Robert Maxwell McCord (born March 5, 1959) is an American former politician and convicted felon. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, he served as the Treasurer of Pennsylvania from 2009 to 2015. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination 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 ...

in the 2014 election. In January 2015 he announced his resignation as Treasurer of Pennsylvania. On February 17, 2015, McCord pleaded guilty to two counts of extortion.

Early life and education

McCord was born in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to William Maxwell McCord (1930-1992) and Joan Fish McCord (1930-2004), both of whom worked at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. His older brother is

Geoffrey Sayre-McCord Geoffrey Sayre-McCord (né McCord, born December 10, 1956) is an Americans, American philosopher who works in moral theory, ethics, meta-ethics, the history of ethics, and epistemology. He teaches at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill ...

, a professor at

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

. His father, a sociologist, and his mother, a criminologist, separated when McCord was 4 years old. When he was 10, McCord moved to

Ardmore, Pennsylvania Ardmore is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) spanning the border between Delaware and Montgomery counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The population was 12,455 at the 2010 census and had risen to 13,566 in the ...

and later attended

Lower Merion High School Lower Merion High School is a public high school in Ardmore, a community in Philadelphia's Main Line suburbs. It is one of two high schools in the Lower Merion School District; the other one is Harriton High School. Lower Merion serves both Lowe ...

. After graduating from Lower Merion High, McCord took a year off and then went to

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

. At Harvard he did one year abroad and went to

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and (back at Harvard) met Leigh Alexandra Jackson, his future wife. McCord also obtained an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

before he moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

McCord traveled back to Pennsylvania and set up home in Narberth, less than a mile from Ardmore. After having two children, the McCord family ventured to Bryn Mawr. McCord moved to North Carolina to become a yoga instructor. He lived in

Long Branch, New Jersey Long Branch is a beachside City (New Jersey), city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, the city's population was 30,719,< ...

prior to his arrest and conviction.

Career

From 1994 through 1998 McCord was a senior executive at

Safeguard Scientifics Warren Van Dyke "Pete" Musser (December 15, 1926 – November 25, 2019) was the chairman of the Musser Group. He was the founder of Safeguard Scientifics, a venture capital firm that invested in technology companies. At the peak of the dot-com b ...

. McCord founded and from 1998 to 2007 ran the Eastern Technology Council. McCord was elected the Treasurer of Pennsylvania in 2008. He, his wife, and their sons Jackson and Grant lived in Bryn Mawr. In 2014, McCord ran for

in the Democrat primary. He finished third in the May 20 primary, however, behind nominee

Tom Wolf Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett in the 2014 guber ...

and U.S. Representative Allyson Schwartz.

Federal trial and conviction

On January 29, 2015, McCord announced his resignation, effective February 12. The next day, he announced his resignation effective immediately and said he intended to plead guilty to federal charges of extortion relating to campaign fundraising. On February 2, 2015, McCord was formally charged, and on February 17, 2015, he pled guilty to two counts of extortion. After being made aware that he was being investigated but before he resigned, McCord cooperated as an informant on political donors. McCord's case was delayed after he pled guilty, possibly to assess the usefulness of his cooperation. On August 28, 2018, McCord was sentenced to 30 months in prison by Judge

John E. Jones III John Edward Jones III (born June 13, 1955) is the 30th President at Dickinson College and a former United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Early life ...

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:McCord, Robert 1959 births American venture capitalists Harvard College alumni Living people Pennsylvania Democrats Pennsylvania politicians convicted of crimes People from Ardmore, Pennsylvania Politicians convicted of extortion under color of official right State treasurers of Pennsylvania 2012 United States presidential electors Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni Lower Merion High School alumni