Eric Massa

March to the Primaries

Freshman incumbent Randy Kuhl

Randy Kuhl

John R. "Randy" Kuhl, Jr. is an American Republican politician, and former member of the United States House of Representatives from New York. He represented New York's 29th congressional district for two terms before being defeated for reelection by Eric Massa on November 4, 2008 by margin of...

(R) had been elected to Congress with slightly over 50% of the popular vote in a three way race in 2004. In early 2005, former U.S. Naval officer Eric J.J. Massa

Eric Massa

-March to the Primaries:Freshman incumbent Randy Kuhl had been elected to Congress with slightly over 50% of the popular vote in a three way race in 2004. In early 2005, former U.S. Naval officer Eric J.J. Massa, a long-time friend of 2004 presidential candidate General Wesley Clark filed to run...

, a long-time friend of 2004 presidential candidate General Wesley Clark

Wesley Clark

Wesley Kanne Clark, Sr., is a retired general of the United States Army. Graduating as valedictorian of the class of 1966 at West Point, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford where he obtained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and later graduated from the...

filed to run as the Democratic candidate. Over the course of the next nine months, Massa overcame numerous challenges in his attempt to become the Democratic nominee, including candidate David Nachbar, who days after his announcement chose to step down due to an improper filing of his papers. By April 2006, Massa had secured the support of all Democratic county committees and become the presumptive Democratic candidate for the District.

Notable Visits

In March 2006, President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

visited the district, as a chance to promote his new prescription-drug plan, Medicare Part D. It was considered more of a public-relations boost for Kuhl's re-election campaign than instructive on the issues.

In September 2006, Vice President Dick Cheney

Dick Cheney

Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....

also made a fundraising appearance in support of Congressman Kuhl's re-election campaign. Massa, in turn, ran a Veterans Fundraiser outside the event in support of the local veterans and VA hospitals.

Massa also had numerous endorsers including Congressman and DCCC Chairman Rahm Emanuel

Rahm Emanuel

Rahm Israel Emanuel is an American politician and the 55th and current Mayor of Chicago. He was formerly White House Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama...

, President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

, Senator Hillary Clinton, and frequent visits by former Senator Max Cleland

Max Cleland

Joseph Maxwell Cleland is an American politician from Georgia. Cleland, a Democrat, is a disabled US Army veteran of the Vietnam War, a recipient of the Silver Star and the Bronze Star for valorous action in combat, and a former U.S. Senator...

Horse Race Metrics

Due to the difficulty and the presumptive win by Republicans, neither the Republicans or Democrats poured money into polling in this District.

From polling results in April 2006 by Massa's polsters, Cooper and Secrest, the race was touted was a virtual dead-heat (Kuhl over Massa 43% to 41% +/- 4%). An October 2006 Majority-Watch poll had Massa leading Kuhl

Randy Kuhl

53% to 42%. Cook Political Report rating: Lean Republican. CQPolitics rating: Leans Republican.

Fundraising metrics showed Kuhl

Randy Kuhl

with a significant fundraising advantage (over $500K in his campaign account) over Massa. Over the course of the campaign, Massa consistently outraised Kuhl

Randy Kuhl

, sometimes to the tune of a very slim margin. As the Foley scandal took hold, Massa and the rest of the Democratic party saw an increase of funds - where Massa raised close to half of his funds in the last five weeks of the campaign - primarily from online donors - spurred on by his online outreach efforts.

Results

On Election night, Congressman Kuhl

Randy Kuhl

had garnered 52% of the vote, Massa 48% of the vote. On Election night, Massa chose to request a recount and an accounting of absentee ballots due the fact that 6000 votes separated the two and 10K were left to be counted. After a week of waiting, the ballots were approximately even and Congressman Kuhl

Randy Kuhl

was re-elected. Massa conceded the election with a telephone call to Congressman Kuhl

Randy Kuhl

A native of the 29th District, Congressman Randy Kuhl has lived in the area all of his life. The son of a doctor and a nurse/teacher, Randy was born in Bath, picked grapes and worked inside the wineries on the shores of Keuka Lake, attended school in Hammondsport, had summer jobs in construction and on several different farms during his college years. He owned and operated a business in Bath, became Steuben County attorney, then successfully ran for the New York State Assembly in 1980, the New York State Senate in 1986, and the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004 where he now serves and represents the people of the 29th District.

Randy Kuhl is a graduate of Hammondsport Central School, and earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Union College (1966), and in 1969 received his Juris Doctor from Syracuse University College of Law. He is a communicant of St. James Episcopal Church and has been active in the Hammondsport Rotary Club and BPOE 1547 in Bath. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Five Rivers Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the Branchport Rod and Gun Club, and the Executive Committee of the Steuben County Republican Committee. He is President of the Board of Directors of the Reginald Wood Scouting Memorial and an immediate past member of the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Manufacturing and Technology.

Randy Kuhl is currently unmarried and lives in Hammondsport as the father of three sons.

Eric Massa was the Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

nominee. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis

United States Naval Academy

The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...

and went on to serve in the Navy for 24 years. He eventually served as aide to former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, General Wesley Clark

Wesley Clark

. Near the end of his Navy career he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma

The non-Hodgkin lymphomas are a diverse group of blood cancers that include any kind of lymphoma except Hodgkin's lymphomas. Types of NHL vary significantly in their severity, from indolent to very aggressive....

, a disease he was able to survive. A former Republican, he claims he left his party over the issue of the Iraq War and campaigned in New Hampshire during the campaign of his former-boss, Wesley Clark

Wesley Clark

's, failed presidential bid.

During the campaign, Massa positioned himself as strongly opposed to the Iraq war and unrestricted "free trade

Free trade

Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...

," favoring instead "fair trade

Fair trade

Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as higher social and environmental standards...

". Other issues in his platform included expanding farm aid programs, as well as bringing homeland security money to the 29th District. Massa is also active in Band of Brothers/Veterans for a Secure America whose goal is to help veterans who are running for Congress as Democrats.

Massa continued to blog on progressive sites and planned on launching his own blog, 29th United, but never achieved this goal.

Massa currently lives in Corning, New York

Corning (city), New York

Corning is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States, on the Chemung River. The population was 10,842 at the 2000 census. It is named for Erastus Corning, an Albany financier and railroad executive who was an investor in the company that developed the community.- Overview :The city of...

with his wife Beverly, daughter Alexandra and son Justin. His other son Sean lives in California.

External links

Massa's campaign site from Archive.org

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