Joseph Merrill Hoeffel III ( ; born September 3, 1950) is an American author and politician. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, Hoeffel was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005, representing Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district. He also served multiple terms on the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, and from 1977–84, was a member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

. A native of Philadelphia, he is a graduate of Boston University and

Temple University School of Law The Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law is the law school of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1895 and enrolls about 530 students. Student body Admission for fall 2019 entering class was highly comp ...

. Hoeffel was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, and for

Governor of Pennsylvania A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

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 ...

Background

Hoeffel was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Joseph and Eleanore Hoeffel. After graduating from William Penn Charter School in 1968, he attended Boston University and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1972. He served in the Army Reserves from 1970 to 1976. He first became involved in politics during the 1972 presidential election, when his opposition to the Vietnam War led him to support Senator

George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American historian and South Dakota politician who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 pres ...

. In 1973, he became a legislative aide to Representative Gerry Studds of Massachusetts, for whom Hoeffel did research on foreign

overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in th ...

Political career

After working for Studds for a year, Hoeffel challenged four-term Republican incumbent

Daniel Beren Daniel E. Beren (November 3, 1929 – December 14, 2014) was a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the l ...

for a seat in the

, representing the Abington-based 153rd district, in 1974. He was defeated by 1,505 votes. From 1975 to 1976, he was the Central Montgomery County administrator for the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

. Hoeffel successfully ran again for state House in 1976, after Beren decided to not seek re-election. He was the first Democrat to represent the Abington area since World War I. He served from 1977 to 1985. The first bill he passed as a state legislator was a campaign reform proposal in 1978 improving financial disclosure. In 1984, he gave up his seat to run for the United States House of Representatives in the 13th congressional district, but was defeated by longtime Republican incumbent

Lawrence Coughlin Robert Lawrence Coughlin Jr. (April 11, 1929 – November 30, 2001) was an American lawyer and politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives representing the 13th district of Pen ...

. Hoeffel sought a rematch in 1986, and was defeated again. He received his

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 ...

degree from

in 1986, and then worked at the Norristown law firms of Wright, Manning, Kinkaid & Oliver (1987–90) and Kane, Pugh & Driscoll (1990–91). After several years out of politics, Hoeffel won a seat on the Montgomery County Commission in 1991. In a surprise to the political establishment, Hoeffel supported Republican Mario Mele for Commission chairman over

Jon Fox Jon D. Fox (April 22, 1947 – February 11, 2018) was an American Republican politician. He served as a member of Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1985 to 1992 before being elected to the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners (1992- ...

Career in Congress

In 1996, Hoeffel made a third run at Congress, taking on his former colleague on the Montgomery County Commission,

, now a first-term Congressman. That year, Fox hung onto his seat by an 84-vote margin. However, in 1998, in his fourth attempt, Hoeffel broke through. Hobbled by a tough Republican primary and the fallout from the

impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...

of President Bill Clinton, Fox could not hang on a second time. Hoeffel won by more than 5,000 votes. Hoeffel became only the second Democrat to represent the Montgomery County-based district in 86 years. He won re-election twice, though not without difficulty. In 2000 he won an expensive race against Republican

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

Stewart Greenleaf, who represented most of the eastern portion of the congressional district. He thus became the first Democrat to serve more than one term in the district in decades. In 2002, he defeated wealthy ophthalmologist Melissa Brown by less than expected; the 13th had been made somewhat more Democratic with the addition of part of Philadelphia. During the 2002 election, Hoeffel's website was praised as among the best of the 2002 election cycle. In Congress, Hoeffel was a member of two House committees: International Relations and Transportation and Infrastructure. On July 20, 2004, Hoeffel became the third sitting

U.S. Congressman 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 they ...

in one week, following Charles Rangel and Bobby Rush, to be arrested for trespassing while protesting alleged human rights violations in front of the

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

ese Embassy. U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, Hoeffel's Republican opponent in the 2004 U.S. Senate race, criticized the

arrest An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be questi ...

as a

publicity In marketing, publicity is the public visibility or awareness for any product, service, person or organization (company, charity, etc.). It may also refer to the movement of information from its source to the general public, often (but not always) ...

stunt. Rather than holding onto his seat, Hoeffel decided in 2004 to run for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Republican Arlen Specter. In the election held on November 2, 2004, Hoeffel was defeated by more than ten points to Specter, 53%-42%, and only carried four counties. Hoeffel was at a considerable disadvantage because of Specter's popularity in the Philadelphia suburbs.

After Congress

Hoeffel endorsed Bob Casey, Jr. for the United States Senate in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

; Casey defeated incumbent Republican Rick Santorum by a wide margin. Hoeffel announced that he would run for

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

in March 2006 against incumbent Catherine Baker Knoll, but dropped out of the race a day later. Governor Ed Rendell convinced Hoeffel that the Democratic ticket needed geographic balance; Knoll is from

Allegheny County Allegheny County () is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's seco ...

; Rendell is from Philadelphia. The Democratic Committees of Bucks and Chester Counties had overwhelmingly voted to endorse him over Knoll. In July 2006, Rendell named Hoeffel the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development where he would oversee the International Commerce Office of the DCED. In February 2007, Hoeffel announced that he would resign his post in order to run for the Montgomery County Commission with incumbent Ruth Damsker. Hoeffel's and Damsker's opponents were incumbent Jim Matthews and district attorney

Bruce Castor Bruce Lee Castor Jr. (born October 24, 1961) is an American lawyer and retired Republican Party (United States), Republican politician from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He was appointed as the first Solicitor General of Pennsylvania in March ...

. Hopes were high that the Democrats could win majority control on the commission due to party gains in the county and a fractured county Republican party. Hoeffel finished second, behind Castor, winning a seat on the Commission, but his running mate fell short, keeping control in Republican hands. However, thanks to a deal with Matthews, Hoeffel became Vice Chairman of the Commission, in exchange for supporting Matthews' bid to become Chairman over Castor.

2010 gubernatorial campaign

On September 20, 2009, Hoeffel announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination for

. During the campaign, he called for the introduction of a

graduated income tax A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases.Sommerfeld, Ray M., Silvia A. Madeo, Kenneth E. Anderson, Betty R. Jackson (1992), ''Concepts of Taxation'', Dryden Press: Fort Worth, TX The term ''progre ...

for the state, supported the implementation of a statewide

single-payer health care Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from p ...

program, stressed his pro-choice position on abortion and opposition to school vouchers, and distinguished himself as the only candidate supporting the legalization of same-sex marriage. He received endorsements from NOW, the Stonewall Democrats, the United Auto Workers, and various local affiliates of

Democracy for America Democracy for America (DFA) is a progressive political action committee, headquartered in Burlington, Vermont. Founded by former Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean in 2004, DFA leads public awareness campaigns on a variety of pub ...

. In the May 18, 2010 primary, he placed fourth out of four candidates, receiving 130,799 votes, or 12.7% of the total votes cast, and winning Montgomery County, though without a majority.

Subsequent political career

Within days of losing the 2010 primary for governor, Hoeffel announced he would seek another term as county commissioner in 2011. He followed

Matthews Matthews may refer to: People * Matthews (surname) Places * Matthews Island, Antarctica * Matthews Range, Kenya * Mount Matthews, New Zealand United States * Matthews, Georgia * Matthews, Indiana * Matthews, Maryland * Matthews, Missouri * Mat ...

, who also initially announced his intention to seek re-election, in withdrawing from the contest in early 2011 and was not renominated by his party. A subsequent grand jury report found questionable behavior on Hoeffel's part for his participation in discussing county business at private breakfast meetings held with Matthews and senior aides–an alleged violation of state Sunshine laws. However, unlike Matthews, who was later alleged to have perjured himself while testifying to the grand jury, Hoeffel was never charged with criminal wrongdoing. On March 10, 2018, Hoeffel announced that he will seek to retake his old congressional seat, now renumbered as the

4th District Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

. A court-ordered remap had cut out the district's share of Philadelphia. Although the new 4th was geographically similar to the area he had represented for his first two terms, he finished a distant third, with only 11 percent of the vote, well behind State Representative and fellow Abingdon resident Madeleine Dean.

Political positions

Education

According to his campaign website, Hoeffel favors expanded funding for early childhood education programs, drop-out prevention and drop-out reengagement programs and centers, and basic education for school board members. He favors keeping the current defined benefit pension plan for all teachers over a change to a defined contribution plan for new hires. Hoeffel would continue the school funding formula implemented by Governor Ed Rendell to reduce dependence on local property taxes to fund schools.

Labor

Hoeffel has a lifetime 97% rating from the AFL–CIO and is endorsed by several labor unions in the Philadelphia area.

Abortion

Hoeffel has a 100% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America. He is endorsed by former NARAL Pro-Choice America President Kate Michelman, and by the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Organization for Women

LGBT rights

He favors amending Pennsylvania's Hate Crimes Law to include crimes targeting LGBT people and supports full marriage rights.

Writing

Hoeffel's book about his vote for the Iraq War,
The Iraq Lie: How the White House Sold the War
', was published in 2014 by Progressive Press. Hoeffel provides a first-person account of the Congressional debate on the Iraq War Resolution, and argues that the Bush White House misled Congress and the country and took the United States to war in Iraq under false pretenses. Hoeffel suggests intelligence reforms to prevent such deceptions from happening again. Hoeffel's second book,
Fighting for the Progressive Center in the Age of Trump
', was published in August 2017 by Praeger. In this book, Hoeffel argues that "progressives must fight for the political center of our civic arena with policies that are both socially liberal and fiscally responsible if we want to win the battle for public support against Donald Trump." The book is a mix of policy prescriptions which reject partisan extremes and rigid ideologies, with numerous anecdotes from 25 years serving in elected office at the county, state and federal levels.

Personal life

He has been married for 26 years to Francesca Hoeffel. They live in Abington Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, and have two children. His grandfather, also named Joseph M. "Joe" Hoeffel, served as coach of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

in 1921.Hoeffel was star player in high school, college, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/27/01

Congressional electoral history

{, class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%" , + : Results 1996–2002 !, Year ! !, Democrat !, Votes !, Pct ! !, Republican !, Votes !, Pct ! !, 3rd Party !, Party !, Votes !, Pct ! !, 3rd Party !, Party !, Votes !, Pct ! , - ,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, , , Joseph M. Hoeffel , align="right" , 120,220 , , 49% , , ,

Jon D. Fox Jon D. Fox (April 22, 1947 – February 11, 2018) was an American Republican politician. He served as a member of Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1985 to 1992 before being elected to the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners (1992- ...

, align="right" , 120,304 , , 49% , , , Thomas Patrick Burke , ,

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

, align="right" , 4,930 , align="right" , 2% , , , Bill Ryan , , Natural Law , align="right" , 525 , align="right" , <1% , , - ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, , , , align="right" , 95,105 , , 52% , , ,

, align="right" , 85,915 , , 47% , , , Thomas Patrick Burke , ,

, align="right" , 3,470 , align="right" , 2% , , , , , , , - ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, , , Joseph M. Hoeffel , align="right" , 146,026 , , 53% , , , , align="right" , 126,501 , , 46% , , , Ken Cavanaugh , ,

, align="right" , 4,224 , align="right" , 2% , , , , , , , - ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, , , Joseph M. Hoeffel , align="right" , 107,945 , , 51% , , , , align="right" , 100,295 , , 47% , , , John P. McDermott , , Constitution , align="right" , 3,627 , align="right" , 2% , , , , , , {, class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%" , + Pennsylvania Senator (Class III): 2004 Results !, Year ! !, Democrat !, Votes !, Pct ! !, Republican !, Votes !, Pct ! !, 3rd Party !, Party !, Votes !, Pct ! !, 3rd Party !, Party !, Votes !, Pct ! , - ,

, , , , align="right" , 2,334,126 , , 42% , , , , align="right" , 2,925,080 , , 53% , , , James Clymer , , Constitution , align="right" , 220,056 , align="right" , 4% , , , Betsy Summers , ,

, align="right" , 79,263 , align="right" , 1% , , * *Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 2004, write-ins received 580 votes.

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoeffel, Joe 1950 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Montgomery County Commissioners (Pennsylvania) County commissioners in Pennsylvania Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni People from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania William Penn Charter School alumni 21st-century American politicians