Maria Cino (born April 19, 1957) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

public servant and political operative of the Republican Party. She served in the

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bu ...

and served as acting

United States Secretary of Transportation The United States secretary of transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secre ...

during the

George W. Bush administration George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following a narrow victory over Democratic ...

Early life

Cino 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 ...

on April 19, 1957. She grew up in Buffalo in an "Italian Catholic Democratic union household". Cino is a graduate of

St. John Fisher College St. John Fisher University is a private liberal arts college in Pittsford, New York. It is named after John Fisher, an English Catholic cardinal and saint. It was named St. John Fisher College until July 1, 2022. History St. John Fisher Univers ...

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

Career

Cino served as Chief of Staff for U.S. Representative

Bill Paxon Leon William Paxon (born April 29, 1954) is an American lobbyist and former member of the United States House of Representatives from New York. Early life Paxon was born in Akron, New York, near Buffalo. At the age of 15, Paxon volunteered for ...

. From 1993 to 1997, Cino served as the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the

National Republican Congressional Committee The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives. The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Republican caucuses of the House and S ...

(NRCC), managing the organization's strategy, budget and daily operations. She helped lead the Republican Party to congressional victories in the 1994 election cycle. In 1999 and 2000, Cino served as national political director for the presidential campaign of

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 ...

. She was also the RNC's deputy chair for political and congressional relations in 2000, and she served as RNC deputy chair in 2003 and 2004.

United States Department of Commerce

President

appointed Cino to serve as assistant secretary and director general of the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service; in that capacity, "she supervised 1,700 employees and had a budget of $200 million".

United States Department of Transportation

Cino was nominated by President

as the Deputy Secretary of Transportation on April 6, 2005, and was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on May 11, 2005. After

Norman Mineta Norman Yoshio Mineta ( ja, 峯田良雄, November 12, 1931 – May 3, 2022) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, Mineta served in the United States Cabinet for Presidents Bill Clinton, a Democrat, and George W. Bush, a ...

's departure in July 2006, Cino served as acting

for a short time. Mary Peters was sworn in as Mineta's successor on September 30, 2006.

Later work

Cino served as president and chief executive officer of the 2008 Republican National Convention. In December 2010, Cino announced her candidacy for chair of the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fu ...

in the RNC's January 2011 election. The contest was won by

Reince Priebus Reinhold Richard Priebus ( ; born March 18, 1972) is an American lawyer and politician who served as White House Chief of Staff for President Donald Trump from January 20, 2017, until July 31, 2017. He also served as the chairman of the Republ ...

, and Cino finished third. In 2012, Cino was appointed as Vice President of Americas and U.S. Government Relations for

Hewlett Packard Enterprise The Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) is an American multinational information technology company based in Spring, Texas, United States. HPE was founded on November 1, 2015, in Palo Alto, California, as part of the splitting of the H ...

. In 2020, Cino was named to The Hill's Top 100 Lobbyists list.

Board memberships

Cino has served as a board member of The WISH List, a group seeking to elect pro-choice Republican women. She considers herself "pro-life" (part of the

United States anti-abortion movement The United States anti-abortion movement (also called the pro-life movement or right-to-life movement) contains elements opposing induced abortion on both moral and religious grounds and supports its legal prohibition or restriction. Advocates ...

) but she is also interested in increasing the numbers of Republican women holding office.

References

External links

Maria Cino - Deputy Secretary of Transportation - Biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cino, Maria 1957 births American people of Italian descent Living people New York (state) Republicans Politicians from Buffalo, New York St. John Fisher College alumni United States Department of Transportation officials United States Deputy Secretaries of Transportation