John E. Sweeney
| John E. Sweeney | |
|---|---|
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 's New York's 20th & 22nd district |
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In office January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2003 (22nd) January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2007 (20th) |
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| Preceded by |
Gerald B. H. Solomon (1999) Benjamin A. Gilman (2003) |
| Succeeded by |
Maurice Hinchey (2003) Kirsten Gillibrand (2007) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 9, 1955 Troy, New York |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Betty Sweeney Gaia Sweeney Erin Sweeney |
| Residence | Clifton Park, New York |
| Alma mater |
Sage College (BA) Western New England School of Law (JD) |
| Occupation | attorney |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
John E. Sweeney (born August 9, 1955) is a politician from the U.S. state of New York. A Republican, he represented New York's 20th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from January 1999 to January 2007. He was dubbed "Congressman Kick-Ass" by President George W. Bush for his take-no-prisoners style. Before being defeated for reelection in November 2006 by Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, he was considered a strong candidate for statewide office.
Sweeney was born in Troy, New York and graduated from Lansingburgh High School in 1973. He received an associate degree from Hudson Valley Community College in 1978 and a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Criminal Justice from the Sage College of Albany in 1981. In 1991, he received a J.D. from Western New England College School of Law.
After the Bush-Gore 2000 re-count in Florida, in which Sweeney played a legendary role, Toby Eglund wrote:
"Sweeney ... embodies that embarrassment of the Left: the rightward drift of America's white working class males. The son of a shirt factory worker active in the Amalgamated Shirt Cutters Union, and a sometime resident of a housing project, Sweeney grew up in the old, gritty industrial city of Troy, New York. He put himself through law school, and toiled as a minor county bureaucrat until, one day, he was discovered by Republican State Chairman William Powers who made him executive director of the New York state GOP in 1992."
Sweeney was "Rensselaer County's one-time STOP-DWI coordinator."
He was the Executive Director & Chief Counsel of the New York Republican Party from 1992 to 1995, a period of tremendous success for the state GOP. During Sweeney's tenure at state Republican headquarters, Rudy Giuliani was elected mayor of New York City (the first Republican to win the mayor's office in 28 years) and George Pataki was elected governor (the first Republican to win the Governor's Mansion in 20 years) and Republicans made gains in both houses of the state legislature and at the local level. Sweeney was Governor Pataki's first Commissioner of the State Department of Labor, from 1995 to 1997, then he moved to Governor Pataki's inner-circle staff as Deputy Secretary to the Governor, from 1997 until he resigned to run for Congress.
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