Tim Holden

Tim Holden
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 17th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1993
Preceded by	George Gekas
Personal details
Born	March 5, 1957 (1957-03-05) 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.

Early life, education and 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.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

• Committee on Agriculture
  • Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy, and Forestry (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Aviation
  • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit

Tenure

Holden is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition. 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. Holden withdrew his co-sponsorship of SOPA on January 18, 2012.

Holden represented the 6th District from 1993 until 2003, and following redistricting he has represented the 17th District.

Caucus Memberships

• Congressional Arts Caucus

Political campaigns

In 1992, Holden was first elected to Congress from the 6th 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 reelected four times without serious opposition.

The new 17th Congressional District, represented by Congressman Tim Holden

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. 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. 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.

In 2004, Holden ran for re-election against Republican lawyer Scott Paterno, son of legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno,. 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

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania, 2006#17th Congressional district

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.

2008

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania, 2008#District 17

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

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania, 2010#District 17

Holden was challenged by Republican nominee, State Senator Dave Argall. 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 consequence of this redistricting, Holden currently is in a district in which he has never represented nearly 80 percent of the voters he now represents.

As a result of these changes, Holden's district is now considerably more Democratic, nearing 60 percent in registered Democrats, considerably more liberal than his old largely Republican district, and consisting of an enormous chunk of Luzerne and Lackawanna counties, both counties Holden never had in his jurisdiction. Such a development, combined with the fact that Holden has compiled a conservative-to-moderate voting record, has brought him a serious primary challenge from Moosic attorney Matt Cartwright. Cartwright, a lawyer with the law firm Munley, Munley & Cartwright, is well-connected in northeastern Pennsylvania, especially in Democratic Party circles, having donated to several Democratic candidates for federal, state, and local office, and extremely well known in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton region both for the law firm in which he works and for his nightly legal analysis on WBRE-TV's "The Law and You." Running to the left of Holden, Cartwright has blasted the Congressman for voting against the Affordable Care Act, specifically chiding Holden for believing that the law went "too far," has criticized the representative for voting for controversial bankruptcy reform legislation, and has insisted that he is the genuine Democrat in the race from the "Democratic wing of the Democratic Party," a mantra initially employed by the late Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone.

In an effort to stave off Cartwright, Holden has made several visits to Luzerne and Lackawanna counties. These visits have included a trip to the library in West Pittston - now a part of his new district - to promise federal funding to restore the public library that was damaged in flooding in September 2011, a visit to Scranton, and a tour of Wilkes-Barre. Holden asserts that he, like most families in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area, is from a background of "coal mining" roots, arguing that his growing up in a once coal-heavy region permits him to empathize with the concerns of working class and middle class voters in northeastern Pennsylvania. Furthermore, Holden has made a significant change in his position on a major public policy matter during the course of the campaign. Amid the Wikipedia blackout, Holden announced his opposition to SOPA, legislation he was a cosponsor of for many months.

External links

• 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