- Dan Maffei
-
Dan Maffei 
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 25th districtIn office
January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011Preceded by James T. Walsh Succeeded by Ann Marie Buerkle Personal details Born July 4, 1968
Syracuse, New YorkPolitical party Democratic Spouse(s) Abby Davidson-Maffei Residence DeWitt, New York Alma mater Brown University B.A. (1990)
Columbia University M.S. (1991)
Harvard University M.P.P. (1995)Occupation Journalist, businessman Religion Roman Catholic Website maffeiforcongress.com Daniel Benjamin "Dan" Maffei (muff-AY) (born July 4, 1968) is a former U.S. Representative for New York's 25th congressional district, serving from 2009 until 2011, and currently a senior adviser[1] at law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. He is seeking the Democratic nomination to run for his old seat in 2012.[2]
Contents
Early life, education and career
Maffei was born in Syracuse and currently resides in the suburb of DeWitt. He graduated from Nottingham Senior High School in 1986, and continued on to receive a B.A. in history from Brown University in 1990, an M.S. in journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1991, and an M.P.P. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1995.[3][4]
Upon graduating from Columbia, Maffei went to work as a reporter and producer for Syracuse's ABC affiliate WSYR-TV from 1991 to 1993 and part-time reporter for a Watertown news station through 1995.
Prior to his congressional election, Maffei was the Senior Vice President for Corporate Development at consulting firm Pinnacle Capital Management,[5] as well as a frequent guest lecturer at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
Early political career
He was press secretary for U.S. Senator Bill Bradley in 1996, then served in the same post for Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan from 1997 to 1998. After working on Senator Bradley's presidential campaign from 1998 to 1999, Maffei went to work for U.S. Representative Charlie Rangel from 1999 to 2005, serving as a senior staff member of the House Ways and Means Committee.
In 2005, Maffei returned to Syracuse to coordinate the successful 2005 re-election campaign of Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll. Following his successful return, Maffei decided to make his first bid for public office, challenging popular nine-term Republican Congressman Jim Walsh. He earned the Democratic nomination and mounted the first serious challenge to Walsh in years, coming within two percentage points of defeating the incumbent. Maffei won in the City of Syracuse and the rest of Onondaga County, Walsh's home turf, as well as Monroe County.
U.S. House of Representatives
Committee assignments
- Committee on Financial Services
- Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity
- Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade
- Committee on the Judiciary
- Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
- Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy
Political campaigns
2008
On January 24, 2008, after Maffei had already mounted a strong opposition campaign, Walsh announced that he would not be running for an 11th term. In March, 2008, Mayor Driscoll announced he would not be running for the seat, effectively handing the nomination to Maffei. He ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on September 9, 2008. After it appeared he might run unopposed in the general election, on April 3, 2008, Onondaga County legislator Dale Sweetland, coming off a narrowly unsuccessful 2007 bid for Onondaga County Executive, announced that he would oppose Maffei.
Maffei was heavily favored to win the seat. In addition to rating the district as 'Leans Democratic', RealClearPolitics ranked this as the third most likely Congressional district to switch parties.[6] Going into the election, other pundits from CQ Politics, The Cook Report, and the Rothenberg Report are also ranking it as 'Lean Democrat' to 'Democrat Favored'.[7]
In May 2008, and again on June 20, 2008, the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza, author of "The Fix", ranked the race in the 25th as a near-certainty to result in a Democratic takeover.[8][9] Although Walsh had held the seat without serious difficulty until his near-defeat in 2006, the 25th had swung heavily to the Democrats at most other levels since the 1990s. Even though Republicans have a small plurality of registered voters, it hadn't supported a Republican for president since George H.W. Bush carried it in 1988. Walsh had been able to hold onto the seat due to his long tenure on the House Appropriations Committee, which made Maffei's near-victory in 2006 all the more remarkable. It is normally considered very difficult to unseat an Appropriations Committee member.
On November 4, 2008, Maffei defeated Sweetland, 55% to 42%.[10] He became the first Democrat to represent the area since 1981 (when it was the 32nd District).
2010
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in New York, 2010#District 25Republican Ann Marie Buerkle defeated Maffei on November 2, 2010, an outcome that was determined after weeks of absentee ballot counting and precinct recanvassing, in which Buerkle emerged with a narrow 567 vote majority, of over 200,000 ballots cast. Maffei conceded the race on November 23, 2010, when it became clear that challenged votes would not change the outcome of the race.[11]
Maffei had been favored to hold the seat. RealClearPolitics rated the district as 'Leans Democratic,' and other pundits from CQ Politics, The Cook Report, and the Rothenberg Report ranked it as 'Lean Democrat' to 'Democrat Favored'.[7]
2012
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in New York, 2012#District 25Maffei is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Buerkle in the 25th District in 2012.[2]
Electoral history
US House election, 2010: New York District 25 Party Candidate Votes % ±% Republican Ann Marie Buerkle 104,374 50.2 +8.0 Democratic Dan Maffei 103,807 49.8 -4.7 Majority 567 0.3 -10.4 Turnout 208,181 100 +23.4 US House election, 2008: New York District 25, 99.2% reporting Party Candidate Votes % ±% Democratic Dan Maffei 146,411 54.5 +5.3 Republican Dale Sweetland 113,358 42.2 -7.0 Green Howie Hawkins 8,855 3.3 +3.3 Majority 33,053 12.3 +10.7 Turnout 268,624 100 -22.5 US House election, 2006: New York District 25 Party Candidate Votes % ±% Republican James T. Walsh (incumbent) 110,525 50.8 -39.6 Democratic Dan Maffei 107,108 49.2 +49.2 Majority 3,417 1.6 -79.2 Turnout 217,633 100 +4.0 Colbert Report Interview
On April 7, 2009, Representative Maffei appeared with Stephen Colbert on the "Better Know a District" segment of The Colbert Report.[12] Colbert asked Maffei about his stance on NAMBLA (intentionally mistaking it for NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) and about the number of times he voted with the Democratic majority in the House.
Maffei, a Star Trek fan,[12] agreed to don a false goatee at Colbert's insistence, as they pretended to be their own evil twins (like the character Spock in the "Mirror, Mirror" episode of the television show "Star Trek"). While in his "evil twin" persona, Colbert prompted Maffei to answer such statements as "I enjoy cocaine because ..." and "I enjoy the company of prostitutes for the following reasons..." Colbert had done the same thing during a similar type of interview with Congressman Robert Wexler.
References
- ^ Washington Post: Former Congressman Joins Manatt
- ^ a b Mark Weiner (24 August 2011). "Former Rep. Dan Maffei says he's ready for rematch with Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle". Syracuse Post Standard. http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/08/former_rep_dan_maffei_says_hes.html. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
- ^ Maffei For Congress - About Dan
- ^ "Campaign as Classroom: Dan Maffei (MPP 1995) on lessons learned" - John F. Kennedy School of Government - News
- ^ Pinnacle Capital Management People
- ^ Election '08: Senate, House & Governor Races
- ^ a b CQ Politics Projected Landscape, New York's Delegation to the U.S. House
- ^ Chris Cillizza. "Friday House Line: Dems Could Gain 20 Seats", "The Fix", The Washington Post, June 6, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-06-28.
- ^ Chris Cillizza. "Generic Ballot Distress for House GOP", "The Fix", The Washington Post, June 20, 2008. Retrieved on June 28, 2008
- ^ http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/individual/#mapHNY/H/25 US House - New York 25 Results
- ^ Goodin, Emily (2010-11-23). "Rep. Maffei concedes, GOP gains 63rd seat". The Hill. http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/house-races/130569-rep-maffei-concedes-gives-gop-63rd-house-pickup. Retrieved 2010-11-23. "Rep. Dan Maffei (D-N.Y.) conceded to his GOP challenger Tuesday afternoon, giving Republicans their 63rd pickup in the House."
- ^ a b Appearance on The Colbert Report
External links
- Dan Maffei for Congress official campaign site
- Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
- Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Congressional profile at GovTrack
- Congressional profile at OpenCongress
- Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
- Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
- Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- Appearances on C-SPAN programs
United States House of Representatives Preceded by
James T. WalshMember of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 25th congressional district
2009 - 2011Succeeded by
Ann Marie BuerkleCategories:- Brown University alumni
- Columbia University alumni
- American people of Italian descent
- Living people
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from New York
- New York Democrats
- People from Syracuse, New York
- People from De Witt, New York
- 1968 births
- John F. Kennedy School of Government alumni
- United States congressional aides
- Committee on Financial Services
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