Peter Houston Kostmayer (born September 27, 1946) is a Democratic politician who served seven terms in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Bucks County Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Early life and career

Kostmayer was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, graduated from

West Nottingham Academy West Nottingham Academy is an independent co-ed school serves both boarding and day students in grades 9-12. It was founded in 1744 by the Presbyterianism, Presbyterian preacher Samuel Finley, who later became President of Princeton University, ...

Colora, Maryland Colora is an unincorporated community in western Cecil County, Maryland, United States, near Conowingo and Port Deposit. The ZIP Code of this area is 21917, and has some historic houses and some new structures, including several development nei ...

, in 1965, and received a B.A. from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in New York City in 1971. Kostmayer worked as a reporter from 1971 to 1972. He served as press secretary to

Pennsylvania Attorney General The Pennsylvania attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1980. The current attorney general is Republican Dave Sunday (politician), Dave ...

J. Shane Cramer from 1972 to 1973 and deputy press secretary to

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Milton Shapp Milton Jerrold Shapp (born Milton Jerrold Shapiro; June 25, 1912 – November 24, 1994) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 40th governor of Pennsylvania from 1971 to 1979 and the first Jewish governor of Pennsylvania. He ...

from 1973 to 1976.

Congress

Following the retirement of U.S. Rep. Edward Biester in 1976, Kostmayer ran against State Representative John S. Renninger for the open seat in

Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district is located in the Northeastern Pennsylvania, northeastern region of the state. It encompasses all of Wayne County, Pennsylvania, Wayne, Pike County, Pennsylvania, Pike, and Lackawanna County, Pennsylvani ...

. With

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

winning Pennsylvania in the 1976 election, Kostmayer won by a 1,312 vote margin. He won re-election in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

against G. Roger Bowers with 61% of the vote. He lost in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

with

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

sweeping to victory, Republican James Coyne narrowly defeated Kostmayer. Kostmayer won back the seat in a

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

rematch by 2,300 votes. Kostmayer won re-election in 1984 over David Christian by fewer than 4,000 votes. He then enjoyed victories in 1986 over David Christian again by a much larger margin and in 1988 over PA Republican State Senator Edward Howard and then again in 1990 over Bucks County Clerk of Courts, Audrey Zettick. In 1992, Kostmayer faced State Senator

James C. Greenwood James Charles Greenwood (born May 4, 1951) is an American politician. He represented Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania's Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district, Eighth Congressional District for six terms in the United States House of Representative ...

, who had been a legislative aide to Kostmayer's first opponent, John Renninger. Greenwood defeated Kostmayer with almost 52% of the vote.

Later career

Kostmayer became the Administrator, Region III (Philadelphia) of the

Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations: * Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia * Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana) * Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) * Environmenta ...

from 1994 to 1995. Later, he served as the President of

Zero Population Growth Zero population growth, sometimes abbreviated ZPG, is a condition of demography, demographic balance where the number of people in a specified population neither population growth, grows nor population decline, declines; that is, the number of bi ...

. He entered the race for

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four-year terms, stagger ...

in 2002 against incumbent Senator

Tommy Tomlinson Robert M. Tomlinson (born on December 4, 1945) is an American politician who served as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, representing the 6th District from 1995 to 2022. Biography Tomlinson was previously a member of the Pennsylvania ...

. Kostmayer was defeated, taking 47% in the general election. Kostmayer is a former CEO of the Citizens Committee for New York City.

Personal life

In 1982, Kostmayer married Pamela Jones Rosenberg, a businesswoman with two children from her previous marriage. They divorced in 1991. In 2004, Kostmayer began dating Douglas Hirn, a tax attorney and 30 years his junior. They married in 2021 and moved from Manhattan's West Village neighborhood to Brooklyn, and then to a three-bedroom condo in the Two Bridges neighborhood on the East Side of Manhattan.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kostmayer, Peter H. 1946 births Living people Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania American sustainability advocates Politicians from Bucks County, Pennsylvania Politicians from New York City West Nottingham Academy alumni Members of Congress who became lobbyists 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives