Marcus J. Molinaro (born October 8, 1975) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, Molinaro is 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 ...

-elect for

New York's 19th congressional district New York's 19th congressional district is located in New York's Catskills and mid-Hudson Valley regions. It lies partially in the northernmost region of the New York metropolitan area and mostly south of Albany. This district is currently rep ...

, and is currently serving his third term as county executive of

Dutchess County, New York Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later orga ...

. Molinaro was previously a member of the Dutchess County Legislature and the

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 ...

before being elected county executive for the first time in 2011. He was re-elected county executive in 2015 and 2019. Molinaro is also a former Mayor of Tivoli; when he became mayor at age 19, he was the youngest mayor in the United States. Molinaro was the Republican nominee for

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, but was defeated by Democratic incumbent

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...

. On May 25, 2021, the ''

Poughkeepsie Journal The ''Poughkeepsie Journal'' is a newspaper based in Poughkeepsie, New York, and owned by Gannett, which bought the paper in 1977. Founded in 1785 (though not a daily newspaper until 1860), the ''Journal'' is the oldest paper in New York state, a ...

'' reported that Molinaro would not run for governor in 2022, instead endorsing

Lee Zeldin Lee Michael Zeldin (born January 30, 1980) is an American attorney, politician, and officer in the United States Army Reserve. A Republican, he has represented New York's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives ...

for the governorship. On September 21, 2021, Molinaro announced that he would run for New York's 19th district in the

United States 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

. In the

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, Molinaro was defeated by Democrat Pat Ryan, the

Ulster County Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. History ...

executive, 51.1% to 48.9%. Molinaro was the Republican nominee for the same seat in the November 2022 general election, this time defeating Democratic nominee Josh Riley under new district lines. Pat Ryan, who defeated Molinaro in August, was also elected to a full term simultaneously in a neighboring district under these new lines.

Early life

Molinaro was born in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...

, to Anthony Molinaro and Dona Vananden. Following his parents' divorce, he and his mother moved to

Beacon, New York Beacon is a city located in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The 2020 census placed the city total population at 13,769. Beacon is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area as we ...

, in 1980 and to

Tivoli, New York Tivoli is a village in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population is 1,012, according to the 2020 census. The village, which was incorporated in 1872 from parts of Upper Red Hook Landing and Madalin, is the northernmost settlement ...

, in 1989. Molinaro's mother struggled financially, and the family received

food stamps In the United States, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a federal program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low- and no-income people. It is a federal aid program, ad ...

. Molinaro graduated from

Dutchess Community College Dutchess Community College (SUNY Dutchess, Dutchess, or DCC) is a public community college in Dutchess County, New York. It is one of 30 community colleges within the State University of New York system (SUNY). The main campus covers . DCC also ...

with an

Associate of Science An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The f ...

degree in

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

and

Social Science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

Early Political career

Molinaro was first elected to public office at the age of 18 in 1994, when he was elected to the Village of Tivoli's Board of Trustees. In 1995, he became the youngest mayor in the United States when he was elected Mayor of Tivoli. Molinaro was re-elected mayor five times, and he also served in the Dutchess County Legislature.

New York State Assembly

In 2006, Molinaro was elected to represent the 103rd District in the

. Molinaro served in the Assembly until 2011. In January 2011, at the recommendation of Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, Governor

appointed Molinaro to serve on the Governor's Mandate Relief Redesign Team.

Dutchess County Executive

Molinaro announced his bid to succeed twenty-year

Dutchess County Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later organ ...

Executive William Steinhaus in May 2011. The campaign was endorsed by the county's Republican, Conservative, and Independence parties. On June 3, Beekman supervisor Dan French was nominated as the Assemblyman's Democratic challenger. Molinaro prevailed on November 8, 2011, with 62% of the vote. Molinaro was sworn into office on January 1, 2012. In 2015, Molinaro was re-elected to a second term, defeating Democratic challenger Diane Jablonski by a margin of 30,181 votes to 17,539 votes. Molinaro won a third term in 2019, defeating Democrat Joseph Ruggiero, 41,285 votes to 29,293. In 2014, Molinaro was awarded the Pace University Land Use Law Center's Groundbreaker's Award. As County Executive, Molinaro spearheaded a 2015 initiative called "Think Differently" for people with disabilities; he also appointed a Deputy Commissioner of Special Needs in 2016. In 2015, Molinaro was elected Second Vice President of the New York State Association of Counties.

2018 gubernatorial election

In March 2018, Molinaro informed Republican leaders that he would run for

in the 2018 election. Molinaro announced his candidacy on April 2, 2018, and was endorsed by the New York Conservative Party on April 13. On May 23, 2018, the Republican Party unanimously nominated Molinaro as its candidate for Governor of New York at its state convention, three days after the Reform Party endorsed Molinaro for their gubernatorial ticket. Molinaro's running mate was Julie Killian, a former Rye City Councilwoman and State Senate candidate. While he was described as a moderate during the campaign, Molinaro said in a March 2018 interview that he considered himself a communitarian. Molinaro was defeated by incumbent Democratic Gov.

in the 2018 gubernatorial election, garnering 36% of the vote.

U.S House of Representatives

Elections

2022 Special

On September 21, 2021, Molinaro announced that he was running for Congress in

. Ten days after this announcement, his campaign reported that it had raised at least $350,000. A special election to fill the 19th congressional district seat was held in August 2022. The seat was left vacant following

Antonio Delgado Antonio Ramon Delgado (born January 28, 1977) is an American attorney and politician serving as the lieutenant governor of New York since 2022. He previously served as the U.S. representative from New York's 19th congressional district. He is ...

's appointment as

Lieutenant Governor of New York The lieutenant governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket wit ...

. Molinaro lost the special election to Democrat Pat Ryan.

2022 general

Molinaro was also the Republican nominee in the November 2022 general election in the 19th district. In that election, he faced Democratic nominee Josh Riley due to redistricting. Molinaro campaigned as a moderate, committing to protect full access to abortion in New York and LGBTQ+ rights. He won the House seat with 51.1% of the vote.

Caucus Memberships

Republican Main Street Partnership The Republican Main Street Partnership is a 501(c)(4) organization that was allied with the congressional Republican Main Street Caucus. The Partnership continues to exist, while the Caucus was dissolved by its members in February 2019. Hist ...

Personal life

Molinaro and his wife, Corinne Adams, reside in

Red Hook, New York Red Hook is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 9,953 at the time of the 2020 census, down from 11,319 in 2010. The name is supposedly derived from the red foliage on trees on a small strip of land on the Hu ...

. Molinaro had two children with his first wife and he has two children with his current wife. Molinaro's daughter, Abigail, is on the

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

spectrum. Molinaro's father, Anthony Molinaro, died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

on April 10, 2020.

Electoral history

References

External links

Marc Molinaro for Congress
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Molinaro, Marcus 1975 births 21st-century American politicians Candidates in the 2018 United States elections Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections County executives in New York (state) Politicians from Dutchess County, New York Living people Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly People from Yonkers, New York Dutchess Community College alumni