Josh Gottheimer

Josh Gottheimer
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New Jersey's 5th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2017
Preceded by Scott Garrett
Personal details
Born (1975-03-08) March 8, 1975
Livingston, New Jersey, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s)
Marla Tusk (m. 2006)
Children 2
Education University of Pennsylvania (BA)
Pembroke College, Oxford
Harvard University (JD)
Website House website

Joshua S. Gottheimer (/ˈɡɒthaɪmər/; born March 8, 1975) is an American lawyer, writer, public policy adviser, and the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 5th congressional district. He has been active in the Democratic Party as a speechwriter for Bill Clinton and as an adviser to the presidential campaigns of Wesley Clark, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton. He has also worked for Burson-Marsteller, the Federal Communications Commission, Ford Motor Company, and Microsoft. On November 8, 2016, he defeated incumbent Scott Garrett in the congressional race for New Jersey's 5th District.

Career

Gottheimer in 2012

Gottheimer was born in Livingston, New Jersey on March 8, 1975.[1] At the age of 16, Gottheimer served as a United States Senate Page for Frank Lautenberg, a Senator from New Jersey. Through high school and college, Gottheimer held internships with C-SPAN, the Secretary of the United States Senate, and Tom Foley, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.[2]

Gottheimer graduated from West Essex High School, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard Law School. While at the University of Pennsylvania, he served on the "rapid response team" for Bill Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign. Following Clinton's relection, Gottheimer attended Pembroke College, Oxford, on a Thouron Fellowship, studying toward a DPhil in modern history. He joined the Clinton administration as a speechwriter in 1998, at the age of 23,[2] working in the administration until its end in 2001. While attending law school, Gottheimer worked as an adviser for Wesley Clark's 2004 presidential campaign, John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, and Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign.[3] After the 2004 election, Gottheimer worked for the Ford Motor Company, and then became executive vice president for Burson-Marsteller.[2] From 2010 to 2012, he worked for the Federal Communications Commission,[4] where he led an initiative related to broadband internet.[5] He then joined Microsoft as a strategist.[6]

Congressional career

In the 2016 elections, Gottheimer ran for the House of Representatives in New Jersey's 5th congressional district, a seat held by Republican Scott Garrett. Gottheimer's friend Cory Booker joined him when he officially announced his candidacy.[7] Gottheimer raised funds for his challenge with the help of Clinton allies and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Ben Ray Luján.[8][9]

Gottheimer attracted more attention than previous challengers to Garrett due to his fundraising ability[10] and ties to the Clintons.[11] The New York Times ran a prominent article about his Clinton ties, describing him as a protégé of the Clintons and noting that all three Clintons had appeared at a recent Manhattan fundraiser for Gottheimer at which Hillary Clinton introduced him as "something of a family member."[3]

His campaign's 2015 financial filings, in which Gottheimer reported raising around $1 million through the end of September, showed that "about one dollar in six came directly from fellow alumni of the Clinton White House and campaigns...or from major donors and employees of consulting firms tied closely to the Clintons."[3] Among those who donated were three former Clinton press secretaries and two former Clinton chiefs of staff.[3] It was the most expensive House race in New Jersey history.[12]

During the campaign, Garrett criticized Gottheimer "for taking a donation from Ibrahim Al-Rashid, the son of a Saudi multimillionaire who pleaded guilty in 2014 to simple assault of his estranged wife."[13]

Gottheimer defeated Garrett,[14] and was sworn in on January 3, 2017.[15] He is the first Democrat to represent what is now the 5th since 1981 (most of this district was the 7th District prior to the 1980 Census). He is the Democratic co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.[16]

He is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition[17] and New Democrat Coalition.[18] In the first session of the 115th United States Congress, Gottheimer was ranked the eighth most bipartisan member of the House by the Bipartisan Index, a metric published by The Lugar Center and Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy to assess congressional bipartisanship.[19][20]

Members of the House Republican caucus criticized Gottheimer's office for using an official congressional e-mail account to boast of his fundraising in violation of House rules. The e-mail originated from the account of Abhi Rahman, Gottheimer's communications director. Meredith McGehee of the Campaign Legal Center said that in such a matter, the line between ethical and unethical was "clear."[21][22]

Gottheimer addressed the 20th annual American Muslim Union conference and praised the AMU for its activities.[23]

Issues

Anti-Moocher Bill

On April 15, 2017, Gottheimer announced that he would be introducing the "Anti-Moocher Bill," under which states receiving more federal dollars than they contribute to the national treasury would pay their "fair share." "Why should Alabama get our federal tax dollars and get a free ride, while we're left holding the bag with higher property taxes?" he asked. "It just doesn't make sense."[24]

Iran deal

In an August 2015 op-ed for the Times of Israel, Gottheimer explained his inability to support President Obama's Iran deal, saying that it was not "in the best interest of the United States or our allies in the region," mainly because it would "not preclude Iran from developing a nuclear weapon." He challenged what he described as five myths that had "developed around the deal," among them the notion that it would prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and the belief that without the deal Iran would "be left to operate without any economic sanctions."[25]

Infrastructure

Gottheimer supports such New Jersey infrastructure projects as the Lackawanna Cutoff and the Gateway Tunnel.[26][27]

Syria

Gottheimer said that he thought President Donald Trump "took the appropriate steps" in response to the 2018 situation in Syria. "There's room the president has to deal with a crisis, and I believed, if you looked at the heinous crimes and atrocities committed, poisoning your own children, that demanded a response, and I'm glad he responded."[28]

Trump and Russia

Gottheimer called for an independent commission to probe alleged ties between Trump and Russia.[28]

Bipartisanship

Gottheimer has pointed to his work with the Problem Solvers Caucus as proof that he is not "ideologically rigid." He has also said that he thinks Members of Congress are more bipartisan that people may think. "I think there's a bit of perception that no one talks to each other," he said. "I think people are eager to work together, but the structure doesn't encourage it. The system doesn't encourage it."[28]

Health care

He said that "we need to fix the Affordable Care Act," also known as Obamacare. "There's plenty wrong with it, whether it's the medical device tax or the Cadillac tax." But he also felt that the Trump health-care plan did not reflect an effort "to reach across the aisle."[28]

Books

He is the editor of Ripples of Hope (2003), a collection of American civil-rights speeches. The text of one of the speeches included in the book, which was delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma on January 25, 1965, was previously unpublished. Gottheimer acquired the text from an Alabama police consultant who had transcribed it from FBI surveillance tapes.[29]

He is also co-author, with Mary Frances Berry, of Power of Words (2011), a book about Barack Obama's speeches. "Even those who don't agree with his policies can recall the first time they heard Obama, the candidate, thunder away to a crowd of adoring listeners," wrote Berry and Gottheimer in their introduction. "Obama's words helped create a movement. Americans hung on his every word."[30]

Personal life

Gottheimer is a native of North Caldwell, and he resides in Wyckoff.[31] He is Jewish and a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity.[2] He married Marla Tusk in 2006.[32] Together, they have two children.[2] Gottheimer has a net worth between $2.3 million and $10.3 million.[11]

Bibliography

  • Gottheimer, Josh, ed. (2003). Ripples of Hope: Great American Civil Rights Speeches. New York: Basic Civitas Books. ISBN 0-465-02752-0.
  • Berry, Mary Frances; Gottheimer, Josh, eds. (2011). Power in Words: The Stories behind Barack Obama's Speeches, from the State House to the White House. Beacon Press. ISBN 0-807-00169-4.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Guide to the New Congress" (PDF). Roll Call. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Palmer, Joanne (February 14, 2014). "'And then the phone rang…'; Wyckoff man's adventures in politics and public service". The Times of Israel. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Burns, Alexander (December 25, 2015). "Protégé of Clintons Targets U.S. Congressional Seat". The New York Times. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Josh Gottheimer, Senior Counselor to the Chairman, to step down; Jordan Usdan named Acting Director of Public-Private Initiatives" (pdf) (Press release). Federal Communications Commission. June 20, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  5. ↑ "FCC's Gottheimer to Lead New Broadband Public/Private Initiative". RadioResource Media Group. March 7, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  6. ↑ Wingfield, Nick; Cain Miller, Claire (December 16, 2012). "Former Washington political brawler now battles for Microsoft". Business Standard. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  7. ↑ Pizarro, Max. "Garrett Challenger Gottheimer Gets out of the Gate in CD5". Observer. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  8. ↑ Palmer, Anna; Sherman, Jake (July 27, 2015). "After Rep. Garrett's comments on gay Republicans, Dems look to cash in". Politico. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Former Clinton aide raises big money for potential N.J. congressional run". NJ.com. July 9, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg backed this N.J. candidate - The Auditor". Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  11. 1 2 Jackson, Herb (March 13, 2016). "Jackson: A 'new Democrat' alternative in 5th Congressional District". The Record. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  12. ↑ Jackson, Herb. "Garrett-Gottheimer: NJ's most expensive House race". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  13. ↑ Railey, Kimberly. "Gottheimer Takes Heat From Garrett Over Campaign Donation". The National. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  14. ↑ "Josh Gottheimer Defeats Scott Garrett in New Jersey Congressional Race". The New York Times. November 9, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Gottheimer takes seat as N.J.'s newest House member". Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  16. ↑ Marcos, Cristina (February 3, 2017). "Lawmakers set up bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus for new Congress". The Hill. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Members". Blue dog coalition. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  18. ↑ "Members". New Democrat Coalition. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  19. ↑ "The Lugar Center - McCourt School Bipartisan Index" (PDF). Washington, D.C.: The Lugar Center. April 24, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Blue Dog Coalition Members Ranked Most Bipartisan House Democrats in 2017". Washington, D.C.: Blue Dog Coalition. April 25, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  21. ↑ Danzis, David. "GOP goes after Gottheimer for staffer's fundraising email". New Jersey Herald. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  22. ↑ Jackson, Herb. "GOP: Gottheimer aide's email touting fundraising totals may have broken House ethics rules". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  23. ↑ Al-Youm, Al-Masry. "Muslims contribute to advancement of United States: senator". Egypt Independent. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  24. ↑ Danzis, David. "Gottheimer talks economic growth, 'Anti-Moocher Bill'". New Jersey Herald. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  25. ↑ Gottheimer, Josh. "Myth vs. Reality". North Jersey Jewish Standard. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  26. ↑ Moen, Katie. "Andover Twp. resolution advances Lackawanna Cut-Off railroad project". New Jersey Herald. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  27. ↑ Nolan, Sarah. "Gottheimer: No one should fear driving their kids across a bridge or through a tunnel". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  28. 1 2 3 4 Danzis, David. "Gottheimer discusses issues from his first 100 days in Congress". New Jersey Herald. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  29. ↑ "FBI Text of Rev. King Speech Made Public". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  30. ↑ "Power in Words". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  31. ↑ Jackson, Herb (May 4, 2015). "Donors start backing Wyckoff man as potential Garrett challenger for Congress". NorthJersey.com. Archived from the original on January 3, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  32. ↑ "Marla Tusk and Josh Gottheimer". The New York Times. December 10, 2006. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Scott Garrett		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New Jersey's 5th congressional district
2017–present		 Incumbent
Current U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Vicente González		 United States Representatives by seniority
392nd		 Succeeded by
Clay Higgins
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.