Robert Ernest Andrews (born August 4, 1957) is an American politician who served as a

U.S. representative 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 c ...

for from 1990 to 2014. The district included most of Camden County and parts of Burlington County and Gloucester County.

Early life, education, and early career

Andrews was born in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

, the son of Josephine (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Amies) and Ernest Andrews; he is predominantly of Scottish and Scotch-Irish descent and counts American portrait painter

Charles Willson Peale Charles Willson Peale (April 15, 1741 – February 22, 1827) was an American Painting, painter, soldier, scientist, inventor, politician and naturalist. He is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolu ...

and Johannes Roosevelt among his ancestors. He grew up in Bellmawr and attended Triton Regional High School in Runnemede. Andrews was the first in his family to attend college, graduating from

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...

in 1979 with a BA in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

, summa cum laude. He later attended

Cornell University Law School Cornell Law School is the law school of Cornell University, a private Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. One of the five Ivy League law schools, it offers four law degree programs, JD, LLM, MSLS and JSD, along with several dual-deg ...

, earning his JD degree with honors in 1982. Before his election to Congress, Andrews was involved in legal education as a member of ''

Cornell Law Review The ''Cornell Law Review'' is the flagship legal journal of Cornell Law School. Originally published in 1915 as the ''Cornell Law Quarterly'', the journal features scholarship in all fields of law. Notably, past issues of the ''Cornell Law Rev ...

''‍‍ '‍s board of editors. He worked as an attorney and an adjunct professor at the

Rutgers School of Law–Camden Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. pr ...

. Starting in 1983, Andrews operated a private legal practice. In 1986, he was elected as a member of the Camden County

Board of Chosen Freeholders In New Jersey, a Board of County Commissioners (until 2020 named the Board of Chosen Freeholders) is the elected county-wide government board in each of the state's 21 counties. In the five counties that have an elected county executive, the b ...

, where he served for four years, including two years as freeholder director (1988–1990).

U.S. House of Representatives

First elected to Congress in 1990, Andrews served for 24 years as the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional district, which includes most of Camden County and parts of Burlington County and Gloucester County. In the U.S. House of Representatives, he served on the Committee on Armed Services, Committee on the Budget, and

Committee on Education and Labor The Committee on Education and Labor is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. There are 50 members in this committee. Since 2019, the chair of the Education and Labor committee is Robert Cortez Scott of Virginia. Hi ...

, where he served as chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.

Elections

In 1990, after a 15-year incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman

James Florio James Joseph Florio (August 29, 1937 – September 25, 2022) was an American politician who served as the 49th governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994. He was previously the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional district from 19 ...

resigned from the

U.S. 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

to take office as

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...

, Andrews won the 1990 special election and simultaneous general election against Gloucester County Freeholder Daniel J. Mangini. He subsequently won re-election every two years until his retirement. Andrews had the 10th longest tenure among U.S. Representatives in New Jersey history, and the fifth longest among Democrats state. In November 2004, he received more votes than anyone ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey, a record which he broke once again in 2012.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Armed Services ** Subcommittee on Strategic Forces ** Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities *

Committee on Education and the Workforce The Committee on Education and Labor is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. There are 50 members in this committee. Since 2019, the chair of the Education and Labor committee is Robert Cortez Scott of Virginia. Hi ...

** Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training ** Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (Ranking Member) * Co-Chairman of the Steering and Policy Committee

Caucus memberships

* Congressional Arts Caucus * Congressional Fire Services Caucus * Hunger Caucus

Tenure

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 ...

'' characterized Congressman Andrews as "fiscally conservative but socially moderate." He has a lifetime rating of 17.24 from the

American Conservative Union The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for conservative policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the Conservative Political Action Conference. Founded on ...

and a 2007 rating of 100 from

Americans for Democratic Action Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) is a liberal American political organization advocating progressive policies. ADA views itself as supporting social and economic justice through lobbying, grassroots organizing, research, and supporting prog ...

. He has a liberal rating of 76.2 and a conservative rating of 23.8 from the ''

National Journal ''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes da ...

''. According to

President Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

, he was an original author of the Affordable Care Act that was designed to cut the costs for American taxpayers on healthcare.

Alleged misuse of campaign funds

On December 2, 2008, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint against Andrews and four other politicians to the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Cam ...

(FEC) for allegedly violating the

Federal Election Campaign Act The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA, , ''et seq.'') is the primary United States federal law regulating political campaign fundraising and spending. The law originally focused on creating limits for campaign spending on communicatio ...

(FECA). In the complaint, CREW stated that Andrews's campaign committee spent $952.04 of campaign funds on clothing, which FECA classified as personal spending. A spokesman for Andrews responded that the clothing was intended to replace

lost luggage Lost luggage is luggage conveyed by a public carrier such as an airline, seafaring cruise ship, shipping company, or railway which fails to arrive at the correct destination with the passenger. In the United States, an average of 1 in 150 peo ...

from a flight, and that Andrews deposited $952.04 into his campaign account after the airline reimbursed him. The FEC dismissed the complaint on July 16, 2009, but affirmed in the dismissal that the purchases violated campaign finance laws. ''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...

'' reported on November 20, 2011 that Andrews financed a family vacation to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and other European destinations with over $9,000 of campaign funds. The report claimed that Andrews "mixed personal and political expenses in an unorthodox way" on multiple occasions. These expenses included a $10,000

house party A house party is a type of party where people gather at the residence of the party's host. Organization A house party might be organized several months or just a few hours in advance. News of a party may be spread by personal invitations, ...

celebrating both his career anniversary and his daughter's

graduation Graduation is the awarding of a diploma to a student by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it. The date of the graduation ceremony is often called graduation day. The graduation ceremony is a ...

, a $12,500 donation to the

Walnut Street Theatre The Walnut Street Theatre, founded in 1809 at 825 Walnut Street, on the corner of S. 9th Street in the Washington Square West neighborhood of Philadelphia, is the oldest operating theatre in the United States. The venue is operated by the Walnut ...

– where his daughter performed, and trips to California that overlapped with his daughter's auditions. Andrews and his chief of staff replied that the vacation involved attending an adviser's wedding, the party was primarily for "political associates", the theatre donation was in support of its

outreach Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meetin ...

program, and his daughter assisted him with fundraising during their trips. CREW filed another compliant with the FEC on November 30, 2011 based on ''The Star-Ledger''s article. Andrews described the complaint as "baseless" and stated, "The campaign has fully complied with all laws with respect to the proper expenditure and disclosure of campaign funds. All personal aspects of any expenditures or activities have always been paid in full from our family’s personal funds." The

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

elaborated on March 28, 2012 that Andrews's 18 trips to California from 2007 to 2012 resulted in over $97,000 of campaign expenses and $260,000 of donations, short of the 3:1 ratio of donations to expenses that is expected from political fundraising trips. The

United States House Committee on Ethics The Committee on Ethics, often known simply as the Ethics Committee, is one of the committees of the United States House of Representatives. Prior to the 112th Congress it was known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. The House ...

started researching the complaint on July 17, 2012, and decided on August 31 that it would proceed with an investigation. On March 19, 2013, the Committee declared that a special panel would examine whether Andrews's travel expenses from the Edinburgh and California trips complied with campaign finance laws. Andrews resigned from Congress on February 4, 2014. He said that the campaign finance probe had "no role at all" in his resignation, and that he was departing for a position at the Dilworth Paxson law firm. The FEC dismissed the complaint on June 3, 2014 with "prosecutorial discretion", noting that Andrews reimbursed his campaign for the Edinburgh trip before he received the complaint, and that any violations in the California trips were "relatively small". In February 2014, Andrews resigned from his position in the middle of his term, while being investigated by the

for alleged violations related to his use of campaign funds for personal expenses. Andrews stated it was to take a job with a law firm in Philadelphia. The complaint was dismissed in June 2014.

Other political activities

In 1997, Andrews ran for

. In the Democratic primary, he was defeated 40%–37%, a margin of 9,993 votes, by State Senator

Jim McGreevey James Edward McGreevey (born August 6, 1957) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 52nd governor of New Jersey from 2002 until his resignation in 2004 following the revelation of his extramarital affair w ...

. Andrews was a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 U.S. Senate election. Andrews lost to incumbent Lautenberg, but subsequently won re-election to his House seat, with Andrews "received more votes in November 2008 than anyone ever elected to the U.S. House in New Jersey, breaking his own record."

Personal life

Andrews is married and has two daughters.

Electoral history

{, class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%" , + : Results 1990–2012 !, Year ! !, Democrat !, Votes !, Pct ! !, Republican !, Votes !, Pct ! !, 3rd Party !, Party !, Votes !, Pct ! !, 3rd Party !, Party !, Votes !, Pct ! !, 3rd Party !, Party !, Votes !, Pct ! !, 3rd Party !, Party !, Votes !, Pct ! , - , 1990
(special) , , , , align="right" , 71,373 , align="right" , 55% , , , Daniel J. Mangini , align="right" , 58,087 , , 45% , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - ,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, , , , align="right" , 72,415 , align="right" , 54% , , , Daniel J. Mangini , align="right" , 57,299 , , 43% , , , Jerry Zeldin , ,

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" , 1,592 , align="right" , 1% , , , Walter E. Konstanty , , Pride and Honesty , align="right" , 1,422 , align="right" , 1% , , , William H. Harris , ,

Populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

, align="right" , 1,066 , align="right" , 1% , , , , , , , - ,

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, , , Rob Andrews , align="right" , 153,525 , align="right" , 67% , , , Lee A. Solomon , align="right" , 65,123 , , 29% , , , James E. Smith , , Pro-Life Pro-Family Veteran , align="right" , 3,761 , align="right" , 2% , , , Jerry Zeldin , ,

, align="right" , 2,641 , align="right" , 1% , , , Kenneth L. Lowndes , , Pro-Life Independent Conservative , align="right" , 2,163 , align="right" , 1% , , , Nicholas Pastuch , , America First Populist , align="right" , 859 , align="right" , <1% , , - ,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, , , Rob Andrews , align="right" , 108,155 , align="right" , 72% , , , James N. Hogan , align="right" , 41,505 , , 28% , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - ,

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 ...

, , , Rob Andrews , align="right" , 160,413 , align="right" , 76% , , , Mel Suplee , align="right" , 44,287 , , 21% , , , Michael Edmondson , ,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, align="right" , 2,668 , align="right" , 1% , , , Bily , ,

, align="right" , 1,873 , align="right" , 1% , , , Wahner , ,

, align="right" , 1,493 , align="right" , 1% , , , , , , , - , 1998 , , , Rob Andrews , align="right" , 90,279 , align="right" , 73% , , , , align="right" , 27,855 , , 23% , , , , ,

, align="right" , 1,684 , align="right" , 1% , , , Stockman , ,

, align="right" , 1,324 , align="right" , 1% , , , Edward Forchion , ,

, align="right" , 1,257 , align="right" , 1% , , , Barber , ,

, align="right" , 943 , align="right" , 1% , , - ,

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 ...

, , , Rob Andrews , align="right" , 167,327 , align="right" , 76% , , , , align="right" , 46,455 , , 21% , , , Parrish , ,

, align="right" , 3,090 , align="right" , 1% , , , Edward Forchion , ,

, align="right" , 1,959 , align="right" , 1% , , , Patalivo , ,

, align="right" , 781 , align="right" , <1% , , , , , , , - ,

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 ...

, , , Rob Andrews , align="right" , 121,846 , align="right" , 93% , , , ''(no candidate)'' , align="right" , , , , , , Timothy Haas , ,

, align="right" , 9,543 , align="right" , 7% , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - ,

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 ...

, , , Rob Andrews , align="right" , 201,163 , align="right" , 75% , , , , align="right" , 66,109 , , 25% , , , Arturo F. Croce , , E Pluribus Unum , align="right" , 931 , align="right" , <1% , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - ,

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 ...

, , , Rob Andrews , align="right" , 140,110 , align="right" , 100% , , , ''(no candidate)'' , align="right" , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, , , Rob Andrews , align="right" , 191,796 , align="right" , 72% , , , Dale M. Glading , align="right" , 70,466 , , 26% , , , Matthew Thieke , ,

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

, align="right" , 1,778 , align="right" , <1% , , , Margaret Chapman , , Basics , align="right" , 1,188 , align="right" , <1% , , , Everitt M. , , Think Independently , align="right" , 954 , align="right" , <1% , , , Alvin Lindsay , , Lindsay for Congress , align="right" , 483 , align="right" , <1% , , - ,

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 ...

, , , Rob Andrews , align="right" , 106,334 , align="right" , 63% , , , Dale M. Glading , align="right" , 58,562 , , 35% , , , Mark Heacock , ,

, align="right" , 1,593 , align="right" , <1% , , , Margaret Chapman , , Time for Change , align="right" , 1,257 , align="right" , <1% , , , Nicky I. Petrutz , , Defend American Constitution , align="right" , 521 , align="right" , <1% , , - ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, , , Rob Andrews , align="right" , 210,470 , align="right" , 68% , , , Gregory W. Horton , align="right" , 92,459 , align="right" , 30% , , , John William Reitter , ,

, align="right" , 4,413 , align="right" , 1% , , , Margaret Chapman , , Reform Party , align="right" , 1,177 , align="right" , <1%

References

External links

Office of former Congressman
constituent services * * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Rob 1957 births 21st-century American politicians American Episcopalians American people of Scotch-Irish descent American people of Scottish descent Bucknell University alumni Cornell Law School alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey County commissioners in New Jersey Living people People from Bellmawr, New Jersey People from Haddon Heights, New Jersey Politicians from Camden, New Jersey