The congresswoman from the 4th District is Carolyn McCarthy, a Democrat first elected in 1996. She was born in Brooklyn, trained as a nurse, and then married and raised a family on Long Island. Originally, she was a Republican, but her life and politics changed dramatically in 1993. That year, her husband, Dennis, a stockbroker, was killed and her adult son, Kevin, was seriously injured in the “Long Island Railroad Massacre.” A gunman opened fire on passengers riding a commuter train as it crossed the Nassau County line. McCarthy spoke movingly at the killer’s trial, and her strength in tragedy won many admirers. She began campaigning for gun control laws and, in 1995, lobbied her congressman, Republican Daniel Frisa, to vote against repeal of the assault weapons ban. After Frisa voted for repeal, McCarthy inquired about running against him in the GOP primary. When Nassau County Republicans discouraged her, Democrats who had been eyeing the seat for some time recruited her. Initially, McCarthy knew little about politics. But she learned quickly. As the Democratic nominee, she called for stricter gun laws and attacked Frisa as too close to Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Frisa abruptly stopped campaigning the week before the election, did not show up at his election night party, and never made a concession statement. McCarthy won 57%-41%. Read More

The congresswoman from the 4th District is Carolyn McCarthy, a Democrat first elected in 1996. She was born in Brooklyn, trained as a nurse, and then married and raised a family on Long Island. Originally, she was a Republican, but her life and politics changed dramatically in 1993. That year, her husband, Dennis, a stockbroker, was killed and her adult son, Kevin, was seriously injured in the “Long Island Railroad Massacre.” A gunman opened fire on passengers riding a commuter train as it crossed the Nassau County line. McCarthy spoke movingly at the killer’s trial, and her strength in tragedy won many admirers. She began campaigning for gun control laws and, in 1995, lobbied her congressman, Republican Daniel Frisa, to vote against repeal of the assault weapons ban. After Frisa voted for repeal, McCarthy inquired about running against him in the GOP primary. When Nassau County Republicans discouraged her, Democrats who had been eyeing the seat for some time recruited her. Initially, McCarthy knew little about politics. But she learned quickly. As the Democratic nominee, she called for stricter gun laws and attacked Frisa as too close to Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Frisa abruptly stopped campaigning the week before the election, did not show up at his election night party, and never made a concession statement. McCarthy won 57%-41%.

In the House, McCarthy has a voting record that mingles strong support for organized labor and abortion rights with occasional conservative stances. She backed the use of force in Iraq in 2002, and in 2006 voted for legislation to build a fence on the U.S.-Mexico border. And in February 2011, she joined Republicans in extending three controversial expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT anti-terrorism law. One of her closest friends in the House is Republican Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri; they are among a bipartisan group of 20 female House members who meet for dinner once a month at the Monocle, a popular Capitol Hill dining spot for lawmakers.

On guns, however, McCarthy has remained committed to liberal positions. She has called for childproof locks on handguns, fines for parents of children who get possession of handguns, and mandatory jail terms for crimes committed with guns. The House approved her bill to help states gain more access to the federal background check system for gun buyers. The 2002 sniper spree in the Washington, D.C., area gave her the opening to gain approval in the House of her bill to strengthen laws prohibiting the mentally ill from buying guns and requiring states to file records with the national background check system. In 2004, she led an unsuccessful effort to force a House vote on extending the assault weapons ban. McCarthy criticized President George W. Bush for “winking” at the National Rifle Association on the issue, but she also blamed Democrats for their lack of support. After the shooting of her Arizona Democratic colleague Gabrielle Giffords in January 2011, McCarthy unveiled legislation to outlaw high-capacity magazines like the one that was used to shoot Giffords and 20 other people in a matter of seconds.

With only limited success on gun issues, McCarthy has broadened her portfolio, using her experience as a mother and nurse to become active in education and health care. In 2002, Bush signed her bill giving incentives to hospitals to hire more nurses to remedy acute shortages. In March 2009, she sponsored a bill to boost federal support for early child care. Also in 2009, she was the House sponsor of the successful Serve America Act, which had been sponsored in the Senate by the late Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and tripled the number of federally supported volunteers to 250,000. It also established new service corps for clean energy, education, health care, and veterans’ services.

McCarthy had a tougher than usual re-election in 2002, when she was challenged by ophthalmologist Marilyn O’Grady, a Republican who took a hard line on terrorism and immigration and opposed abortion rights. Although O’Grady received little party support, she held McCarthy to a 56%-43% victory. In the next three cycles, McCarthy was re-elected easily. She strongly criticized the appointment of Democratic Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to fill the Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. She cited Gillibrand’s “awful” record on gun control, and indicated that she would challenge Gillibrand in the 2010 primary. She ultimately withdrew for “personal reasons,” which she later clarified to Newsday involved back surgery that required her to wear a brace for months.

McCarthy’s 2010 race ended up becoming her closest in more than a decade. Francis Becker, a former Nassau County GOP legislator, campaigned with an anti-Washington, anti-Obama message that forced McCarthy to compete more vigorously than usual. She ran ads harshly criticizing Becker for several of the stands he took as a county official, and she won 54%-46%.