Tim Mahoney
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tim Mahoney | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 4, 2007 |
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| Preceded by | Mark Foley |
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| Born | August 15, 1956 Aurora, Illinois |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Terry Mahoney |
| Religion | United Methodist |
Timothy Edward "Tim" Mahoney (born August 15, 1956) is the U.S. Representative for Florida's 16th congressional district. His opponent was six-term Republican incumbent Mark Foley until September 29, 2006, when Foley stepped down after questions were raised about an email exchange with a Congressional page.
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[edit] Biography
Mahoney was a businessman. He has a home in Palm Beach Gardens (though he is described in the official House roll as "D-Venus") and a cattle ranch in southern Highlands County.[1] He is married and has a daughter, Bailey. Currently his daughter is an honor student and a scholarship equestrian athlete. The Mahoneys are members of the Venus United Methodist Church in Venus, Florida. Mahoney describes himself as a born-again Christian.[1]
Mahoney was born in Aurora, Illinois. He grew up in Summit, New Jersey and graduated from Summit High School in 1974. He obtained a bachelors degree in computer science and business from West Virginia University in 1978 and an M.B.A from George Washington University in 1983.[1]
Mahoney began his career in the computer business. After seven years, he achieved wealth when a company he was working for, Tecmar, which sold personal computer accessories, was sold. In 1986, he moved to Florida and became president of Rodime Systems, a division of Rodime Inc. Rodime Inc., for which Mahoney was also vice president of marketing and sales, manufactured disc drives that were packaged for the retail market by Rodime Systems. In 1995, Mahoney and business partner, Lenny Sokolow, started Union Atlantic, LLC, a venture capital firm. His inability to get the firm listed on vFinance.com, a fledgling matchmaking Web site for venture capitalists and cash-hungry entrepreneurs, led him and Sokolow to purchase the website in 1998, merging it with Union Atlantic.
Mahoney was chairman and chief operating officer of vFinance, Inc., which is located in Boca Raton. The vFinance website currently boasts 80,000 subscribers, but nearly 90 percent of the company's $25.8 million revenues now come from brokerage and trading activities, according to vFinance's annual report. The company has dropped from $8 per share in 2000 to 20 cents on September 26, 2006. The company has quadrupled its revenues in the past six years and increased its payroll from 21 employees to 197 during the same time.[1]
Mahoney had been a Republican for most of his life, but became a Democrat in 2004 after becoming disillusioned with the GOP.[1]
[edit] 2006 campaign
One poll taken by Hamilton Beattie on September 12, 2006, had Foley leading Mahoney in a matchup by 48% for Foley to 35% for Mahoney [2].
According to the state of Florida, 42% of the voters in this district are registered Republicans, and 36% are registered Democrats [3]. George W. Bush won this district with 52% of the vote in the 2000 presidential election, and with 54% of the vote in the 2004 presidential election.
Mahoney has sharply criticized the Bush administration for overspending, general mismanagement, and its policies in Iraq.[2] In August, General Wesley Clark endorsed the candidacy of Mahoney for Congress.[3]
On September 28, 2006, ABC News reported that Republican incumbent Mark Foley had sent email messages, from his personal AOL account, to a then-16-year-old former Congressional page, asking the page to send a photo of himself to Foley, among other things that were overtly sexual in nature. [4]
Mahoney has called for a full investigation of Foley's actions.[5] The next day Foley submitted a letter of resignation from Congress on September 29, 2006 in the wake of news reports about the communications.[6]
Republicans' hold on Mark Foley's seat went "from safe to shaky overnight."[4] On October 2, 2006, the Florida Republican Party Executive Board selected state representative Joe Negron as Mahoney's new opponent.[2] However, Negron's name did not appear on the ballot so he only received votes cast for Foley, whose name remained on the ballot by law.
On election day Mahoney narrowly defeated Negron by 1.8 percentage points.[7]While Negron carried most of the more conservative areas of the district near Fort Myers, Mahoney carried the two largest counties in the district, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties, by a combined margin of over 10,000 votes — far more than the actual margin of victory.
He is the first Democrat to represent the district since its creation in 1973 (it was the 10th District until 1983 and the 12th District until 1993).
[edit] Issues and positions
Mahoney is generally considered to be a moderate Democrat, especially by South Florida Democratic standards. He has taken the following policy stances:
- Homeland Security: Supports screening of all cargo containers entering American ports, and increased funding for first responders.
- Immigration: Supports increased border security.
- Seniors: Opposed to Social Security Privatization. Supports reforming Medicare’s Part D Prescription Drug Program.
- Environment: Advocate of preserving Florida Everglades from unregulated development. Supports Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project.
- Insurance: Supports guaranteed disaster insurance for high-risk areas. Advocate of national catastrophic fund on Financial Services Committee.
- Supported the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007.
He is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of Democratic congressmen (largely from the South) known for moderate to conservative stances, especially on social issues.
[edit] Committee Assignments
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Bender, Michael. "Democrat in position to win firm GOP seat", Palm Beach Post, September 30, 2006.
- ^ a b Hood, Joel. "Rep. Joe Negron wins state Republican Party's approval to replace Foley", Sun-Sentinel, October 3, 2006.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Sixteen-Year-Old Who Worked as Capitol Hill Page Concerned About E-mail Exchange with Congressman", ABC News, September 28, 2006.
- ^ Smith, Adam. "Candidate wants investigation in e-mail exchange", St Petersburg Times, September 28, 2006.
- ^ Ferrechio, Susan. "Republican Rep. Foley Resigns, Drops Re-election Bid in Fla. 16", St Petersburg Times, September 29, 2006.
- ^ Florida Department of State - Election Results
[edit] External links
- U.S. Congressman Tim Mahoney official House site
- Tim Mahoney for Congress official campaign site
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
- Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
- Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia
- The REAL Tim Mahoney anti-Mahoney site
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Mark Foley |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 16th congressional district November 13, 2006–Present |
Incumbent |
