Michael Forbes

Michael Forbes
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 1st district
In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2001
Preceded by	George J. Hochbrueckner
Succeeded by	Felix Grucci
Personal details
Born	(1952-07-16) July 16, 1952 Riverhead, New York
Political party	Republican (until July 17, 1999) Democratic (since July 17, 1999)

Michael Patrick Forbes (born July 16, 1952, Riverhead, New York) is a politician from the state of New York.

Early life and career

Michael Patrick Forbes of Round Rock, Texas and Quogue, Long Island, was born on 16 July 1952 at Riverhead, Long Island, New York to Kenneth and Jane (née Morrissey) Forbes. He is the grandson of Carrie Bowman, a Broadway actress, and T. Harold Forbes, an actor and song and dance man who became a well-known newspaper publisher in New Rochelle and Long Island, NY. Forbes graduated from the SUNY Albany, Saint Paul University and the University of Ottawa. He received an honorary Doctor of Law from Long Island University and, more recently, spent five years in formation and theological studies for the Permanent Diaconate in the Catholic Diocese of Austin. Forbes got his start in politics as an assistant to New York State Assembly Speaker Perry B. Duryea, Jr..^[1] He was a senior aide and close advisor to Republicans U.S. Sen. Al D'Amato and U.S. Rep. Connie Mack. In 1979, Forbes joined the George H.W. Bush campaign as a volunteer in New York and again, in 1987, campaigned statewide in Maine for Bush to succeed Ronald Reagan. President Bush appointed Forbes to a senior post at the United States Small Business Administration in 1989. He served four years, leaving in 1993 when the Clinton administration came into office.

Forbes remains heavily involved as a board member and committee member of the not-for-profit Camp Agawam, an alumni-owned summer camp in Raymond, Maine. He continues a passionate love for the camp he first attended in 1965, volunteering and advocating as it approaches 100 years of forming young men into future leaders.^[2]

Congress

In 1994, Forbes ran on three ballot lines for the House of Representatives: Republican, Conservative, and Right to Life. Campaigning as a fiscal conservative, he defeated popular incumbent George Hochbrueckner by six percentage points. Forbes got a seat on the powerful Appropriations committee, unusual for a freshman Representative, due to his ties with new House Speaker Newt Gingrich. In December 1996, after Gingrich was cited for gross campaign irregularities,^[3] Forbes became the first Republican to announce he was not going to vote for Gingrich for speaker.^[4] Forbes voted for moderate Rep. Jim Leach instead. Despite his record of support for a number of President Clinton's programs, Forbes voted for the Clinton impeachment.^[5]

Later career

Forbes is married to Barbara Ann (Blackburn) Forbes and has four children and six grandchildren. In his post-Congress years, Forbes worked as a public relations executive, opening his own firm in 2001. His clients included defense industry contractors, financial services, Internet payment providers, non-profit children's home, and other small businesses seeking Federal appropriations. He has also blogged for the Huffington Post.^[8]

In 2008, he entered five years of formation and theological study to become a permanent deacon in the Roman Catholic Church. He was ordained clergy in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Austin by Bishop Joe S. Vásquez on April 13, 2013. He serves at Saint William Catholic Church, Round Rock, Texas.^[9]

Forbes earned in 2016 both ecclesiastical and civil degrees in canon (Church) law, the iuris canonici licentiate (J.C.L.) and a Masters in Canon Law (M.C.L.) from Saint Paul University, Ottawa, and the University of Ottawa, respectively. He is a full-time judge on the ecclesiastical court of the Diocese of Austin. Deacon Forbes is a member of the Canon Law Society of America, the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland and the Canadian Canon Law Society.

References

• Appearances on C-SPAN