John Randolph Kuhl Jr. (born April 19, 1943) is an American

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

politician. He is a former member of the New York State Assembly, the New York State Senate, and the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

. Kuhl represented

New York's 29th congressional district New York's 29th congressional district is an obsolete congressional district for the United States House of Representatives which most recently included a portion of the Appalachian mountains in New York known as the "Southern Tier." It was most ...

for two terms before being defeated for reelection by

Eric Massa Eric James Joseph Massa (born September 16, 1959) is a former American politician who served as a U.S. Representative for the 29th Congressional District of New York. A Democrat, he served in Congress from January 2009 until his resignation in M ...

in 2008.

Early life and education

Kuhl was born in

Hammondsport, New York Hammondsport is a village at the south end of Keuka Lake, in Steuben County, one of the Finger Lakes of New York, United States. The Village of Hammondsport is in the Town of Urbana and is northeast of Bath. History Lazarus Hammond founded ...

. He graduated from

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, ...

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Yo ...

with a B.A. in civil engineering in 1966, and then got a

J.D. JD or jd may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''JD'' (film), a 2016 Bollywood film * J.D. (''Scrubs''), nickname of Dr. John Dorian, fictional protagonist of the comedy-drama ''Scrubs'' * JD Fenix, a character from the ''Gears of War'' vi ...

degree from

Syracuse University College of Law Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL) is a Juris Doctor degree-granting law school of Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. It is one of only four law schools in upstate New York. Syracuse was accredited by the American Bar Association ...

in 1969. He was admitted to the New York Bar in 1970."Meet the Freshmen of the House of Representatives"
BIPAC, November 2004. Retrieved September 24, 2006.

New York State Legislature

Kuhl was a member of the

New York Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assembl ...

from 1981 to 1986, sitting in the 184th, 185th and

186th New York State Legislature The 186th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 9, 1985, to December 31, 1986, during the third and fourth years of Mario Cuomo's governorship, in Albany. Backgro ...

s. In November 1986, after the retirement of

William T. Smith William T. Smith II (January 25, 1916 – March 30, 2010) was an American farmer and politician from New York. Life He was born on January 25, 1916, in Corning, Steuben County, New York. He attended the public schools in Big Flats, and Corning ...

, Kuhl ran for Smith's Senate seat and won. Kuhl was a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

from 1987 to 2004, sitting in the 187th, 188th, 189th, 190th, 192nd, 193rd, 194th, 195th and

196th New York State Legislature The 196th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5, 2005, to December 31, 2006, during the eleventh and twelfth years of George Pataki's governorship, in Albany. St ...

s. He was appointed the Senate's Assistant Majority Leader for Operations at the beginning of the 1995 legislative session. One of Kuhl's signature issues in the state legislature was Upstate secession.Tierney, John (1999-05-24
The Big City; The Moochers From Upstate? Cut 'Em Loose
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' He regularly introduced a bill "to let

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, Long Island and

Westchester Westchester most commonly refers to Westchester County, New York, immediately north of New York City. __NOTOC__ It may also refer to: Geography Canada *Westchester Station, Nova Scotia, Canada United States *Town of Westchester, the original seat ...

and Rockland Counties became a separate state called New York; the rest of the counties would become West New York. At least one poll in upstate has found the idea to be wildly popular." Kuhl summed up his

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics l ...

ist views by saying that "his constituents in the

Finger Lakes region The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional ...

often wonder, 'Why don't you just cut the City of New York off and let it drift out to sea?'" In 1997, while serving as a state senator, Kuhl was arrested and convicted of driving while intoxicated. His driver's license was revoked for six months.

House of Representatives

2004 election

In 2004, Kuhl ran for the House seat of retiring U.S. Representative

Amo Houghton Amory Houghton Jr. (August 7, 1926 – March 4, 2020) was an American Republican politician from the U.S. state of New York. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives and was a member of one of upstate New York's most ...

, a Republican multimillionaire who had displayed a moderate bent during 18 years in Washington. In the Republican primary, Kuhl, who was supported by Houghton, defeated Monroe County Legislator Mark Assini. He then defeated 27-year-old Democrat Samara Barend in the general election.

2006 election

Kuhl's Democratic opponent in the

2006 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican presidenti ...

was former Navy officer

of Corning, a former Republican. In March 2006, Kuhl invited President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

Canandaigua Canandaigua (; ''Utaʼnaráhkhwaʼ'' in Tuscarora language, Tuscarora) is a City (New York), city in Ontario County, New York, United States. Its population was 10,545 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Ontario County; some administrat ...

. In September 2006, Kuhl welcomed Vice President

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former ...

to a major fundraiser in Rochester. Kuhl agreed with Cheney's assessment that combating terrorists around the world was the top issue in the campaign. According to Kuhl, bad news from the war zone should be countered by a frank discussion of reality. Regarding his Finger Lakes and Southern Tier constituents, Kuhl said, "They don't necessarily understand the full importance of our presence there". Preliminary results from the November election showed Kuhl narrowly beating Massa by a margin of approximately 5,600 votes (out of about 193,000 cast). Massa had initially refused to concede the election and was expected to file a challenge, but on November 15, 2006 Massa conceded the election and contacted Kuhl to congratulate him. According to the final election results, which were certified by the New York State Board of Elections on December 14, 2006, Kuhl won by a margin of 6,033 votes (out of 206,121 cast).

2008 election

Kuhl's again faced Democratic nominee and former Navy officer

, losing the rematch by a narrow 51%-49% margin, roughly reversing the outcome of the 2006 elections. Kuhl finished behind Massa in

Cattaraugus County Cattaraugus County (locally known as Catt County) is a county in Western New York, with one side bordering Pennsylvania. As of the United States 2020 census, the population was 77,042. The county seat is Little Valley. The county was created i ...

, a county Kuhl carried by a 56%-44% margin in 2006 (and one that voted for Presidential candidate John McCain in 2008), likely contributing to the loss. Because the race was so close, Kuhl did not concede the election until November 21, 2008.

Political positions

Kuhl was considered a fairly reliable conservative who generally voted against

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

rights,

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with onl ...

and tax increases. He was, however, a member of the

Republican Main Street Partnership The Republican Main Street Partnership is a 501(c)(4) organization that was allied with the congressional Republican Main Street Caucus. The Partnership continues to exist, while the Caucus was dissolved by its members in February 2019. His ...

. Kuhl supported making then-President Bush's tax cuts permanent. In addition, he also advocated for a 10-cent reduction in federal gasoline taxes. In September 2007, Kuhl was noted in the news as being one of the most outspoken opponents of a plan by then-New York Governor

Eliot Spitzer Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10, 1959) is an American politician and attorney. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 54th governor of New York from 2007 until his resignation in 2008. Spitzer was born in New York City, attended Pr ...

to allow illegal aliens to apply for driver's licenses. He also became a prominent opponent of the SCHIP expansion, a stance for which he earned significant animosity from various groups including

MoveOn MoveOn (formerly known as MoveOn.org) is a progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee. Formed in 1998 around one of the first massively viral email petitions, MoveOn has since grown into one of the largest grassroots ...

, the

Service Employees International Union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members ...

, and even former New York Governor

. During his time as a state senator, Kuhl was an advocate of

New York City secession There are and have been several movements regarding secession from the U.S. state of New York. Only one of them – the state of Vermont – succeeded. Among the unsuccessful ones, the most prominent included the proposed state of Long Island, co ...

and unsuccessfully introduced several bills to separate

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long ...

from downstate."The Big City; The Moochers From Upstate? Cut 'Em Loose"
John Tierney,

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, May 24, 1999

References

External links

Congressman Randy Kuhl
official campaign site
Federal Election Commission – John Kuhl
campaign finance reports and data

issue positions and quotes
OpenSecrets.org – John R. Kuhl Jr
campaign contributions
Project Vote Smart – Representative John R. 'Randy' Kuhl Jr. (NY)
profile *
Washington Post – Congress Votes Database: Randy Kuhl
voting record {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuhl, Randy 1943 births Living people Republican Party New York (state) state senators Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly Union College (New York) alumni Syracuse University College of Law alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) People from Hammondsport, New York 21st-century American politicians