| Jim Tedisco | |
|---|---|
| Minority Leader of the New York State Assembly | |
| In office November 29, 2005 – April 3, 2009[1] |
|
| Governor | George Pataki Eliot Spitzer David Paterson |
| Preceded by | Charles H. Nesbitt |
| Succeeded by | Brian Kolb |
| Member of the New York State Assembly from the 110th district |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1983 |
|
| Preceded by | Clark Wemple |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 15, 1950 [2] Schenectady, New York, United States |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Song[3] |
| Residence | Glenville, New York (primary) Saratoga Springs, New York[4] |
| Alma mater | Union College |
| Religion | Catholic[5] |
| Website | Assembly Website |
James Nicholas "Jim" Tedisco (born July 15, 1950) is an American politician. He is the Republican New York State assemblyman from the 110th District, and was the Assembly's Minority Leader from November 2005 until April 2009. He has served in the Assembly since 1983. He was the Republican nominee in a special election for the 20th US Congressional District to fill the seat vacated by Kirsten Gillibrand, following Gillibrand's appointment to the United States Senate; he conceded the race on April 24, 2009.[6]
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Jim Tedisco graduated from Bishop Gibbons High School in 1968, and then received his B.A. in Psychology from Union College.[7] While at Union, he played varsity basketball for three years where he set 15 scoring and assist records, and left as Union's all-time leading scorer with 1,632 points. Tedisco earned multiple athletic awards during his college career, and was inducted into the Union Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002.[8] In 1997, he was given the Silver Anniversary Award from the NCAA.[9] The award is granted 25 years after graduation, and is based on a combination of academic achievement and being a prominent athlete while in college, and career and professional achievement after graduation.[10]
He went on to get a graduate degree in Special Education from the College of Saint Rose. From 1973 to 1982, Tedisco was a guidance counselor at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons High School in Schenectady, and was also the varsity basketball coach and athletic director. Later, he was a special education teacher at Bethlehem Central High School in Delmar, a suburb of Albany. In 1977, at age 27, he became the youngest person to be elected to the Schenectady City Council, and was reelected four years later.[7]
In 1982, Assemblyman Clark Wemple retired from the State Assembly, leaving an opening in the district. Tedisco won a four-way race in Republican primary, and then won the general election.[7] Tedisco was then chosen as the Ranking Minority Member on the Committee on Children and Families and Chairman of the Assembly Minority Task Force on Missing Children. As a result of his work on missing children, he authored Missing Children: A psychological approach to understanding the causes and consequences of stranger and non-stranger abduction of children, which was published in 1996.
Due to redistricting, Tedisco represented the 107th District from 1983 to 1993, the 103rd District from 1993 to 2003, and has represented the 110th District since 2003.[11] The 110th District consists of portions of Schenectady, Saratoga Springs and other communities in upstate New York.[12]
Tedisco was a frequent critic of former Governor Eliot Spitzer. Tedisco drew attention in 2007 due to his vocal opposition to Spitzer's plan to allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver licenses in New York, an issue Spitzer retreated on.[13] In October 2007, Tedisco charged that Spitzer had cut funding for health and education programs in the Schenectady area in retaliation for Tedisco's opposition to the Spitzer driver license plan, and accused the Governor of "dirty tricks" and "bullying".[14] A portion of the funding at issue was later restored.[15] When Spitzer's involvement with a prostitution ring surfaced in March 2008, Tedisco called for the Governor's resignation, and threatened impeachment if Spitzer did not resign.[16] Spitzer announced his resignation the next day, March 12, 2008.[17]
Tedisco ran uncontested in the 2008 general election[18] and won the 2010 general election with 64 percent of the vote.[19][20]
On January 23, 2009, after Governor David Paterson announced that he had selected Representative Kirsten Gillibrand to fill the United States Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton, Tedisco stated his intention to run for Congress to replace Gillibrand in New York's 20th Congressional District.[21] Though not a resident of the district,[22][23] Tedisco became its Republican nominee on January 27, 2009, and ran against Democrat Scott Murphy.[24] The initial count from the election had Murphy leading by 59 votes, out of over 155,000 cast on March 31, 2009. This tally did not include any of the 10,000 requested absentee ballots, which needed only to have been postmarked by that date and could have been returned as late as April 7 (domestically) or April 13 (internationally).[25] Eventually, about 7,000 absentee ballots were received; the vote count as of April 24 had Murphy ahead by 399 votes.[26] On April 24, Tedisco conceded the election to Murphy.[27]
| New York Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Clark Wemple |
New York State Assembly, 107th District 1983–1992 |
Succeeded by Arnold Proskin |
| Preceded by Arnold Proskin |
New York State Assembly, 103rd District 1993–2002 |
Succeeded by Patrick R. Manning |
| Preceded by Chris Ortloff |
New York State Assembly, 110th District 2003–present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Charles H. Nesbitt |
Minority Leader of the New York State Assembly 2005–2009 |
Succeeded by Brian Kolb |
| Awards and achievements | ||
| Preceded by Marty Liquori Thomas Lewis Lyons Cliff Meely Kurt L. Schmoke Joe Theismann Jack Youngblood |
Silver Anniversary Awards (NCAA) Class of 1997 Tommy Casanova Jack Ford David Joyner Edward B. Rust Jr. Jim Tedisco Herb Washington |
Succeeded by Gary Hall, Sr. Lawrie Mifflin Drew Pearson Cynthia Potter Sally Ride Harry Smith |