Alexander F. "Sandy" Treadwell[1] (born March 25, 1946, London, England, UK) is an American politician who is a longtime Republican Party political leader in New York. He is currently New York's National Committeeman on the Republican National Committee. In 2008, he was defeated in the race to represent New York's 20th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives.
Contents |
Treadwell is the grandson of a founding executive of General Electric, and a graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[2] His father was a brigadier in the British Army.
He was a sports journalist who wrote for Sports Illustrated, and a book on marathon running. He became active in the Republican Party in Essex County, New York. His service included being a committeeman, town chairman, the chairman of the county's Republican Party, and vice chairman of the state Republican Party under Chairman Bill Powers.
Treadwell is a cousin of Jane Forbes Clark, chairwoman of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and vice-president of the Cooperstown, New York and Manhattan-based Clark Foundation.
Alexander Treadwell served in the Army National Guard.
In 1995, Gov. George Pataki appointed Treadwell Secretary of State of New York. As Secretary, Treadwell was active in reorganizing the Department of State in order to streamline operations and improve efficiency. He reduced the agency's workforce without layoffs while holding the line on spending. He was also active in local government issues statewide. The Department of State, New York State's oldest agency, had 850 employees and an annual budget of $110 million during Treadwell's leadership.
In 2001, Pataki appointed Treadwell as the Chairman of the New York Republican Party. His tenure saw the re-election of a Republican mayor of New York City, the 2002 reelection of Pataki and Lt. Gov. Mary Donohue and the nomination of the state's first Latina candidate, Judge Dora Irizarry, who was the 2002 nominee for state attorney general. In 2004, Treadwell was the host state chairman of the Republican National Convention that nominated President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for re-election. The party also experienced losses during his tenure, including county executive seats in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, four state Senate seats, five state Assembly seats and two seats in Congress.
In 2004, Treadwell faced controversy after he supported Assemblyman Howard Mills as the party's nominee for the U.S. Senate against Senator Chuck Schumer over the would-be primary candidate Michael Benjamin.[3] Benjamin publicly accused Treadwell and Governor George Pataki of trying to muscle him out of the Senate race and undermine the democratic process.[3] Mills, who was nominated after numerous other potential candidates turned the race down, would go on to lose in the largest landslide in state history. Conservative commentator George Marlin has since criticized Treadwell, labeling him a "liberal elitist".[4]
Treadwell stepped down as state chairman in 2004 to become national committeeman. In 2006 some speculated that he would challenge Republican Congressman John E. Sweeney for reelection, but he did not file to do so. In April 2008, he filed the necessary paperwork to run for Congress to challenge Kirsten Gillibrand, who had defeated Sweeney in the 2006 election.[5] Treadwell signed Americans For Tax Reform's Taxpayer Protection Pledge and ran on the promise that he will never vote to increase taxes on individuals or businesses. He was defeated by Kirsten Gillibrand, who was re-elected with 62% of the vote. The campaign was extraordinarily expensive, with Treadwell spending $5.5 million, mostly from his own fortune. [6]
Treadwell is a resident of Westport, New York; his family's farm lies at the south end of the hamlet.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Gail Shaffer |
Secretary of State of New York 1995 - 2001 |
Succeeded by Randy Daniels |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by William D. Powers |
Chairman of the New York Republican State Committee 2001 - 2004 |
Succeeded by Stephen Minarik |
|
|||||||