National
Journal Group
Learn more about our publications and sign up for a free trial.
E-Mail Alerts
Get notified the moment your favorite features are updated.
Need A Reprint?
Click here for details on reprints, permissions and back issues.
Advertise With Us
Details on advertising with National Journal Group -- both online and in print -- can be found in our online media kit.
Go Wireless
Get daily political updates on your handheld computer.
|
Last Updated June 22, 2005
The destination of the Erie Canal, the great state engineering project that made New York the Empire State--is Lake Erie, and for its last hundred miles the canal passed through the rolling countryside of western New York. This was land scarcely settled, except by Indians, when the canal was begun in 1817, and in many ways it is part of the Midwest: water here flows not into the Atlantic but into the Great Lakes; people speak not in the pungent accents of New York City but in a flat Midwestern tone. The economy, based originally on farming fertile land, by the late 19th century became dominated by heavy industry. This land was settled mostly by New England Yankees, with cultural folkways quite different from those of New York City; later they were joined by Irish, Italian and Polish immigrants who came to work in the factories of Buffalo and Rochester. For most of its history, western New York had an economy more prosperous than that of the rest of the country, as you can still see in the solid houses and schools, stores and factories built to weather the Upstate winter. But economic growth here in the past quarter century has lagged behind the rest of the nation. Many of Buffalo's factories have closed and Rochester's premier industries, Kodak and Xerox, fell on hard times and laid off thousands. The 26th Congressional District of New York covers much of western New York. About half its people are in the suburbs of Buffalo in Erie and Niagara Counties, though none in the city of Buffalo itself. It extends from the city limits of Buffalo to the city limits of Rochester and includes that city's northwestern suburbs. In between is rural and small town territory, with many towns bearing the classical names sprinkled by state commissioners across Upstate New York. One such is Attica, scene of the terrible prison riot in 1970. Politically, this is ancestrally Republican territory. For a long time this was due to Upstaters' distrust of Democratic New York City. But as economic growth has lagged, Upstate New York has moved toward the Democratic party. Not enough to make the 26th District Democratic, however: it is one of six New York districts that voted for George W. Bush in both 2000 and 2004. The congressman from the 26th District is Tom Reynolds, a Republican first elected in 1998. Reynolds grew up in Springville, in southern Erie County, and became an insurance and real estate broker there. He got into politics early: in 1973 he was aide to an assemblyman and that same year, at 23, he was elected to the Concord town council. In 1982 he was named to a vacant seat in the Erie County Legislature. In 1988 he was elected to the Assembly and also helped run the congressional campaign of Bill Paxon, who was elected to succeed Jack Kemp in Congress from the Buffalo suburbs. From 1990 to 1996 he was Erie County Republican chairman, from 1995 to 1998 the Assembly minority leader. In early 1998 what is now the 26th District seat suddenly fell open when Paxon announced he would not run for reelection. At his side when he made his announcement in Erie County was his long-time friend and ally Reynolds, who announced the next morning he was running for the House. No serious Republican opposition appeared; Democrats nominated a professor at SUNY-Geneseo. It was not a suspenseful or eventful campaign. Reynolds won 57%-43%. In the House, Reynolds has had the most conservative voting record in the New York delegation. With help from Paxon, he quickly won the favor of the Republican leadership and became only the second Republican freshman in a century to win a seat on the Rules Committee. That assignment gave him quick entry into the House's leadership circles and the Capitol's back rooms. Like Paxon, Reynolds proved a skillful fundraiser, gaining appointment to chair the National Republican Congressional Committee's Battleground 2000 program, which raised $21 million from House members. In 2001 Speaker Dennis Hastert gave Reynolds a slot on the leadership-friendly House Administration Committee, which has responsibility for campaign finance legislation. As a further sign of the leadership's gratitude to Reynolds for his campaign service and a mark of his growing influence, Hastert also got him a seat on the Ways and Means Committee; technically he did not join the committee until four years later, after the retirement of Ways and Means Upstate neighbor Amo Houghton. In the meantime, Reynolds became active as a legislative strategist. When the House took up the campaign finance regulation, he said that the Shays-Meehan bill had a loophole allowing Democrats to use their $40 million soft money building fund for hard money purposes; the language was fixed. After September 11, some Democrats criticized Reynolds as more interested in the priorities of the White House than the needs of New York, but Reynolds responded that he played an essential role as honest broker in getting money to his home state; many champions of New York City agreed. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton also worked with him on issues dealing with western New York. "We respect each other," she told a Buffalo audience. "And he makes me laugh. He's got a great personality." Clinton also helped to build early cooperation between Reynolds and Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, who had been an aide at the Clinton White House; the two House members cosponsored a bill to clean up the Great Lakes. In November 2002, both Reynolds and Jerry Weller ran vigorous campaigns to chair the NRCC. Weller's district is adjacent to that of Speaker Dennis Hastert, who said he was neutral; other leadership members, notably Tom DeLay, backed Reynolds. He won 123-91. As NRCC chairman, Reynolds became an active spokesman for House Republicans. He worked on close terms with Hastert, with whom he shared many qualities: beefy, former state legislators with an earthy style, who gained influence by their backroom skills rather than their public personality; the two of them frequently could be seen in private conversations. Hastert called Reynolds "hardworking and tenacious." He was an active fundraiser for George W. Bush's campaign and built close relationships with top officials of the Bush administration, including Dick Cheney and Karl Rove; he played a prominent role at the 2004 convention in New York. Throughout the cycle Reynolds insisted that relatively few seats were in play and that incumbent Republicans would do fine; he concentrated on holding some open Republican seats and looking for attractive targets in Democratic districts. He suffered setbacks in February and June 2004 when Democrats captured two previously Republican-held seats in special elections in Kentucky and South Dakota. But in November 2004 Republicans gained a net three seats and saw only two incumbents lose--which increased Reynolds's already considerable influence in Republican ranks, and some mentioned him as a possible future leader. His rapid rise in House influence is "not bad for a kid from Springville," he often says. In 2002 redistricting posed a challenge for Reynolds. Sluggish population growth meant that Upstate New York would lose a seat, and Reynolds's elongated district was in perfect geographical position to be carved up among its neighbors. On May 23, 2002, a three-judge federal court placed Democrat John LaFalce and Republican Jack Quinn in the same Buffalo-Niagara Falls district, which would have left Reynolds in a district without much of a Republican edge. But the court gave the legislature more time to act. The legislature in this case meant Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Republican state Senate President Joseph Bruno and Governor George Pataki. Reynolds worked with Democrat Nita Lowey, then head of her party's House campaign committee, to convince the trio that they should agree on a plan that would give the two of them safe districts so that they could campaign for their parties across the country. Dick Cheney phoned Bruno to put on the pressure. On June 5, the legislature passed its plan, which left Reynolds with a relatively safe 26th District. In November 2002, he won by a 74%-22% margin. In 2004 he was opposed by Jack Davis, a businessman and former Republican who spent $1.25 million of his own money on his campaign. He ran ads depicting Reynolds as a free trader who outsourced American jobs--an effective line of attack in Upstate New York, where manufacturing job losses have been steep--but received little help or attention from national Democrats. Reynolds won by a surprisingly close 56%-44%. He carried each of the seven counties except Niagara, where Davis got 51%. After the election, Davis promised to remain politically active.
Committees
National Journal Group offers both print and electronic reprint services, as well as permissions for academic use, photocopying and republication. Click here to order, or call us at 877-394-7350. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NEW FEATURE
[ Site Index | Staff | Privacy Policy | E-Mail Alerts ]
[ Reprints And Back Issues | Content Licensing ]
[ Make NationalJournal.com Your Homepage ]
[ About National Journal Group Inc. ]
[ Employment Opportunities ]
Copyright 2013 by National Journal Group Inc.
The Watergate · 600 New Hampshire Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20037
202-739-8400 · fax 202-833-8069
NationalJournal.com is an Atlantic Media publication.
