Randy Altschuler

Randolph Brody "Randy" Altschuler^[1] (born December 8, 1970) is an American businessman and politician. He was the Republican and Conservative Party candidate for Congress in New York's 1st Congressional District in 2010 and 2012.

Early life and education

Altschuler was born and raised in New York City by a single mother, Sheila Brody,^[1] and graduated from Hunter College High School in 1989. He attended Princeton University, working his way through school as a short order cook and campus security guard.^[2] He graduated in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in German Studies and Literature, earning High Honors. In 1994, Altschuler studied at the University of Vienna as a Fulbright Scholar. In 1998, Altschuler graduated from Harvard Business School earning a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) with Distinction.^[3]

Business career

He worked as an investment banker at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and served as an assistant to the Chief Executive Officer for Deutsche Bank North America, focusing on both strategic and management issues. After getting his MBA, Altschuler worked in private equity at The Blackstone Group.^[4] He is the co-founder (in 2001) and Executive Chairman of CloudBlue, an electronics recycling company based in Norcross, Georgia.^[4]

Office Tiger

In 1999, Altschuler and Princeton classmate Joseph Sigelman started OfficeTiger, a business process outsourcing company (BPO) that performs back office support services for American companies.^[5][6] As of July 2005, Business Week magazine reported that OfficeTiger was the only successful startup in India’s outsourcing industry owned and managed by U.S. entrepreneurs.^[7]
With RR Donnelley's acquisition of OfficeTiger from Altschuler and Sigelman in March 2006 for $250 million, and its combination by Donnelly with another Donnelley acquisition, Astron BPO, by September 2006, OfficeTiger expanded to 29 offices and 42 client locations across nine countries and employed 4,000 people in India, 4,000 in Europe, 1,000 in Sri Lanka, 750 in the United States, and 300 in the Philippines.^[8] Altschuler has claimed OfficeTiger is not a traditional outsourcing company, but rather one whose overseas employees "enhance the services and jobs that Americans are doing here domestically." Later in the interview, he contends, "You want the professionals here doing different kinds of things than he or she is doing today. Office Tiger allows them to take some of the more traditional tasks and outsource that offshore." ^[5]

Cloud Blue

In 2001 he co-founded an electronic waste (e-waste), recycling company Cloud Blue Technologies based in Norcross Georgia, having moved there in 2011 from Alpharetta GA.^[9][10] Altschuler serves as the company’s executive chairman and works out of their Port Jefferson, NY offices.^[11] On September 30, 2013, ClouldBlue was acquired by Ingram Micro, a large wholesale technology distributor.^[12]

NextLine Manufacturing

Mr. Altschuler's current business venture is NextLine Manufacturing, a 3-D printing company specializing in metal laser sintering technology.^[13][14] NextLine was founded in 2013 by Altschuler and Laurence Zuriff.

2010 U.S. Congressional campaign

New York's 1st congressional district

On August 11, 2009, Altschuler filed to run for U.S. Congress from New York's 1st congressional district against four-term incumbent Democrat Timothy Bishop.^[15] Altschuler won the September 14, 2010, Republican primary over George Demos, a former Securities and Exchange Commission prosecutor, and Christopher Nixon Cox, a grandson of Richard Nixon, receiving 45.07% of the vote.^[16] Demos received 30.32%, while Cox received 24.61%.^[16]

In the general election, Altschuler was endorsed by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani,^[17] Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy,^[18] Former Massachusetts Governor and 2008 presidential contender Mitt Romney,^[19] Former New York Governor George Pataki,^[20] House Republican Whip Eric Cantor,^[21] former House Speaker Newt Gingrich,^[22] The U.S. Chamber of Commerce,^[20] the National Federation of Independent Business,^[20] Long Island Congressman Peter T. King,^[23] The New York Post,^[24] Dan Senor,^[25] John Faso,^[26] The Conservative Party of New York State, the American Conservative Union,^[27] John LeBoutillier,^[28] and numerous other local elected officials.^{[29][30][31][32][33]} In the days leading up to the primary, Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh commented on the race calling Altschuler “a guy who was a Green Party pro-choice Republican in New Jersey before they shipped him out to Suffolk County to run.” ^[34][35]

Altschuler faced incumbent Tim Bishop in the November 2, 2010 general election. On Election Day Bishop was reported to have a 3,400 vote lead but after the electronic voting machines were reread at the board of elections, Altschulter was reported with a 392 vote lead, with approximately 11,000 absentee ballots left to be counted.^[36] After most absentee ballots were tabulated, Bishop had a 263 vote lead, at which point Altschuler conceded defeat to Bishop and ended his campaign on December 8 -- 36 days after the election. It was the last Congressional race decided in the United States.^[37] Altschuler lost the election by 593 votes.^[38]

Altschuler invested $2.2 million of his own money in the campaign.^[39]

2012 U.S. Congressional campaign

Ending speculation that he would run for the Suffolk County Executive position to succeed Steve Levy, he announced in May 2011 that he would run for Congress again in 2012.^[40] He faced George Demos in the primary.^[41] The National Republican Congressional Committee named Altschuler to their "Young Guns" list of the top Republican candidates in the country.^[42] Altschuler secured the nomination of the Independence Party, which had delivered Bishop 7,370 votes in 2010.^[43]

Altschuler's campaign collected well over 6000 signatures to nominate him as the Republican, Conservative and Independence Party candidate in 2012, vastly surpassing the 938 required by law.^[44] Altschuler's only rival for the nomination left the race in May, 2012.^[45] In the election, Altschuler was again defeated by Bishop, this time by around 11,000 votes.

Young Guns

Altschuler was awarded membership in the exclusive GOP "Young Guns", a select group of young candidates chosen by Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy.^[46][47]

Personal life

Randy Altschuler is married to Cheryl Sladkin,^[1] a professional ballet dancer turned pediatrician. She was a classmate from Princeton, where they met. Cheryl was born in Thailand.^[48] They have a young son, Noah, and a baby girl, Sasha.^[49] The family lives in St. James, New York on Long Island, where they moved in 2007 so Cheryl could open a medical practice in the area.^[50]

References

External links

• CloudBlue official business site
• Randy Altschuler for Congress official campaign site
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• OfficeTiger profile at eBusinessForum, March 22, 2006