Christopher Louis Jacobs (born November 28, 1966) is an American politician who represented in 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from 2020 to 2023. Jacobs served as the 62nd

secretary of state of New York The secretary of state of New York is a cabinet officer in the government of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York who leads the New York State Department of State, Department of State (NYSDOS). The current secretary of state of New York ...

from April 2006 to January 2007. Beginning in 2012, he held the post of Erie County clerk, and he was a

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 agains ...

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 ...

for the 60th district from 2017 to 2020. On June 23, 2020, he won a special election to fill a congressional vacancy in the 27th district. He was reelected to a full term in November 2020. Jacobs did not seek reelection in 2022, after receiving what ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

'' described as "rising backlash" from Republicans for supporting some gun control measures following the

2022 Buffalo shooting On May 14, 2022, a mass shooting occurred in Buffalo, New York, United States, at a Tops Friendly Markets supermarket in the East Side neighborhood. Ten people, all of whom were Black, were murdered and three were injured. The shooter, identif ...

and the

Robb Elementary School shooting On May 24, 2022, a mass shooting occurred at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, United States, where 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, a former student at the school, fatally shot nineteen students and two teachers, and wounded seventeen other ...

Early life and education

Jacobs was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, as one of 5 siblings. His family has long owned the

Delaware North Delaware North is a global food service and hospitality company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. The company also operates in the lodging, sporting, airport, gambling, and entertainment industries. The company employs over 55,000 people worl ...

Companies and the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

hockey team. Jacobs earned his undergraduate degree from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

, a master's degree from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

University at Buffalo Law School The University at Buffalo School of Law (also known as State University of New York at Buffalo Law School, or SUNY Buffalo Law School) is a graduate professional school at the University at Buffalo. Founded in 1887 and affiliate with Niagara Univ ...

Career

Early career

Before holding elected office, Jacobs served as deputy commissioner of environment and planning in the administration of Erie County Executive

Joel Giambra Joel Giambra is an American politician from the State of New York. He is the former County Executive of Erie County, New York. Early life Giambra was born in Buffalo, New York in 1957 to a single mother, Shirley. He was raised in Buffalo by his ...

. He also worked at the

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...

under then-HUD Secretary

Jack Kemp Jack French Kemp (July 13, 1935 – May 2, 2009) was an American politician and a professional football player. A member of the Republican Party from New York, he served as Housing Secretary in the administration of President George H. W. Bu ...

. Jacobs served on the

Buffalo Public Schools Buffalo Public Schools serves approximately 34,000 students in Buffalo, New York, the second largest city in the state of New York. It is located in Erie County of western New York and operates nearly 70 facilities. History The Buffalo Public S ...

board. He was elected in 2004 and reelected in 2009. Jacobs serves on the Boards of Buffalo Place and the Freedom Station Coalition and was previously a board member at the Catholic Academy of West Buffalo and the Olmsted Parks Conservancy. On April 19, 2006, Governor

George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...

appointed Jacobs

New York secretary of state The secretary of state of New York is a cabinet officer in the government of the U.S. state of New York who leads the Department of State (NYSDOS). The current secretary of state of New York is Robert J. Rodriguez, a Democrat. Duties The secre ...

Erie County Clerk

In 2011, Jacobs was elected Erie County clerk. He was reelected to the post in 2014.

New York State Senate

In February 2006, Jacobs was the Republican nominee in a special election for a

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

seat representing Buffalo and

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

. He lost to Democratic nominee Marc Coppola. On November 8, 2016, Jacobs defeated Democratic nominee Amber Small for the 60th district seat. The district was formerly represented by Democrat

Marc Panepinto Marc C. Panepinto is an American attorney and Democratic politician from New York State. Panepinto graduated from The University at Buffalo School of Law. He is a founding partner at the Buffalo law firm of Dolce Panepinto. Panepinto was convic ...

. The campaigns were rare for their lack of rancor on the part of either candidate. Jacobs was reelected in 2018. He resigned on July 20, 2020, after being elected to Congress. Democrat Sean Ryan was later elected to succeed him.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2020 special

In May 2019, Jacobs announced that he would run for

New York's 27th congressional district The 27th congressional district of New York was a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in western New York. It included all of Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, and Livingston counties and parts of Erie, Monroe, Ni ...

in the 2020 elections. He initially planned to challenge incumbent Chris Collins in the Republican primary, but Collins resigned in October 2019 and pleaded guilty to insider trading charges. Jacobs defeated Nate McMurray, 50.7%-45.6%, in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

on June 23, 2020, for the balance of Collins's term and was sworn in as a member of Congress on July 21, 2020.

2020 general

On the day of the special election, he also won a three-way Republican primary for the general election on November 3, in which he went on to win a full term by defeating McMurray a second time.

Tenure

In January 2021, Jacobs objected to the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results in Congress, basing his decision on what ''

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 ...

'' called "spurious allegations of widespread voter fraud". Jacobs's vote came shortly after the

2021 storming of the United States Capitol On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of then-United States President, U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol, U ...

. On January 10, seven members of the New York State legislature signed an open letter calling on Jacobs to resign. On January 13, Jacobs voted against both articles of impeachment in the second impeachment of President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

. On February 4, he joined 10 other Republican House members voting with all voting Democrats to strip Representative

Marjorie Taylor Greene Marjorie Taylor Greene (born May 27, 1974), also known by her initials MTG, is an American politician, businesswoman, and far-right conspiracy theorist Sources describing Greene as "far-right" include: * * * * * * * * * who has served as th ...

of her House Education and Labor Committee, and

House Budget Committee The United States House Committee on the Budget, commonly known as the House Budget Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Its responsibilities include legislative oversight of the federal budget process, ...

assignments in response to controversial political statements she had made. On May 19, 2021, Jacobs was one of 35 Republicans who joined all Democrats in voting to approve legislation to establish the

January 6 commission The National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex, known colloquially as the January 6 commission, was an unsuccessful proposal to create a commission that would have investigated the January 6 Uni ...

meant to investigate the storming of the U.S. Capitol. On May 22, 2022, as a result of sanctions imposed by the United States in response to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, Jacobs was one of 963 Americans permanently banned from entering Russia. On May 28, 2022, during a press conference on the Buffalo shooting and the

, Jacobs said he would vote for bills banning

assault weapon In the United States, ''assault weapon'' is a controversial term used to define firearms with specified characteristics. The definition varies among regulating jurisdictions, but usually includes semi-automatic firearms with a detachable magaz ...

s and "raising the minimum age for some gun purchases to 21", explaining that the Buffalo shooting had "been a profoundly impactful event for me" and that he had rethought his stance on guns. Jacobs was endorsed by the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

during his 2020 congressional run, at the time saying he was honored to receive the endorsement and vowing to serve as an "ally and fighter" for gun owners in western New York. Subsequently, Jacobs was admonished by some Republican politicians for his remarks, and Carl Paladino, the Republican nominee for governor in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, said he would consider challenging Jacobs for reelection in the Republican primary. On June 3, 2022, Jacobs ended his reelection campaign. On July 19, 2022, Jacobs and 46 other Republican Representatives voted for the

Respect for Marriage Act The Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA; ) is a landmark United States federal law passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden. It repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), requires the U.S. federal governm ...

, which would codify the right to same-sex marriage in federal law. On July 29, 2022, Jacobs and one other Republican, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, joined the Democrats in voting for a bill banning assault weapons. In 2022, Jacobs was one of 39 Republicans to vote for the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Agriculture * Committee on the Budget

Caucus memberships

Republican Governance Group The Republican Governance Group, originally the Tuesday Lunch Bunch and then the Tuesday Group until 2020, is a group of moderate Republicans in the United States House of Representatives. It was founded in 1994 in the wake of the Republican tak ...

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. Hist ...

Republican Study Committee The Republican Study Committee (RSC) is a study group of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. As of 2021, the Chairman of the RSC is Representative Jim Banks of Indiana. Although the prim ...

References

External links

*
NY DoS release
* , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, Chris 1966 births 21st-century American politicians American University alumni Boston College alumni County clerks in New York (state) Living people New York (state) lawyers New York (state) Republicans Politicians from Buffalo, New York School board members in New York (state) Secretaries of State of New York (state) University at Buffalo Law School alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)