Tim Bishop
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Timothy H. "Tim" Bishop | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 1st district | |
| In office 2003 - present | |
| Preceded by | Felix Grucci |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Democratic |
Timothy H. Bishop (born June 1, 1950) is a politician from the U.S. state of New York and the current Congressman for New York's 1st congressional district (map), which includes most of Central and Eastern Suffolk County, including most of Smithtown, as well as the entirety of the towns of Brookhaven, Riverhead, Southold, Southampton, East Hampton, and Shelter Island. The 1st Congressional district of New York encompasses super-wealthy enclaves such as the Hamptons, middle class suburban towns such as Selden, Centereach and Lake Grove, working class neighborhoods such as Mastic and Riverhead and rural farming communities such as Mattituck and Jamesport on the North Fork
Bishop was born on June 1, 1950 in Southampton, New York and graduated from The College of the Holy Cross. Timothy H. Bishop is among the 12th generation of Bishops to live in Southampton. He served as the long-time Provost of Southampton College. Bishop began working at Southampton College in 1973 as an admissions counselor and rose rapidly through the ranks. During his 29 years at the College, he served in administrative positions touching almost every aspect of college life, from institutional research and planning, to financial aid and enrollment services, student activities, personnel, community relations and fundraising.
In his first political race in 2002, Bishop ran as a Democrat against Republican Congressman Felix Grucci. During the campaign, Grucci ran radio ads accusing Bishop of falsifying rape statistics at the college, but his claims were based on articles from a college newspaper that contained numerous inaccuracies. Grucci refused to repudiate the ads, and Bishop won the election by under 3,000 votes.
Bishop's victory was one of two in 2002 which had a non-incumbent Democrat beating an incumbent Republican. The other was Chris Van Hollen in Maryland.
Now in his second term in Congress, Bishop describes his priorities as protecting the environment, securing tax cuts for middle-class families and improving education. He has authored legislation to protect Long Island Sound and preserve open space. Additionally, in just his first term in office, Congressman Bishop brought back more than $65 million in federal funding to the 1st Congressional District.
Congressman Bishop serves on the powerful Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he is working to reduce congestion on Eastern Long Island and protect the environment. He also serves on the Education and the Workforce Committee where he is continuing his lifelong mission of increasing opportunity through education and supporting Long Island's working families.
Congressman Bishop is married to his wife, Kathryn, founder and director of The Children's School Early Childhood program at Southampton College, and has two daughters, Molly and Meghan.
Voting Information
Bishop received an "A" on the Drum Major Institute's 2005 Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues.