Joseph Michael Sempolinski (born February 10, 1983) is an American politician who served as the

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 2022 to 2023. 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 ...

, he was first elected 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 ...

held on August 23, 2022.

Early life and education

Born in

Elmira, New York Elmira () is a city and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. The population was 26,523 at the 2020 cens ...

, Sempolinski graduated from Corning-Painted Post West High School in

Painted Post, New York Painted Post is a village in Steuben County, New York. The village is in the town of Erwin, west of the city of Corning. The population was 1,809 at the 2010 census. The name comes from a Seneca carved post found by explorers at the junction ...

. He earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

and

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

Career

Between 2010 and 2015, Sempolinski worked in the office of

Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

Tom Reed Thomas or Tom Reed may refer to: Politicians and military * Thomas Buck Reed (1787–1829), senator from Mississippi * Thomas Reed (British Army officer) (1796–1883), British general * Thomas Brackett Reed (1839–1902), Speaker of the House of ...

, including as District Director. A member of the Republican Party, he also serves as the Chairman of the Steuben County Republican Committee. At the time he was selected to run for Congress in 2022 New York's 23rd congressional district special election, he was serving as Chief of Staff in the office of

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

man

Joseph Giglio Joseph Giglio (born September 12, 1954) is an american politician, who is serving as a member of the New York State Assembly since 2005. He first represented the 149th district from 2005 until 2012, before being redistricted to the 148th distri ...

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2022 Special

On May 10, 2022, Reed resigned from the seat representing

New York's 23rd congressional district The 23rd congressional district of New York is located in Upstate, and covers much of the Southern Tier. It extends along New York's border with Pennsylvania from the shores of Lake Erie in Chautauqua County to the suburbs of Binghamton in ...

, a seat to which he had already stated he would not stand for re-election past 2022, leaving a vacancy in the

117th United States Congress The 117th United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on ...

. The boundaries of the district were to be redrawn according to the

2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

. Though two Republican candidates emerged for the newly redrawn district, former Buffalo

School Board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

member Carl Paladino and eventual primary winner

Nick Langworthy Nicholas A. Langworthy (born February 27, 1981) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 23rd district since 2023. He also chairs the New York State Republican Committee. Langworthy was named chair of the commi ...

, both lived outside the bounds of the 23rd district as drawn at the time and decided not to seek the seat in the special election; the Republican county chairmen from the district selected Sempolinski to run for the seat in the special election. Sempolinski defeated Max Della Pia, the Democratic nominee by a 53.1%–46.6% margin. He won 10 out of the 11 counties in the district, while Della Pia overwhelmingly won Tompkins County.

Tenure

Sempolinski had pledged not to seek re-election in the November general election. He was sworn in immediately before Congress reconvened on September 13.

Committee assignments

On September 13, 2022, Sempolinski was assigned to the following

committees A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

: *

United States House Committee on the Budget 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, ...

United States House 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 ...

References

External links

*
Official website

Campaign website
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sempolinski, Joe 1983 births 21st-century American politicians Living people Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) People from Steuben County, New York Politicians from Elmira, New York