Thomas Willard Reed II04 May 1974, 13 - Quad-City Times at Newspapers.com Obituary of Thomas Willard Reed, father of Thomas Willard Reed II (born November 18, 1971) is an American lobbyist, attorney, and politician from the state of New York. Reed served as the U.S. representative for ; the district is in New York's Southern Tier. A Republican, Reed first joined the U.S. House after winning a special election to replace Eric Massa in 2010. He previously served one term as mayor of Corning, New York.
In 2021, after being accused of sexual misconduct, Reed announced that he would not seek reelection to the House of Representatives, or seek any other office in 2022. On May 10, 2022, he resigned from the House about seven months before the end of his final term.
Early life and education Born in Joliet, Illinois, Reed grew up in Corning, New York,Ray Finger, Where does Tom Reed stand on the issues?, Star Gazette (November 1, 2014). the youngest of 12 children.John Christensen, Mitrano, Reed in 'dead heat', Chronicle-Express (October 31, 2018). He received a B.A. degree in political science from Alfred University in 1993 and a Juris Doctor from the Claude W. Pettit College of Law at Ohio Northern University in 1996.
Early career After graduating from law school, Reed worked as an associate in the law firm of Gallo & Iacovangelo in Rochester from 1996 to 1999.
After Reed's mother died in 1998, he returned to Corning and opened the Law Office of Thomas W. Reed. The firm specialized in debt collection. In 2007, Reed ran for mayor of Corning. On the ballot, he represented the Republican, Conservative, and Independence parties. He defeated incumbent Frank Coccho, 58% to 42%, and served one two-year term.
After his election to Congress in 2010, Reed resisted congressional rules that required him to remove his name from the firm. In 2014, the firm changed its name to RR Resource Recovery. At the same time, Reed's campaign stated that he was no longer involved with the firm.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections 2010
In 2009, Reed announced that he would run against incumbent Democrat Eric Massa in the 29th Congressional District in the 2010 election.Reed announces candidacy for Congress, Jeffery Smith, Corning Leader, July 2, 2009 Midway through his first term in Congress, Massa announced that he would not seek reelection due to health problems. In March 2010, Massa resigned from Congress after it was revealed that he was under investigation by the United States House Committee on Ethics for allegedly sexually harassing a staffer.
In the election to replace Massa, Reed faced Democratic and Working Families Party nominee Matthew Zeller. Reed was endorsed by Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks and every county Republican chairman in the 29th District.
Reed won the election with 56.3% of the vote to Zeller's 43.7%, and immediately took office. In the days after the election, he suffered a pulmonary embolism. After a three-day delay, he was sworn in on his 39th birthday, November 18, 2010, during a special ceremony.
2012
New York lost two seats in the U.S. House due to population change. The 29th Congressional District was eliminated and much of the district became the 23rd Congressional District. The new 23rd District included Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chemung, Ontario, Schuyler, and Steuben counties from the old 29th District, and added Chautauqua, Seneca, Tompkins, and Tioga counties. Three candidates, Leslie Danks Burke, Melissa Dobson and Tompkins County legislator Nate Shinagawa entered the Democratic primary to challenge Reed in the new 23rd District. Shinagawa won the Democratic nomination and also was nominated by the Working Families Party.
During the campaign, Reed said that he accidentally paid one of his tax bills using campaign funds. Reed's campaign voluntarily reported the error in a campaign finance report and Reed reimbursed the campaign.
Reed defeated Shinagawa in the general election, 51.9% to 48.1%.
2014
Reed faced the Democratic nominee, Tompkins County Legislative Chair Martha Robertson. Though it was predicted to be a close race, Reed won with 57.7% of the vote to Robertson's 35.9%.
2016
Reed was unopposed in the Republican primary. He initially endorsed Jeb Bush for president before Bush left the race. He then endorsed Donald Trump on March 16."Congressman Tom Reed Criticized For Endorsing Donald Trump", Cornell Sun, March 17, 2016, Accessed August 16, 2016] Reed reaffirmed his support for Trump in August."Reed maintains Trump support", The Leader (Corning, NY), August 8, 2016; accessed August 16, 2016.
In the November general election, Reed faced John Plumb, the only Democrat to file for the race. Reed was reelected with 58.1% of the vote to Plumb's 41.9%.
2018
Reed ran unopposed in the Republican primary before facing Democratic nominee Tracy Mitrano in the general election. Reed was reelected with 54.2% of the vote to Mitrano's 45.8%.
2020
In a rematch of the 2018 election, Reed defeated Mitrano by a wide margin.
Tenure Reed has served on the House Judiciary Committee, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House Committee on Rules and House Ways and Means Committee.
In 2012, Reed focused on ending government spending and supported budget amendments that eliminated government funding, such as a sewer system in Tijuana, Mexico.Zremski, Jerry (June 18, 2012). Reed leads campaign against waste. The Buffalo News; retrieved June 18, 2012. He voted to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and supported the Budget Control Act of 2011.Reed Votes For Extending Tax Breaks. WLEA (2010-12-17); retrieved 2010-12-17.Sherwood, Julie. Reed tells why he voted to repeal health care law, Messenger-Post Newspapers; retrieved 2011-01-20.
After his reelection in 2012, Reed drafted the Promoting Assistance with Transitional Help Act. The bill would have modified the Temporary Assistance for Needy Family program by setting a five-year limit on welfare payments to individuals."Reed to introduce bill to support welfare recipients", The Ripon Advance, 08-26-2013; retrieved 09-03-2013.
With a government shutdown looming in September 2013, Reed introduced the Pay Our Veterans and Seniors First Act. The legislation would ensure that armed services members were paid and that seniors continued receiving benefits during a temporary government shutdown. The bill also proposed that members of Congress and the president forfeit their salaries for the duration of the shutdown.
In February 2014, Reed introduced the Clinical Trial Cancer Mission 2020 Act. The bill would have mandated that researchers publish all information from cancer clinical trials, with the goal to get more researchers to work together and bring down the number of duplicative studies. The legislation would have created a national clearinghouse run by the NIH.“Bill aims to enhance cancer research, end cancer by 2020”. Ripon Advance. 2014-02-17 (Retrieved 2014-02-24)
In May 2014, Reed introduced a bill that would amend the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend and expand certain expired provisions that provided an enhanced tax deduction for businesses that donated their food inventory to charitable organizations. Reed argued that it made sense to make this a permanent measure because "doing it on a temporary basis ... is part of the problem. We need to make this sound policy permanent in the tax code and I'm optimistic we'll get it to the finish and allow people to take advantage of the tax deduction that would encourage them to use the food rather than put it in a landfill."
On May 4, 2017, Reed voted to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and passing the American Health Care Act.
Reed was ranked as the 32nd most bipartisan member of the House during the 114th United States Congress, and the seventh most bipartisan member of the House from New York, in the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy. In the 115th United States Congress, Reed voted in line with President Trump's position 96.7% of the time.Tracking Congress In The Age Of Trump: Tom Reed, FiveThirtyEight (last retrieved November 2, 2018).
Reed sits on the House Way and Means Committee, which is in charge of tax legislation, and was one of only two House members from New York (along with Chris Collins) to support the provision in the 2017 Republican tax overhaul bill that eliminated the federal tax deduction for state income taxes. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called the two lawmakers "the Benedict Arnolds of their time", claiming that the loss of the deduction would cost New York taxpayers nearly $15 billion and do grave damage to the state.Jerry Zremski “Reed and Collins revel in tax compromise that Cuomo and Schumer abhor”, Buffalo News, November 1, 2017, Retrieved November 4, 2017 Reed voted for the bill.
In 2019, Reed became the first House Republican in the new Congress to support a House rules change package authored by Democrats. Becoming the first member to "break ranks for a full rules proposal" in 18 years, he argued, according to his spokesman, that "real reforms were necessary that could actually bring legislation to the floor". The change intends to "lessen the sharp partisan divide in the House, in part by making it easier for rank-and-file members to bring their own bills onto the floor for a vote."
On September 19, 2019, Reed suddenly lost consciousness for approximately 30 seconds while waiting to conduct a television interview. He was revived and hospitalized.
Following the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Reed wrote in the New York Times that while Trump could and should be held accountable, impeachment was not appropriate.
On May 19, 2021, Reed was one of 35 Republicans to join all Democrats in voting to approve legislation to establish the January 6 commission meant to investigate the storming of the U.S. Capitol.
In June 2021, Reed was one of 49 House Republicans to vote to repeal the AUMF against Iraq. On November 5, 2021, Reed was one of 13 House Republicans to break with their party and vote with a majority of Democrats in favor of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
In 2022, Reed was one of six Republicans to vote for the Global Respect Act, which imposes sanctions on foreign persons responsible for violations of the internationally recognized human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) people, and for other purposes.
Sexual misconduct allegation and resignation On March 19, 2021, Nicolette Davis alleged in The Washington Post that Reed had rubbed her back, unhooked her bra, and inched his hand up her thigh at an Irish pub in Minnesota in 2017 when she worked as a junior insurance company lobbyist. Reed denied the allegation. Two days later, on March 21, 2021, he apologized to Davis, saying he still did not recall the incident in question but considered her story possible, since he had been battling alcoholism at the time. In the same statement, he said would not seek reelection in 2022. Reed later noted that he had briefly considered running for further office anyway and felt pressured by political consultants who had advised him to admit nothing and deny everything; he still said he did not remember assaulting Davis on the night in question.
On May 10, 2022, Reed resigned from Congress, leaving office more than seven months before the end of his term. He has accepted a position with Prime Policy Group, the lobbying arm of Burson Cohn & Wolfe.
Committee assignments Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight Subcommittee on Human Resources Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures
Caucus memberships Problem Solvers Caucus (co-chair) Republican Study Committee Republican Main Street Partnership Natural Gas Caucus (co-chair) House Manufacturing Caucus (co-chair) Congressional Diabetes Caucus (vice chair)