Sue W. Kelly

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sue Kelly
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 19th district
In office 1995 - 2007
Preceded by	Hamilton Fish IV
Succeeded by	John Hall
Born	September 26, 1936 Lima, Ohio
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Ed Kelly
Religion	Presbyterian

Susan Weisenbarger "Sue" Kelly (born on September 26, 1936) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2007, representing the 19th District of New York. She is a Republican. She took over fellow Republican Hamilton Fish IV's seat after he dropped out of the 1994 race due to prostate cancer. Kelly defeated his son, Hamilton Fish V in that race and served until the end of 2006, when her seat went to John Hall who defeated her in 2006 congressional election.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Political career 3 2006 election 4 References

[edit] Biography

She was born in Lima, Ohio as Susan Weisenbarger and raised Presbyterian. She graduated from Denison University and holds a Masters degree from Sarah Lawrence College. Prior to becoming a Congresswomen, Kelly held jobs as a small business owner, patient advocate, rape counselor, and educator. She is married to Edward Kelly, and they live in Katonah, New York. They have 4 children and 8 grandchildren.

[edit] Political career

When Congressman Hamilton Fish, Jr., a Republican, decided not to seek re-election in 1994, Kelly sought and won the nomination for the congressional seat. Kelly defeated Fish's son, who ran as a Democrat, to win the seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2004, Kelly easily won re-election with 67% of the vote in New York's 19th Congressional district although the NY Times recently [1] described Kelly's opponents in previous races as "token opposition". Kelly claims a socially moderate and fiscally conservative voting record, however, recent corruption scandals and the GOP majority’s failure to reign in record spending and deficits eventually lead to voter backlash. A recent survey of congressional power and effectiveness by the nonpartisan Knowlegis company shows that Rep. Kelly was among the 100 most powerful lawmakers in the 435-member House. The survey also labeled Kelly as the second most powerful congressperson in the New York delegation, second only to Thomas M. Reynolds, who is chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. [2]

Kelly was Chair of the House Page Board from Feb. 1999 to April 2001. This Board has been under fire because of the Mark Foley scandal.

Kelly is a member of The Republican Majority For Choice, Republicans for Choice, The Wish List, The Republican Main Street Partnership and Republicans for Environmental Protection. Her NARAL rating is 30% (averaging 1994 - 2005) but 71% (averaging 2000-2005). Her Sierra Club rating 63% (8th highest of Republicans, and 159th overall in the House). She gets negative marks from seniors groups because of her votes on Social Security and Medicare. [3][4] The Sierra Club chose to endorse her competitor in 2006 [5]. She has a lifetime rating of 64% from the American Conservative Union demonstrating a moderate to conservative voting record. [6].

Other low ratings include her 22% score, considering she was a former small business owner herself, from the US Women's Chamber of Commerce [7], a C+ from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America [8], an issue that she has constantly argued that she is strong on, and a 22% score from the Children's Defense Fund [9]. Kelly has also voted in favor of pork amendments 84% of the time according to the conservative Club for Growth [10], and has refused to answer questions from the National Taxpayers Union, a non-partisan group focused on taxpayer's waste [11].

In February 2006, the House voted 216 to 214 to cut domestic spending by $39 billion primarily by cutting $11 billion from Medicaid and another $12.7 billion from federal student loans which led to protests [12] in her district. Sue Kelly and Frank LoBiondo (NJ-02) were the deciding votes.[13][14]

She voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment to permanently ban gay marriage in all states once in 2004 and again in 2006. These votes cost her the endorsement of the Human Rights Campaign, which had supported her campaigns prior to 2004[15].Her rating on the Human Rights Campaign Congressional Scorecard is 33%. Some claim that her her vote for the amendment cost her the election. [16]

[edit] 2006 election

Under fire in October 2006 for her connection to the Mark Foley scandal, Kelly ran away from a news camera after having failed to respond to a debate invitation from the non-partisan League of Women Voters. [17] Kelly was represented by an empty chair at the debate. See reference at 1:15

Kelly was recently endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters, an environmental advocacy group.[18]. Her score of 92% was the highest among any Republican Member of Congress in 2006. Kelly had earned a 17% score from the LCV in 2005, but attributed that score to the many missed votes that came in the several days she was absent due to a death in the family [19].

Despite her attempts to distance herself from Republican leadership and the Bush administration — by claiming she is an "independent voice" for example — the Times Herald Record reported that in the 25 closest House votes last session, Kelly sided with the Republican leadership 24 of those times (the other time she missed the vote) [20].

Fundraising numbers, [21] as of September 30, show that nearly 60% of her money comes from PACs.

In 2006, comedian Stephen Colbert invited Kelly to an interview for for his "Better Know A District" segment on The Colbert Report. Upon Kelly's refusal, Colbert interviewed Kelly's challenger, John Hall. According to the American Prospect, "(Kelly's) refusal to appear on cable's popular The Colbert Report may have also proven somewhat costly." Colbert took credit for Hall's election win on this November 8, 2006 edition of the Colbert Report.

On November 7, 2006, Sue Kelly lost her seat to Democractic challenger John Hall in her reelection bid during the 2006 mid-term elections.^[1] On November 16, nine days after the election, she conceded the election; although she still had a mathematical chance of winning, she needed to receive nearly 70% of the votes of these previously uncounted absentee ballots. The state certified the official voting results on December 15, 2006.

[edit] References

Preceded by Hamilton Fish IV

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 19th congressional district 1995–2007

Succeeded by John Hall