John Randolph Kuhl Jr. (born April 19, 1943) is an American Republican 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 is a chamber of the Bicameralism, 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 Artic ...

. 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, Appalachian mountains in New York (state), New York ...

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 New York's 29th congressional district. A Democrat, he served in Congress from January 2009 until his resignation in March 2 ...

in 2008.

Early life and education

Kuhl was born in

Hammondsport, New York Hammondsport is a village in Steuben County, New York, United States. First settled in 1792 the village is located at the south end of Keuka Lake, one of the Finger Lakes. Beginning in the 1790s the village began to take form, which included a c ...

. He graduated from

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

Schenectady, New York Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

with a B.A. in civil engineering in 1966, and then got a J.D. degree from

Syracuse University College of Law The Syracuse University College of Law is the 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 1923 and is a charter member ...

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. He is an

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

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 Assem ...

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. Backgr ...

s. In November 1986, after the retirement of William T. Smith, 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, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

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. ...

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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' He regularly introduced a bill "to let

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 ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

and Westchester 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 formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

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 directly 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 tra ...

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 presidential e ...

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 and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

Canandaigua Canandaigua () is a city in Ontario County, New York, United States. Its population was 10,576 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Ontario County; some administrative offices are at the county complex in the adjacent town of Hopewell. ...

. In September 2006, Kuhl welcomed Vice President

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

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 ...

, a county Kuhl carried by a 56%-44% margin in 2006 (and one that voted for presidential candidate

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

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 early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

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 and ammunition by civilians. Most countries allow civilians to own firearms, bu ...

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

Republican Main Street Partnership The Republican Main Street Partnership is a nonprofit organization that was founded to raise funds to support politicians in the moderate wing of the Republican Party. As of 2024, the organization seems to be leaning away from its original cent ...

. 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 who served as the 54th governor of New York from 2007 until his resignation in 2008 after a prostitution scandal. A member of the Democratic Party, he was also ...

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 progressivism in the United States, 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 ...

, the

Service Employees International Union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing 2 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of m ...

, 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, us ...

and unsuccessfully introduced several bills to separate

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

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

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

, May 24, 1999

Federal electoral results

References

External links

Congressman Randy Kuhl
official campaign site
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 American Episcopalians 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature 20th-century members of the New York State Legislature 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives