Tom MacArthur | |
---|---|
Member of the U.S.HouseofRepresentatives from New Jersey's 3rd district | |
In office January 3, 2015 –January 3, 2019 | |
Preceded by | Jon Runyan |
Succeeded by | Andy Kim |
Mayor of Randolph | |
In office January 1,2013 –January 1,2014 | |
Deputy | James B. Loveys [1] |
Preceded by | Mike Guadagno [2] |
Succeeded by | James B. Loveys [3] |
Personal details | |
Born | Thomas Charles MacArthur October 16,1960 Milford,Connecticut,U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Debbie MacArthur (m. 1982) |
Children | 3 |
Education | Hofstra University (BA) |
Thomas Charles MacArthur (born October 16, 1960) is an American former insurance executive and politician. [4] He served as the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 3rd congressional district from 2015 to 2019. A Republican, MacArthur served on the city council of Randolph, New Jersey, from 2011 through 2013, and as its mayor in 2013. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014. [5] After leaving Congress MacArthur returned to private business.
MacArthur grew up in Hebron, Connecticut. He received his bachelor's degree from Hofstra University. [6] After graduating from Hofstra, MacArthur became an insurance adjuster. [7] He served as the chairman and CEO of York Risk Services Group, a multi-national organization that provides insurance services. He was chairman and chief executive officer of York Risk Services Group for 11 years. He served on the Randolph, New Jersey, Township Council from 2011 through 2013, including a tenure as mayor in 2013. [6]
When Jon Runyan, a Republican who represented New Jersey's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, announced that he would not run for reelection in 2014, MacArthur chose to run for the Republican Party nomination. MacArthur resigned from the Randolph council to move into the congressional district, where he had owned a home. [8] [9] He ran against Steve Lonegan in the Republican Party's primary election, and defeated him. [10]
MacArthur faced Democratic nominee Aimee Belgard, a Burlington County freeholder, in the general election. MacArthur's campaign expenditures totaled $5.6 million, with MacArthur personally contributing over $5 million to his campaign from his personal fortune. [11] [12] MacArthur outspent Belgard by about three to one (with both campaigns' spending equaling a combined total of $7.4 million), making the race the most expensive open-seat contest in the country in 2014. [13] [12] MacArthur defeated Belgard by nearly a 10-point margin. [14]
He was sworn in on January 6, 2015, along with 58 other new members of the House of Representatives. [15] He was assigned to the Armed Services Committee and two of its subcommittees, the Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces and Subcommittee on Military Personnel. MacArthur was elected Vice Chairman of the latter subcommittee. He was also assigned to the Natural Resources Committee as well as two of its subcommittees, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands and the Subcommittee on Water, Power, and Oceans. [16]
On February 2, 2015, MacArthur introduced the "Disaster Assistance Fairness and Accountability Act of 2015" [17] that will prevent the Federal Emergency Management Agency from taking back disaster relief funds from individuals who applied for them in good faith. [18] On March 25, 2015, MacArthur introduced the "Veterans' Mental Health Care Access Act" [19] to allow veterans with a Choice Card to access mental health care at any facility eligible for reimbursement by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. [20] [21] Both bills were considered "dead," by virtue of a failure to garner approval from Republican-led subcommittees, before the final sine die Adjournment of the 114th Congress. [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] MacArthur's legislation to reform FEMA was re-introduced in the 115th Congress and became law. [27]
MacArthur ran for re-election in 2016. [28] He ran unopposed in the Republican primary. In the general election, he faced Democrat Frederick John Lavergne. [29] MacArthur won the election with 60% of the vote. [30]
At his second term MacArthur was appointed to the Committee on Financial Services and stepped down from the Armed Services Committee and the Natural Resources Committee. [31] [32] He was also a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership [33] and the Climate Solutions Caucus. [34]
MacArthur was defeated by Democrat Andy Kim, a former national security aide to President Obama, in the midterm election on November 6. [35] The race was not officially called for eight days, after which Kim was declared the winner. [36] With a margin of victory of fewer than 4,000 votes, or slightly over one percent of votes cast, this congressional race was the closest in New Jersey. [37] [38]
During the campaign, MacArthur emphasized his bipartisan record, willingness to oppose his own party, and his record of constituent service, while seeking to highlight Kim's apparent exaggeration of his resume and portray him as a "radical resistance" figure. [39] [40] [41] [42] Kim highlighted MacArthur's prominent role in the Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, while emphasizing his own experience in national security and his refusal to accept corporate PAC donations. [43] [44] [45]
During the campaign, MacArthur sought to portray Kim as a D.C. elitist and outsider. In an ad run by the New Jersey Republican Party, Kim was described as "Real Fishy" in wonton font, a font that has been associated with expressing "Asianness," on a picture of dead fish. MacArthur dismissed charges that the ad was racist, "Some fish on a piece of paper is suddenly racist? What is racist about a picture of fish? Now we're politicizing fonts? It's not a racist font, it's a font meant to stand out." [46] [47] When MacArthur was accused of bigotry by U.S. Rep Adam Schiff in reference to another controversial ad that described Kim as "not one of us," MacArthur demanded an apology to his two adopted children, who are Korean American, and highlighted that the ad in question was not authorized by his campaign. [48] [49] [50]
Committee assignments
115th Congress
114th Congress
Caucus and leadership positions
MacArthur was elected or assigned to several leadership roles during his tenure, including Co-Chair of the Tuesday Group (a group of moderate or centrist Republicans), Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Heroin and Opioid Taskforce, [51] and Commissioner of the Puerto Rico Growth Commission. [52] MacArthur also was a member of the Board of Directors of the National Republican Campaign Committee, and Trustee of the Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts. [53]
MacArthur was ranked as the 15th most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 115th Congress and the 44th most bipartisan in the 114th United States Congress in the Lugar Center – Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy Bipartisan Index. [54] [55] As of October 2018, MacArthur had voted with his party in 89.3% of votes in the 115th United States Congress. [56] As of October 2018, FiveThirtyEight found that MacArthur had voted in line with President Trump's position 94.6% of the time. [57] As of September 2018, he had voted in line with President Trump's position more than any other member of Congress from the state of New Jersey. [58]
MacArthur was the only member of Congress from the New Jersey congressional delegation to vote yes for the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017; other lawmakers harshly criticized the adverse impact of the bill on New Jersey taxpayers. [59] [60] [61] The tax plan would lead to an aggregate tax cut in most states, but has stirred controversy in New Jersey due to the decrease in the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction to $10,000, which means that the bill raises taxes on many New Jersey citizens. [62] [59] [60] MacArthur explained his vote by asserting that "nearly all taxpayers" in his district do not need SALT deductions above $10,000, and citing his efforts to restore the deduction to $10,000 after prior versions of the bill eliminated it entirely. [59] [60] [63] [64] When asked to elaborate by the Washington Post fact-checker, MacArthur said that 93% of his constituents did not pay SALT higher than $10,000 and shared his team's calculations with the Washington Post. [60] The Washington Post fact-checker gave MacArthur "Two Pinocchios", writing that "even that accounting ignores the interaction of the property tax provision with other parts of the tax bill, so even people who would benefit from the cap still might find themselves with an increase in taxes. MacArthur appears to have worked diligently to tilt the bill so that it would benefit his constituents, but he oversells his achievement." [60]
MacArthur was the only member of the New Jersey congressional delegation to vote in favor of a bill that funded farm subsidies for five additional years while imposing work requirements and new restrictions on food stamp usage. [65] According to NJ.com, the bill, which did not pass, would have cost 35,000 New Jersey residents their access to food stamps. [65] According to Vote Smart's 2016 analysis, MacArthur generally opposes allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts. [66]
MacArthur introduced legislation to combat pollution in Barnegat Bay and cosponsored legislation to reauthorize the National Estuaries Program. [67] [68] The League of Conservation Voters has given him a lifetime score of 10%. [69] MacArthur opposes the Trump administration's proposal to open New Jersey's waters to offshore oil and gas drilling. [70] According to Vote Smart's 2016 analysis, MacArthur generally supports the building of the Keystone Pipeline, supports government funding for the development of renewable energy, and opposes the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. [66]
MacArthur had described himself as a supporter of the Second Amendment and was endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund with a 93% ("AQ") rating. [71] [72] [73] [74]
MacArthur became a key player in efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, citing the loss of his first child and his own background in insurance as motivating factors. [75] Then-candidate Andy Kim cited MacArthur involvement as a motivating factor for his own run against MacArthur, and healthcare became a dominant theme in the campaign. [76] MacArthur has repeatedly called for repealing the Affordable Care Act and helped craft legislation for its repeal. [77] [78] [79] However, in January 2017, he was one of nine Republicans who voted no on its repeal. [80]
On March 20, 2017, MacArthur announced his support for the American Health Care Act of 2017. [81]
On April 25, 2017, MacArthur introduced an amendment to the Act which became known as the MacArthur Amendment. [82] It permits states to waive out of Obamacare's ban on pre-existing conditions, allowing insurers to charge sick people higher premiums than healthy people. It also dictates that health insurance offered to members of Congress and their staffs not be included in the exemption from covering pre-existing conditions. [83] A Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted in April 2017, found that 70 per cent of Americans favored protections for pre-existing conditions. [84]
In response to MacArthur's vote to pass the AHCA, which would partially repeal and replace Obamacare, there were protests in his district, and MacArthur held town halls where some constituents questioned MacArthur about his vote. [85] [86] [87]
MacArthur resigned as chair of the Tuesday Group in May 2017 due to disagreements among its members over the AHCA. [88]
The repeal effort was defeated in the Senate in a narrow vote where Republican senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and John McCain joined with all Senate Democrats in voting against it. [89] [90]
MacArthur's 2014 campaign website stated that he believes marriage is "between one man and one woman," and that questions of marriage should be resolved at the state level. [91] [92] It would appear later versions of MacArthur's campaign website did not contain this language. MacArthur led a bipartisan effort to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the 2020 Census, and opposed the Trump Administration's efforts to ban transgender persons from military service. [93] [94] Garden State Equality, a New Jersey LGBT advocacy organization, endorsed MacArthur for re-election in 2016. [95] In 2018 Garden State Equality stated that MacArthur was "one of the most pro-LGBTQ Republicans in the nation and has proven a steadfast ally to the LGBTQ community," though the organization withheld an endorsement in the race due to differences with MacArthur over healthcare policy. [96]
MacArthur lives in Toms River, New Jersey, and also owns homes in Randolph and Barnegat Light, New Jersey. [97] [98] He is married to his wife Debbie and has two children, a son and daughter, both adopted. [99] Their first child, Gracie, was born with special needs and died in 1996 at the age of 11. [6] [100] In Gracie's memory, the MacArthurs founded In God's Hands Charitable Foundation, which funds programs that help wounded veterans and children affected by AIDS in Africa. [101]
During his time in office, MacArthur was the wealthiest member of New Jersey's congressional delegation, with minimum reported assets worth about $31.8 million as of July 2017. [102] Other sources place his net worth at almost $53 million. [103]
MacArthur is an Episcopalian. [104]
MacArthur owns and operates multiple businesses in the marina and hospitality sectors, including the Bayview Harbor marina [105] [106] and the affiliated Sandcastle Luxury Bed and Breakfast, [107] both in Barnegat Light, NJ, and a yacht holding company which operates a vacation rental and charter yacht. [108] [109]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Tom MacArthur | 4,650 | 22.38 | |
Republican | James Loveys | 4,612 | 22.20 | |
Republican | Michael Guadagno | 4,522 | 21.76 | |
Republican | Allen Napoliello | 4,317 | 20.78 | |
Democratic | Nancie Ludwig | 2,672 | 12.86 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Tom MacArthur | 15,908 | 59.7 | ||
Republican | Steve Lonegan | 10,643 | 40.3 | ||
Turnout | 26,551 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Tom MacArthur | 100,471 | 53.76 | ||
Democratic | Aimee Belgard | 82,537 | 44.09 | ||
D-R Party | Frederick John Lavergne | 3,095 | 1.61 | ||
Turnout | 186,103 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Tom MacArthur | 194,596 | 59.31 | ||
Democratic | Frederick John LaVergne | 127,526 | 38.87 | ||
Constitution Party | Lawrence Bolinski | 5,938 | 1.81 | ||
Turnout | 328,060 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Andy Kim | 153,473 | 50.0 | ||
Republican | Tom MacArthur | 149,500 | 48.7 | ||
Constitution Party | Lawrence Bolinski | 3,902 | 1.3 | ||
Turnout | 306,875 | 100.0 |
Shelley Wellons Moore Capito is an American politician and retired educator serving in her second term as the junior United States senator from West Virginia, a post she has held since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Capito served seven terms as the U.S. representative from West Virginia's 2nd congressional district from 2001 to 2015. The daughter of three-term West Virginia governor Arch Alfred Moore Jr., she is the dean of West Virginia's congressional delegation.
Frank Alo LoBiondo is an American businessman and politician who served as the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party. He represented all of Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem Counties and parts of Camden, Gloucester, Burlington, and Ocean Counties. In November 2017, LoBiondo announced that he would retire from Congress at the end of his term, and did not seek re-election in 2018.
Christopher Henry Smith is an American politician serving his 22nd term as the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 4th congressional district. Though it has taken various forms, his district has always been situated in central New Jersey. Currently, the district contains parts of Ocean and Monmouth counties. Smith is a member of the Republican Party, having switched from the Democratic Party in 1978.
Rodney Procter Frelinghuysen is an American former politician and lobbyist who served as the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 11th congressional district from 1995 to 2019. The district includes most of Morris County, an affluent suburban county west of New York City. A member of the Republican Party, Frelinghuysen served as chair of the House Appropriations Committee from 2017 to 2019. Frelinghuysen announced on January 29, 2018, that he would not seek re-election that year.
Leonard John Lance is an American politician and attorney who served as the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 7th congressional district, from 2009 to 2019. He ran for re-election in 2018, but was defeated by Democrat Tom Malinowski. He is a member of the Republican Party who previously served in the New Jersey Senate from 2002 to 2009 and the New Jersey General Assembly from 1991 to 2002.
Steven Ernst Stivers is an American businessman and politician who was the U.S. representative for Ohio's 15th congressional district from 2011 until 2021. He is a member of the Republican Party, and became chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee in 2017. Stivers previously served in the Ohio Senate, representing the 15th district. He is a major general in the Ohio Army National Guard, serving as the Assistant Adjutant General, and served active duty in Iraq as a battalion commander until December 2005. On May 16, 2021, he resigned his seat to become the president and CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.
Gregory Livingston Harper is a former American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Mississippi's 3rd congressional district from 2009 to 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes the wealthier portions of the state capital, Jackson, along with most of that city's suburbs. Other cities in the district include Meridian, Natchez, Starkville, and Brookhaven.
Thomas Willard Reed II is an American lobbyist, attorney, and politician from the state of New York. Reed served as the U.S. representative for New York's 23rd congressional district; the district is in New York's Southern Tier. A Republican, Reed first joined the U.S. House after winning a special election to replace Eric Massa in 2010. He previously served one term as mayor of Corning, New York.
Donald W. Norcross is an American politician and labor leader who is the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional district in South Jersey. A member of the Democratic Party, Norcross was first elected to this congressional seat in 2014, following the resignation of Rob Andrews. His district covers much of the New Jersey side of the Philadelphia metro area, including Camden, Cherry Hill, Lindenwold, and Glassboro.
Daniel Michael Donovan Jr. is an American attorney, former prosecutor and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the U.S. representative for New York's 11th congressional district from 2015 to 2019. Donovan served as District Attorney of Richmond County from 2004 to 2015. He was first elected to Congress in a special election following the resignation of Michael Grimm. The district includes all of Staten Island, as well as portions of southwest Brooklyn. Donovan was defeated for reelection in 2018 by Democrat Max Rose.
David Patrick Joyce is an American politician and attorney currently serving in the United States House of Representatives for Ohio's 14th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Joyce was previously the prosecutor of Geauga County, Ohio.
Richard Lane Hudson Jr. is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 9th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, his district covers a large part of the southern Piedmont area from Concord to Spring Lake.
The Republican Governance Group, originally the Tuesday Lunch Bunch and then the Tuesday Group until 2020, is a group of moderate Republicans in the United States House of Representatives. It was founded in 1994 in the wake of the Republican takeover of the House; the Republican House caucus came to be dominated by conservatives. It is considered a center to center-right congressional caucus, with its members primarily from competitive House districts.
Ryan Anthony Costello is an American politician, lobbyist and attorney who served as the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was first elected to the Congress in the 2014 midterms. Costello previously served on the Chester County Board of Commissioners (2011–2015), which he chaired from 2013 to 2015.
Carlos Luis Curbelo is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 26th congressional district from 2015 to 2019. In 2018, he was narrowly defeated for re-election by Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. He is a member of the Republican Party. Prior to his election to the U.S. House, he served on the Dade County School Board.
Amata Catherine Coleman Radewagen, commonly called Aumua Amata, is an American Samoan politician who is the current delegate for the United States House of Representatives from American Samoa. Radewagen, a Republican, was elected on November 4, 2014, after defeating Democratic incumbent Eni Faleomavaega; she was the first-ever Republican delegate since the office had been created in 1970 and began her tenure on January 3, 2015. She also serves as the national committeewoman for the Republican Party of American Samoa. Amata is the first woman to represent American Samoa in the U.S. Congress.
Brian Kevin Fitzpatrick is an American politician, attorney, and former FBI agent who has served as a U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania since 2017. His district, which was numbered the 8th district during his first term and the 1st district since 2019, includes all of Bucks County, a mostly suburban county north of Philadelphia, as well as a sliver of Montgomery County.
The 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in New Jersey were held on November 6, 2018, to elect the 12 U.S. representatives from the state of New Jersey, one from each of the state's 12 congressional districts. The elections coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections.
The Problem Solvers Caucus is a group in the United States House of Representatives that has included members equally divided between Democrats and Republicans, with the Caucus' stated goal of fostering bipartisan cooperation on key policy issues. The group was created in January 2017 as an outgrowth of meetings held by political organization No Labels as early as 2014. It is co-chaired by Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) as of 2021.
Andrew Kim is an American politician and former diplomat who has served as the U.S. representative from New Jersey's 3rd congressional district since 2019. The district encompasses Philadelphia's eastern suburbs along southern and central New Jersey. A member of the Democratic Party, he worked in the U.S. State Department prior to his election to Congress in 2018.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)Tom MacArthur has received our endorsement and "A" rating: