The representative from the 1st District is Tim Bishop, a Democrat first elected in 2002. He grew up in Southampton, the son of a telephone lineman, and graduated from Holy Cross College and Long Island University. He spent his entire professional career at Southampton College, where he began in 1973 as an admissions counselor and by 1986 had become provost. He chaired the town of Southampton’s Board of Ethics and was on the board of the Eastern Long Island Coastal Conservation Alliance. Few paid much attention when Bishop announced he would oppose Rep. Felix Grucci, the first-term Republican who had won the seat in 2000 from Mike Forbes, who alienated voters by switching from the Republican Party to become a Democrat. The turn of events allowed Grucci to easily win the general election, 56%-41%. Read More

The representative from the 1st District is Tim Bishop, a Democrat first elected in 2002. He grew up in Southampton, the son of a telephone lineman, and graduated from Holy Cross College and Long Island University. He spent his entire professional career at Southampton College, where he began in 1973 as an admissions counselor and by 1986 had become provost. He chaired the town of Southampton’s Board of Ethics and was on the board of the Eastern Long Island Coastal Conservation Alliance. Few paid much attention when Bishop announced he would oppose Rep. Felix Grucci, the first-term Republican who had won the seat in 2000 from Mike Forbes, who alienated voters by switching from the Republican Party to become a Democrat. The turn of events allowed Grucci to easily win the general election, 56%-41%.

Grucci seemed headed for re-election in 2002 when, in late September, he ran an ad accusing Bishop of falsifying rape statistics at Southampton College and “turning his back on rape victims.” The allegations, based on inaccurate college newspaper stories, were false. Grucci’s campaign refused to repudiate the ad, on the ground that no correction had ever appeared in print. National Democrats saw an opportunity to pick up a seat, and soon the airwaves were saturated with ads attacking Grucci both for the rape commercial and in one spot linking the Grucci family’s famed fireworks enterprise to chemical contamination of local drinking water. Bishop won 50%-49%.

In the House, Bishop compiled a voting record near the center of House Democrats, becoming more of a loyalist in recent years. After the shooting of Arizona Democrat Gabrielle Giffords in January 2011, he was among the Democrats to quickly cosponsor legislation to limit gun clip sizes to 10 rounds. His initial vote on health care in 2009 enraged some constituents and led him to cancel town hall meetings; after one particularly emotional session, he needed a police escort back to his car. But he still backed the final bill.

With his extensive background in academia, he played a leading role on the Education and Labor Committee in the 2008 higher education bill that enacted spending increases for colleges and universities. And he has championed more federal funding to help schools adapt to the demands of the 2001 No Child Left Behind law. With California Democrat Hilda Solis, he won passage of an amendment in 2005 to bar the Environmental Protection Agency from testing pesticides on humans. And the House passed his bill in April 2010 to implement management plans for 28 estuaries. One of his key issues is adjusting the alternative minimum tax to stop it from ensnaring middle-class taxpayers along with wealthy taxpayers with myriad tax shelters who are its actual target.

On local issues, Bishop successfully fought proposed cutbacks at Brookhaven and sought funds for a third track on the Long Island Railroad. Like other members of Congress representing vacation spots, he has sought to increase seasonal worker visas. Mindful of the high turnover rate in the district in recent years, Bishop has paid close attention to constituent services. In February 2011, he unsuccessfully tried to cancel money for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Kansas, which is replacing his district’s Plum Island animal disease research center. Not surprisingly, the move drew an angry response from Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan.

Republicans have made Bishop a prime target in the past, but have not succeeded in dislodging him. In 2004, their nominee was Bill Manger, a Southampton village trustee who emphasized his independence from national Republicans and attacked Bishop for opposing tax cuts. But Bishop won handily, 56%-44%. After that, he barely broke a sweat against opponents who were too conservative for the area.

But his 2010 race was among the year’s most suspenseful. GOP nominee Randy Altschuler, a wealthy businessman, ran as a stringent fiscal conservative. Bishop accused him of outsourcing jobs overseas, and his negative ratings were higher than nearly any other challenger in the country. One poll in mid-October showed Bishop with a double-digit lead. But Altschuler had the funding to compete, spending more than $4 million of his own money to easily outdistance Bishop’s $3.1 million.

On Election Night, Bishop led the race by about 3,500 votes out of more than 180,000 cast. However, underreporting and other serious mistakes were uncovered in almost 40% of election districts, shrinking Bishop’s lead to 383 votes. The recount dragged on for weeks, with Altschuler citing voter registration irregularities. More than a month after the election, Bishop maintained a 263-vote edge, and Altschuler finally conceded.