Timothy Edward "Tim" Mahoney
(born August 15, 1956) was a U.S. Representative for Florida's congressional district and a member of the Democratic Party. He was elected in November 2006 after his opponent, six-term Republican incumbent Mark Foley, resigned on September 29, 2006, after questions were raised about an email exchange with a congressional page.
In October 2008, media outlets began reporting allegations that Mahoney paid hush money to a mistress to conceal an extramarital affair. [1] [2]
Tim Mahoney ran for reelection in 2008 but lost the November 4 election to Republican Tom Rooney.
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Early life and career
Mahoney was born in
Aurora, Illinois. He grew up in
Summit, New Jersey, and graduated from
Summit High School in 1974. He obtained a bachelors degree in computer science and business from
West Virginia University in 1978 and an M.B.A. from
George Washington University in 1983.
Mahoney began his career in the computer business. After seven years, he achieved wealth when a company he was working for, Tecmar, which sold personal computer accessories, was sold. In 1986, he moved to Florida and became president of
Rodime Systems, a division of Rodime Inc. Rodime Inc., for which Mahoney was also vice president of marketing and sales, manufactured disc drives that were packaged for the retail market by Rodime Systems. In 1995, Mahoney and business partner, Lenny Sokolow, started Union Atlantic, LLC, a venture capital firm. His inability to get the firm listed on vFinance.com, a fledgling matchmaking Web site for venture capitalists and cash-hungry entrepreneurs, led him and Sokolow to purchase the website in 1998, merging it with Union Atlantic.
Mahoney was chairman and chief operating officer of vFinance, Inc., which is located in
Boca Raton. The vFinance website currently boasts 80,000 subscribers, but nearly 90 percent of the company's $25.8 million revenues now come from brokerage and trading activities, according to vFinance's annual report. The company has dropped from $8 per share in 2000 to 20 cents on September 26, 2006. The company has quadrupled its revenues in the past six years and increased its payroll from 21 employees to 197 during the same time.
[3]
U.S. Congress
Mahoney had been a Republican for most of his life, but became a Democrat in 2004 after having allegedly becoming disillusioned by the GOP.
In an interesting irony, Mark Foley, the man Mahoney replaced had been a Democrat who turned Republican shortly before his own initial election to Congress.
2006 campaign
In the 2006 general election, Mahoney faced six-term
Republican incumbent
Mark Foley. In 2006, 42% of the voters in this district were registered Republicans, and 36% were registered Democrats.
[4] George W. Bush won this district with 52% of the vote in the
2000 presidential election, and with 54% of the vote in the
2004 presidential election. One poll taken by Hamilton Beattie on September 12, 2006, had Foley leading Mahoney 48% to 35%.
[5]
In the campaign, Mahoney sharply criticized the Bush administration for overspending, general mismanagement, and its policies in Iraq.
[6] In August, General
Wesley Clark endorsed Mahoney.
[7]
On September 28, 2006,
ABC News reported that Republican incumbent
Mark Foley had sent email messages, from his personal
AOL account, to a then-16-year-old former
congressional page, asking the page to send a photo of himself to Foley, among other things that were overtly sexual in nature.
[8] The next day, Foley resigned.
[9] The Republicans' hold on the seat went from "safe" to "shaky" overnight.
[10]
On October 2, 2006, the Florida Republican Party Executive Board selected state representative
Joe Negron as Mahoney's new opponent.
However, Negron's name did not appear on the ballot; he only received votes cast for Foley, whose name remained on the ballot by law. On election day, Mahoney narrowly defeated Negron by 1.8 percentage points.
[11] While Negron carried most of the more conservative areas of the district near
Fort Myers, Mahoney carried the two largest counties in the district,
Palm Beach and
St. Lucie counties, by a combined margin of over 10,000 votes — far more than the actual margin of victory.
Mahoney is the first Democrat to represent the district since its creation in 1973 (it was the 10th District until 1983 and the 12th District until 1993).
2008 election
Mahoney had been a top target for defeat in 2008, due to the district's Republican voting history. However, revelations of his extramarital affair (see below) severely hampered his reelection chances. In the November election, Mahoney was soundly defeated by former assistant state attorney general
Tom Rooney. Mahoney won only 40 percent of the vote to Rooney's 60 percent — the largest margin of defeat for an incumbent in the 2008 cycle.
Issues and positions
Mahoney is generally considered to be a moderate Democrat, especially by South Florida Democratic standards. He has taken the following policy stances:
- Homeland Security: Supports screening of all cargo containers entering American ports, and increased funding for first responders.
- Immigration: Supports increased border security.
- Seniors: Opposed to Social Security Privatization. Supports reforming Medicare’s Part D Prescription Drug Program.
- Environment: Advocate of preserving Florida Everglades from unregulated development. Supports Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project.
- Insurance: Supports guaranteed disaster insurance for high-risk areas. Advocate of national catastrophic fund on Financial Services Committee.
- Supported the Farm, Nutrition and Bioenergy Act of 2007.
He is a member of the
Blue Dog Coalition, a group of Democratic congressmen (largely from the South) known for moderate to conservative stances, especially on
social issues.
On September 29, 2008, Mahoney voted for the
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.
[12]
Committee assignments
- Committee on Financial Services
- *Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
- *Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
- Committee on Agriculture
- *Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture
- *Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry
Personal life
Mahoney has a home in
Palm Beach Gardens (though he is described in the official House roll as "D-
Venus") and a cattle ranch in southern
Highlands County.
[13] He is married and has a daughter, Bailey. Currently his daughter is an honor student and a scholarship
equestrian athlete. The Mahoneys are members of the Venus
United Methodist Church in
Venus, Florida. Mahoney describes himself as a "fundamental Christian".
In October 2008 Mahoney was linked to paying off his mistress not to disclose an extramarital affair.
[
]
Controversy
On September 18, 2008, the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call
ran an article questioning Mahoney's residency status. [14] It alleged that Mahoney had registered to vote at "a horse barn" for the purposes of having residency in his Congressional District, while his primary residence was actually in another district. The issue came to light after Mahoney missed a rent payment on his Capitol Hill apartment in July of 2007. The case itself was dismissed on September 6, 2007. While Mahoney's opponent, Tom Rooney, attempted to make light of the allegations, the attack proved ineffective after Democrats revealed that Rooney himself was registered to vote at a dog track. [15]
On October 13, 2008, ABC News
reported that Mahoney had agreed to a $121,000 payment to a former mistress who worked on his staff and was threatening to sue him.[ Because Mahoney won this seat in 2006 after a sex scandal forced the incumbent to resign, several [16] [17] considered it ironic that a sex scandal of his own coming to light a month before the election, especially since he first campaigned against such corruption. [18] Some professional political pundits, such as Charlie Cook, have already reclassified the race as "Leans Republican." [19] The FBI is looking into whether Mahoney hired the first mistress — and put her on the federal payroll — so she would not reveal their affair. [20]
]
Mahoney admitted to having "numerous" affairs, "certainly more than two." [21] [22] Mahoney's wife Terry filed for divorce in Palm Beach County court on October 20, 2008. [23]
References
- Congressman's $121,000 Payoff to Alleged Mistress
- Rep. Tim Mahoney's wife files for divorce, seeks assets
- Democrat in position to win the GOP-leaning seat
- http://election.dos.state.fl.us/voterreg/pdf/2006/z26GenCong.pdf
- http://www.pollingreport.com/sub/2006fl1.htm#16th
- Rep. Joe Negron wins state Republican Party's approval to replace Foley
- Tim Mahoney for Florida
- Sixteen-Year-Old Who Worked as Capitol Hill Page Concerned About E-mail Exchange with Congressman
- Republican Rep. Foley Resigns, Drops Re-election Bid in Fla. 16
- http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060930/ap_on_el_ho/congressman_e_mails_florida
- Florida Department of State - Election Results
- Bailout Roll Call
- Democrat in position to win firm GOP seat
- Mahoney Taken To Court In Rent Case
- Democrats point out that Mahoney's challenger Rooney used dog track for voter registration address
- Florida Dem requests ethics investigation into own actions
- Mark Foley’s Replacement Caught in... Sex Scandal
- Fla. congressman seeks probe after affair reports
- House Competitive Race Charts
- Federal official: FBI investigating Mahoney
- Mahoney admits to 'multiple' affairs
- Rep. Tim Mahoney acknowledges "numerous" affairs: "certainly more than two"
- Mahoney's wife files divorce petition