John Edward Sweeney (born August 9, 1955) is an American politician from the U.S. state of New York. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing New York's 20th congressional district from 1999 to 2007.
A Republican, he previously served as the Commission of the New York State Department of Labor under George Pataki from 1995 to 1997. He was dubbed "Congressman Kick-Ass" by President George W. Bush for his take-no-prisoners style. He was defeated for reelection in 2006 by Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand.
Early life and education Sweeney was born in Troy, New York and graduated from Lansingburgh High School in 1973. He is of Irish and Armenian descent. He received an associate degree from Hudson Valley Community College in 1978 and a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Criminal Justice from the Sage College of Albany in 1981. In 1991, he received a J.D. from Western New England College School of Law.
In 2000, Toby Eglund wrote:
"Sweeney ... embodies that embarrassment of the Left: the rightward drift of America's white working class males. The son of a shirt factory worker active in the Amalgamated Shirt Cutters Union, and a sometime resident of a housing project, Sweeney grew up in the old, gritty industrial city of Troy, New York. He put himself through law school, and toiled as a minor county bureaucrat until, one day, he was discovered by Republican State Chairman William Powers who made him executive director of the New York state GOP in 1992.""The Guy Who Gored Al: The irresistible ascension of John E. Sweeney," Toby Eglund, theGully.com
Political career Early career and New York Republican Party executive director Sweeney was "Rensselaer County's one-time STOP-DWI coordinator."
He was the Executive Director & Chief Counsel of the New York Republican Party from 1992 to 1995, a period of tremendous success for the state GOP. During Sweeney's tenure at state Republican headquarters, Rudy Giuliani was elected mayor of New York City (the first Republican to win the mayor's office in 28 years) and George Pataki was elected governor (the first Republican to win the Governor's Mansion in 20 years) and Republicans made gains in both houses of the state legislature and at the local level. Sweeney was Governor Pataki's first Commissioner of the State Department of Labor, from 1995 to 1997, then he moved to Governor Pataki's inner-circle staff as Deputy Secretary to the Governor, from 1997 until he resigned to run for Congress.
State Commissioner of Labor under Pataki administration As Governor George Pataki's Commissioner of Labor, Sweeney was the point-man on successful efforts to reform the Empire State's Workers' Compensation laws. Before the reforms, enacted in 1996, New York's workers' comp system had long been considered one of the most costly in the nation—57 percent higher than the national average, 53 percent higher than neighboring Massachusetts, 59 percent than neighboring Connecticut and 85 percent higher than neighboring New Jersey.Dan Lonkevich, "N.Y. Gov. Signs Workers' Comp. Reform Into Law," Property Casualty 360, September 23, 1996, http://www.propertycasualty360.com/1996/09/23/ny-gov-signs-workers-comp-reform-into-law
New York's "landmark" workers' comp reforms created the Office of Workers' Compensation Fraud, an Inspector General, and a workers' compensation fraud unit at the State Insurance Department and elevated workers' comp fraud from a misdemeanor to a felony punishable by fines, restitution and incarceration."Workers Compensation Reform, The Vermont Legislative Research Shop, The University of Vermont
Congressional career Election to U.S. House of Representatives in 1998 Prior to the 1998 election, Sweeney moved from Cohoes to Speigletown, to run for the seat in the district of Republican Representative Gerald Solomon who was retiring.Joseph Crowley, "New Faces in the Congress", The New York Times, November 4, 1998 Sweeney was born, raised and lived most of his life in Solomon's Congressional District. Solomon endorsed and campaigned for Sweeney, as did every Republican elected official and organization in the district.
Sweeney was elected to the US House in 1998, winning with 55 percent of the vote over Democratic challenger Jean Bordewich,Jonathan P. Hicks, "New York's Congressional Freshmen Are New to the House, but Not to Politics", The New York Times, November 7, 1998 despite the fact that President Bill Clinton carried the district over U.S. Senator Bob Dole in 1996 by a 46 percent to 41 percent margin."The Guy Who Gored Al: The irresistible ascension of John E. Sweeney," Toby Eglund, The Gully
Re-elections In 2000, Sweeney defeated Democrat Kenneth McCallion, receiving 68 percent of the vote.
In 2002, he defeated Frank Stoppenbach, getting 73 percent of the vote.
In 2004, he defeated Doris F. Kelly, receiving 66 percent of the vote.
Tenure and political positions Sweeney generally, but not invariably, supported the positions of his fellow Republicans in the House.Greg Giroux, Party Loyalty Often Sacrificed by At-risk House Incumbents, The New York Times (September 27, 2006). Sweeney opposed same-sex marriage (asserting that "a handful of activist judges have decided to undermine the will of the people"), and in 2004 called for a federal constitutional amendment to ban recognition of same-sex marriage.Raymond Hernandez, Call to Ban Gay Marriage Is Dividing Republicans, The New York Times (February 28, 2004). Sweeney subsequently voted against such a constitutional amendment. Sweeney enjoyed a measure of support from organized labor. He received the endorsement of the Civil Service Employees Union and enjoyed good relations with the Teamsters. He opposed NAFTA, and in 2006 was one of 28 House Republicans to vote against the Oman–United States Free Trade Agreement, although he voted for CAFTA. He supported the George W. Bush administration's position on the Iraq War, which was a focus of criticism from his opponent, Kirsten Gillibrand, in the 2006 race.David Staba, Race Profile: The 20th District in New York, The New York Times (2006).
Sweeney opposed gun control.Diane Cardwell, Mayor Gives Scorn to Guns, and Money to Their Allies, The New York Times (May 14, 2006).
He voted for prayer in public schools on numerous occasions and the National Education Association gives him an 18% approval rating.
After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, Sweeney and U.S. Representative James T. Walsh were two Republicans who cross party-lines to vote with Democrats on an effort in the House of Representatives to send $20 billion in emergency federal aid to New York City (the measure failed in the Appropriations Committee by a 33–31 vote).NY gets more aid from Congress, United Press International, (November 17, 2001).Edward Wyatt, David W. Chen, Charles Bagli and Raymond Hernandez, < After 9/11, Parcels of Money, and Dismay, The New York Times (December 30, 2002). Although an ally of President George W. Bush, he called for the resignation of Bush's Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff over proposed cuts in New York's share in homeland security funding.
In 1999 and 2001, Sweeney introduced legislation (the "Anti-Drug Legalization Act") that would ban all federal funding for research pertaining to drug legalization; the legislation did not advance. He voted against the Rohrabacher–Farr amendment.
Before being elected to Congress, Sweeney was considered a moderate Republican who favored abortion rights;Matthew J. Rosenberg, The 1998 Elections: Around the Region – New Faces In the Congress, The New York Times (November 4, 1998). by 2000, he was considered a strong abortion opponent, with a 90% anti-abortion record. He voted in favor of legislation that would make it a federal crime to transport minors across state lines for an abortion and thus circumvent state "parental consent" laws.
2006 re-election campaign loss
In August 2006, Sweeney's allies filed successfully against signatures on Libertarian opponent Eric Sundwall's ballot petitions, resulting in Sundwall's name being removed from the general election ballot. However, Sweeney still lost the general election on November 7, 2006, to Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand with 47% of the vote.
Political activity after leaving Congress Following his congressional tenure, Sweeney returned to the political process both locally and nationally as an election and compliance lawyer and strategist.
In 2012, Sweeney worked for Newt Gingrich's unsuccessful campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.
In April 2016, Sweeney was hired by Donald Trump's campaign to help organize New York during the primary and do compliance work.
After Trump's election day victory, Sweeney, as the campaign's deputy counsel, led the effort on the ground in Wisconsin and Michigan to protect the campaign's advantage in those two key swing states during the recounts initiated by Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, and supported by Hillary Clinton's campaign.
In December 2016, Sweeney joined the executive committee of Trump's transition team. Sweeney was later promoted to a four-member "Tiger Team" for Trump, tasked with conducting interviews with potential nominees for ambassadorships and other high-level positions in various federal departments and agencies.
Controversies
Role in Florida recount in 2000
During the 2000 election, Sweeney allegedly helped earn his nickname from President Bush, "Congressman Kick-Ass," by organizing the so-called Brooks Brothers riot that disrupted the Florida elections commissioners.Robert Parry, "Bush's Conspiracy to Riot", Consortium for Independent Journalism, August 5, 2002 He was said to have led the charge on the third recount in Miami, flying in GOP operatives and instructing them to "shut it down!" by raising a clamor and pounding on the election commission's doors.Michael Tomasky, "Pol Versus Pole" , New York Magazine, March 19, 2001 Sweeney used the words "thugs" to describe the Florida officials involved in the recount. He defended his actions in connection with the incident as "completely and absolutely legitimate" and declared that his intent was only to stop the canvassing board from withdrawing its activities from public view.Timothy Noah, "Sweeney and the Siege of Miami", Slate Magazine, November 28, 2000
Former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie, in his book Winning Right, wrote that the night before the recount began in Miami-Dade County, Sweeney was one of about a dozen Bush campaign operatives who gathered at Joe's Stone Crab in South Beach, that set out the campaign's media strategy. Gillespie recalled that "[Sweeney] said, 'I know what I'm going to say tomorrow morning. I'm going to say that Joseph Stalin said, "It doesn't matter who casts the votes, it only matters who counts the votes." And these people are worse than Stalin.' He ended up holding the Stalin quotation until the 5:30 pm wrap-up."Ed Gillespie, "Winning Right," pp. 101-102
Congressional ethics controversies In September 2006, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) included Sweeney on its annual list of "The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress," citing ethical concerns arising from a "ski trip to New York, the exchange of legislative assistance for campaign contributions and the hiring of his wife as a campaign fundraiser."CREW summary of ethics issues of Sweeney , September 2006
Wife as fundraiser On April 11, 2003, Sweeney began paying a company called Creative Consulting for fund-raising. The company had been founded a day earlier by Gaia "Gayle" Ford. Between April 2003 and December 2003, Sweeney's campaign paid $42,570 to the firm. Sweeney proposed to Ford in September 2003 Newsday, September 18, 2003 and married her in 2004.