Scott Paterno, son of legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.[10] Paterno was actively supported by influential Republicans, and President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney came to the district several times to support him. Nevertheless, Holden won re-election by a comfortable margin even as Bush easily carried the district.
- 2006
Holden faced Republican Matthew Wertz, an Afghanistan War veteran, in the 2006. However, Wertz dropped out of the race before the general election citing personal reasons and Holden went on to easily win re-election with 65% of the total vote.[11]
- 2008
In 2008, he faced Republican Toni Gilhooley, a retired Pennsylvania State Trooper and 25 year veteran of the force, whom he defeated with 64% of the vote (one percent less than the previous election).
- 2010
Holden was challenged by Republican nominee, State Senator Dave Argall.[12] Unlike other Democrats in Eastern Pennsylvania like Chris Carney and Patrick Murphy, Holden won re-election, and did so with a 12 point margin, defeating Argall 56% to 44%.
Before Holden won the general election, he faced a primary challenge within his own party from political activist Sheila Dow Ford, who ran to the left of Holden, eviscerating the Congressman for voting against the Affordable Care Act in March 2010. Holden defeated Ford by a margin of 65% to 35% in the primary to regain the Democratic nomination.
- 2012
The 17th district which Holden represents was drastically reconfigured as a result of legislative redistricting done in the Pennsylvania legislature in late 2011 following the results of the 2010 Census. This redistricting took Harrisburg outside of the district while keeping most of Holden's hometown region, including St. Clair, while adding the cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, and Easton, among other various towns in Luzerne County and Lackawanna County. As a result of these changes, Holden's district is now considerably more Democratic, nearing 60 percent Democratic registration.
Moosic attorney Matt Cartwright is currently challenging Holden in the Democratic primary. Cartwright has criticized Holden for voting against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act while stating that if he were in Congress, he would have voted for the health care reform law.
[edit] Tenure
Holden is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.[13] As such, Holden is a more conservative Democrat than most of his colleagues in his party's caucus in the House of Representatives. Although he has often bucked his party's voting trend, Holden has supported Democratic priorities on a number of issues. While Holden voted with a minority of House Democrats in favor of the authorization for the use of U.S. force in Iraq in October 2002 for President George W. Bush, he strongly opposed Bush's "surge" policy in January 2007. While Holden voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the signature legislative domestic policy achievement of President Barack Obama, in March 2010, he did vote for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed into law by Obama, in February 2009. While Holden voted for legislation supported by President Bush that toughened bankruptcy laws and enacted the Halliburton loophole, he voted for the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, signed into law by President Obama, in July 2010. According to opencongreess.com, Holden has voted with the Democratic leadership in Congress 73 percent of the time in recent years. He is ranked as one of the top fifteen most conservative Democrats in the House by the National Journal. He is ranked as one of the top 15 most conservative Democrats in the House by the National Journal.
In 2011, Rep. Holden became a co-sponsor of Bill H.R.3261 otherwise known as the Stop Online Piracy Act. [14] Holden withdrew his co-sponsorship of SOPA on January 18, 2012.[15]
Holden represented the 6th District from 1993 until 2003, and following redistricting he has represented the 17th District.
[edit] Committee assignments
- Caucus memberships
- Congressional Arts Caucus
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=210024
- ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=28400
- ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=29316
- ^ http://www.co.berks.pa.us/Dept/Commissioners/Pages/CommissionerLeinbach%27sBiography.aspx
- ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=29742
- ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=30864
- ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=605
- ^ "Online NewsHour: Election 2002: High Stakes". Pbs.org. 2002-08-30. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec02/pennsylvania_8-30.html. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
- ^ "Online NewsHour: The Pennsylvania 17th District Race - Tim Holden Biography". Pbs.org. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2002/races/pa_holden.html. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
- ^ Toland, Bill (2004-04-28). "U.S. House races: Paterno's son beats crowded field in 17th". Post-gazette.com. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04119/307826.stm. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
- ^ Lieberman, Brett (2007-07-04). "State police retiree plans bid for Holden's seat". Harrisburg Patriot-News. http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1183512312182680.xml&coll=1. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
- ^ Pangonis, Dustin (2010-04-01). "'No' vote on health care costs Holden primary endorsement from AFL-CIO". Republican & Herald. http://republicanherald.com/news/no-vote-on-health-care-costs-holden-primary-endorsement-from-afl-cio-1.710090. Retrieved 2010-04-02.
- ^ Issues, Tim Holden for U.S. Congress
- ^ Bill H.R.3261; GovTrack.us;
- ^ "Bill Summary & Status 112th Congress (2011 - 2012) H.R.3261 Cosponsors". http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d112:1:./temp/~bd666m:@@@P%7C/home/LegislativeData.php?n=BSS;c=112. Library of Congress.
- ^ Congressman Tim Holden Committee Information
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tim Holden |
- U.S. Congressman Tim Holden official U.S. House site
- Tim Holden For U.S. Congress official campaign site
- Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
- Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Congressional profile at GovTrack
- Congressional profile at OpenCongress
- Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
- Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
- Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- Appearances on C-SPAN programs
- Profile at SourceWatch
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Gus Yatron |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district 1993–2003 |
Succeeded by Jim Gerlach |
| Preceded by George Gekas |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district 2003– |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| United States order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by Maurice Hinchey D-New York |
United States Representatives by seniority 80th |
Succeeded by Eddie Bernice Johnson D-Texas |
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