Rep. Randy Kuhl (R) Elected 2004, 1st term
Born:	April 19, 1943, Bath
Home:	Hammondsport
Education:	Union College, B.S. 1966, Syracuse U., J.D. 1969
Religion:	Episcopalian
Marital Status:	divorced
Elected  Office:	NY Assembly, 1980-86; NY Senate, 1986-2004.
Professional Career:	Practicing atty., 1970-2005.
DC Office	1505 LHOB20515, 202-225-3161; Fax: 202-226-6599; Web site: www.kuhl.house.gov
State Offices	Corning, 607-937-3333.
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The Southern Tier of New York is one of the nation's forgotten stretches of territory, yet it has an interesting and distinctive history. Elmira was the hometown of Mark Twain's beloved wife, Olivia, and is where Twain is buried. Corning is the headquarters of Corning Glass Works, a company successful over the years not only in manufacturing but in its artistic distinction, which is showcased at a well-visited glass museum. This area has an Indian presence--some small reservations as well as the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum--plus miles and miles of dairy farms and much of New York's wine country. Sheltered by hills, the lands at the edge of Upstate's deep lakes constitute the nation's largest grape-growing area outside California, the leader in Concord grapes, with headquarters of prime New York State wineries and a major Welch's grape juice plant. But this country is isolated, and ill-served by air travel or Interstate highways. Cattaraugus County, slightly inland from Lake Erie, is actually 110 miles closer to Washington, D.C., than it is to New York City, though getting to either destination requires considerable patience. The cruelest cut, however, was the Internet bust. Corning's prospects grew dramatically when fiber optics and other high-tech components were being installed at a feverish pace, but the reduction in orders following the bust forced the company to lay off more than 1,000 of its local workers, in a town of only 11,000 people.

The 29th Congressional District of New York includes much of the state's Southern Tier, from Elmira to Cattaraugus County; to the north it also includes the westernmost of the Finger Lakes and the southern suburbs of Rochester. Politically, this has been Republican country since the party's founding. The towns and countryside are no longer homogeneously Protestant, but they remain solidly Republican in most elections. Despite the trend in Upstate New York toward national Democrats, the 29th remains solidly Republican. This was George W. Bush's best congressional district in New York in both 2000 and 2004.

The congressman from the 29th District is John "Randy" Kuhl, a Republican elected in 2004. He grew up in western New York and graduated from Union College and Syracuse University law school. He worked ten years as a lawyer before winning election to the state Assembly in 1980; in 1986, he was elected to the state Senate. In April 2004 Amo Houghton, former CEO of Corning and one of the richest members of Congress, announced he was retiring after 18 years in the House after being assured that the district would not be sacrificed in redistricting. Kuhl quickly became the frontrunner to succeed him. Even with the endorsement of Houghton, who wanted a successor from the Southern Tier, he endured two tough campaigns before winning the seat. Kuhl kicked off his campaign in April with an attempt to inoculate himself against attack by apologizing for a 1997 drunk driving conviction, but that issue turned out to be the least of his worries. He drew heavy criticism for his service in Albany, in a legislature that is widely regarded as the most dysfunctional legislative body in the nation. Then, shortly before the September 14 Republican primary, Kuhl's conservative opponent, Monroe County legislator Mark Assini, turned up the heat by releasing a radio ad that accused Kuhl of being a bigot. The attack, based on an 11-year-old comment about groups with "genetic traits", does not seem to have been effective. Assini carried his base in the Rochester suburbs of Monroe County with 69% of the vote, but only 19% of the votes were cast there. Kuhl won just about everywhere else in the district and beat Assini by 64%-33%. The general election was expected to be anticlimactic in this solidly Republican district. Kuhl called for lowering taxes to attract more investment to western New York and said that he would work to ensure that the local agricultural sector remained competitive. The Democratic nominee, Samara Barend, 27, had never held elected office; she had served briefly as an aide to former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and had worked on Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2000 campaign. Kuhl, with his extensive political experience, was endorsed by the national and state AFL-CIO as "a strong advocate for working men and women and their families." But Kuhl's campaign was rocked in late October by the unauthorized release of his sealed divorce records, which included charges of excessive drinking and womanizing and an accusation that Kuhl had pulled out two shotguns at a dinner party and threatened to shoot his wife. Both Kuhl and his ex-wife denounced the release of the records, which had been obtained by Barend's campaign manager after a staffer got them from a county clerk's office; apparently the documents were inadvertently released. Barend initially denied any role in the incident and refused demands to fire her campaign manager. But Kuhl's campaign said that she was lying. As damaging as the documents appeared to be, they weren't enough to overcome widespread distaste for the manner in which they were made public. Kuhl's win was narrower than had been expected, 51%-41%, with 6% to Assini on the Conservative Party line. In Monroe County, which cast 36% of the total vote, Barend led 48%-39%. Kuhl carried the other counties, including 67% in Corning-based Steuben County.

Kuhl got seats on three committees: Agriculture, Education and the Workforce, and Transportation and Infrastructure. He said that he wanted to follow Houghton on Ways and Means, but freshmen are seldom assigned to that panel, and Tom Reynolds of the next-door 26th District already had a seat on the committee. Kuhl promised to hold a town meeting annually in each of the 143 towns in the district.

Committees

• Agriculture (21st of 25 R): Livestock & Horticulture.
• Education & the Workforce (27th of 27 R): 21st Century Competitiveness; Education Reform.
• Transportation & Infrastructure (37th of 41 R): Aviation; Economic Development, Public Buildings & Emergency Management.

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Randy Kuhl (R)	136,883	51%	$937,340
	Samara Barend (D-WF)	110,241	41%	$612,443
	Mark Assini (C)	17,272	6%	$267,016
	Other	5,819	2%
2004 primary	Randy Kuhl (R)	25,552	64%
	Mark Assini (R)	13,303	33%
	Other	1,074	3%
2002 general	Amo Houghton (R-C)	127,657	73%	$970,302
	Kisun Peters (D)	37,128	21%
	Other	9,846	6%

2004 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 171,317 (56%) Kerry (D) 127,481 (42%)

2000 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 152,004 (53%) Gore (D) 121,596 (43%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Twenty-Ninth District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R + 5
• District Size: 5,761 square miles
• Population in 2000: 654,361; 58.4% urban; 41.6% rural
• Median Household Income: $41,875; 9.9% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 23.0% blue collar; 61.3% white collar; 15.7% gray collar; 14.2% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 92.5% White, 2.7% Black, 1.8% Asian, 0.5% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 1.0% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 1.4% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 16.3% German, 12.2% Irish, 11.1% English
• Click here for statewide demographic data.