Rep. Eric Massa (D)

The new congressman from the 29th District is Democrat Eric Massa, who returned this seat to Democrats by ousting two-term Republican Rep. Randy Kuhl in 2008. Born on a naval base in Charleston, S.C., Massa is the son of a nurse and career Navy aviator. A decade ago, he moved to Corning to work for Corning Inc. as a telecommunications specialist. Massa describes himself as “a rural FDR Democrat,” an appealing image to a politically moderate constituency primarily concerned with pocketbook, rather than social, issues. The gregarious Massa is no political neophyte, despite never having held public office. He spent more than two decades in the Navy and did a stint as a GOP aide to the House Armed Services Committee. He later switched parties. Massa opposed the invasion of Iraq in 2003, becoming disenchanted with what he called “the party of Karl Rove,” a reference to President Bush’s top political adviser, and signed on to retired Gen. Wesley Clark’s 2004 Democratic presidential campaign. Massa had worked as a special assistant for Clark from 1998 to 2001, when Clark was NATO’s supreme allied commander.

Massa in fact credits Clark with saving his life. Clark ordered Massa to see a doctor after Massa’s wife, Beverly, surreptitiously called him with concerns over her husband’s health. Massa was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Massa said that his experience with cancer is what got him into politics. “My passion in life became understanding the health insurance system,” he said.

Massa first battled Kuhl for the seat in 2006, narrowly losing by 6,033 votes. In their rematch, Massa benefited from high name recognition and a sizable war chest. By the end of September, he’d raised $1.7 million, compared to Kuhl’s $1.2 million. His impressive fundraising and near-win two years earlier attracted the attention and resources of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Massa also capitalized on an electorate eager for change. “The feel on the ground is fundamentally different this time than in 2006,” he said during his 2008 bid. “Instead of upriver, I feel like I am with the current.”

Kuhl was also well known in the district, having spent 24 years in the New York state Legislature. But Massa ran a more organized campaign this time around and benefited from the Democratic wave that swept through the state. He defeated Kuhl 51%-49%.

Early in 2009, Massa decided to begin accepting campaign contributions from corporate political action committees to help build a war chest for his re-election bid in 2010 even though he criticized Kuhl for such contributions in the 2008 race. The decision prompted the National Republican Congressional Committee to label Massa a newly converted Washington insider.