Paul Kanjorski

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Paul Kanjorski
Frank Harrison
Succeeded byLou Barletta
Personal details
Born
Paul Edmund Kanjorski

(1937-04-02) April 2, 1937 (age 87)
Dickinson School of Law (JD)[1]
OccupationAttorney
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Years of service1960–1961
RankPrivate[2]
UnitArmy Reserve

Paul Edmund Kanjorski[3] (born April 2, 1937) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district from 1985 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

The district included the cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and Hazleton, as well as most of the Poconos.

Before his election to Congress, Kanjorski was a trial attorney, city solicitor, and administrative law judge for

United States Army Reserves
.

Early life, education and career

Kanjorski was born in

1954 U.S. Capitol shooting incident, helping to bring stretchers into the chamber for the wounded.[7]

Kanjorski attended

Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle. He passed the Pennsylvania bar exam in 1966. Kanjorski completed his studies despite having dyslexia, once saying, "I always thought it was a blessing. It forced me to develop my memory."[6]

Before entering politics, Kanjorski practiced law in Wilkes-Barre often helping coal miners and their widows obtain black lung benefits. Kanjorski also volunteered to advocate on behalf of victims of Hurricane Agnes which devastated the Wyoming valley in 1972. Kanjorski served as a worker's compensation administrative law judge for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Assistant Solicitor for the City of Nanticoke and served as assistant solicitor to several other communities.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

Earmark controversy

Kanjorski encountered controversy over earmarks that he secured for water jet cutter research towards Cornerstone Technologies, a company founded by his nephew and staffed by Kanjorski's daughter and four other nephews.[9][10] In 2004, former company president Bruce Conrad sued Cornerstone, alleging that Kanjorski and relatives schemed to take over Conrad's stake in the company.[10]

In 2007,

Politico revealed that the United States Navy wanted back a high-pressure pump that had been purchased by Cornerstone using taxpayer funds, but Cornerstone could not locate it.[9] Later, the Navy concluded that Cornerstone did not produce anything valuable towards national defense.[11]

Political positions

Like many Pennsylvania Democrats from outside Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Kanjorski opposed gun control. He is also moderately conservative on abortion. However, he is strongly pro-labor, and has spoken out against the Iraq War. He has served on the Financial Services Committee since he entered Congress in 1985 and was the second-ranking Democrat on that committee at the time of his departure. He usually played behind-the-scenes roles in the advocacy or defeat of legislation and steers appropriations money toward improving the infrastructure and economic needs of his district. He is popularly known as "Kanjo."[citation needed]

On May 10, 2007, the usually moderate Kanjorski voted with fellow Democrats to begin the redeployment of all forces from Iraq, however the bill was defeated. As of the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks in 2001, Kanjorski's position on the war in Iraq appeared to be that he would vote for redeployment, but not as a condition of continued funding for the war until and unless the expected presidential veto of such a bill would be overridden.[citation needed]

After the August 1, 2007, collapse of the

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, helping draft a considerable portion of this legislation. When the bill was signed into law by President Barack Obama in July 2010, Kanjorski appeared with fellow legislators by Obama's side as the President signed the legislation.[citation needed
]

One of Kanjorski's final votes in Congress, merely weeks before his final term ended, was a vote against the

tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.[citation needed
]

2008 financial crisis

In an interview on

Condé Nast Portfolio also questioned why Kanjorski's account had not been stated before.[17]

Political campaigns

In 1980,

landslide
reelection bid.

In 1986, Kanjorski faced a younger, well-financed Republican opponent in Marc Holtzman.[19] The race was initially seen as one of the hottest in the country. However, Kanjorski won by 41 points, his largest margin of victory in a contested election. He was unopposed in 1988 and 1990 and did not face another credible opponent until 2002, when he faced Lou Barletta, the mayor of Hazleton. Kanjorski defeated Barletta by 13 points. The margin would have likely been closer had the state legislature not shifted heavily Democratic Scranton and most of surrounding Lackawanna County from the nearby 10th District to the 11th. It appeared that the Republican-controlled legislature wanted to protect the 10th's then-incumbent Republican, Don Sherwood, by packing the already heavily Democratic 11th with as many Democrats as possible. Scranton had anchored the 10th and its predecessors for almost a century—though since the turn of the 20th Century the 10th was represented more often by Republican representatives than Democratic representatives.

2008

After facing no major-party opposition in 2004 and a nominal Republican challenger in 2006, Kanjorski faced Lou Barletta again in 2008. Since the 2002 race, Barletta had become well known for his opposition to illegal immigration. In 2008, Fox News broadcast a segment accusing Kanjorski of obtaining $10 million in earmarks for a company run by his family.[20]

Multiple polls had shown Kanjorski trailing by as many as five percentage points,

Luzerne County
, where both he and Barletta live. However, as in 2002, Kanjorski swamped Barletta in Lackawanna County, winning by 12,500 votes (20 percent); he lost the area he had represented prior to the 2000 redistricting by almost 4,000 votes.

2010

Kanjorski won against Corey O'Brien and Brian Kelly in the May 2010 Democratic primary with 49.3% of the vote.[23]

Barletta challenged Kanjorski again in 2010. This time, Barletta managed to defeat Kanjorski with 55 percent of the vote, largely due to winning Luzerne County by almost 10,000 votes. Kanjorski was dogged by some of the more incendiary comments he made during the campaign, such as his comments about Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott: "Instead of running for governor of Florida, they ought to have him and shoot him. Put him against the wall and shoot him."[24]

Post-political career

After leaving office, Kanjorski and his long-time chief of staff Karen Feather formed Kanjorski & Associates, LLC, a public policy consulting firm.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ .
  2. ^ Official Congressional Directory 1997-1998: 105th Congress
  3. ^ Official Congressional Directory, Volume 100 (1987)
  4. . Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  5. ^ a b "KANJORSKI, Paul E., (1937 - )". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  6. ^ a b c "Pocono Power Broker U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski". Pocono Record. January 12, 2009. Archived from the original on March 21, 2010.
  7. ^ "Paul E. Kanjorski (D-Pa.)". WhoRunsGov.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2010.
  8. ^ a b Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski - Committee Assignments Archived 2009-04-30 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ a b Vogel, Kenneth P. (September 5, 2007). "A twisted tale of congressional earmarking". Politico. Archived from the original on September 9, 2007.
  10. ^ a b Slade, David (April 2, 2004). "Despite ongoing but fading controversy, little may derail U.S. Rep. Kanjorski's run". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  11. ^ Janoski, Dave (November 4, 2010). "For better or worse, Kanjorski was a dreamer". The Standard-Speaker. Hazleton, Pennsylvania. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  12. ^ Lynott, Jerry (August 9, 2007). "Kanjo: Public angry with government". TimesLeader. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved April 1, 2008.
  13. ^ Area's reps to explain health votes | The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, PA Archived 2012-03-08 at the Wayback Machine. Timesleader.com. Retrieved on 2010-07-12.
  14. YouTube
    . Retrieved on 2010-07-12.
  15. ^ start about 22:45 into the video.
  16. ^ "'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Tuesday, February 10". NBC News. February 10, 2009.
  17. ^ Felix Salmon (February 10, 2009). "The Kanjorski Meme".
  18. ^ Defeated hopeful cites the legacy of Dan Flood. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 12, 1984.
  19. ^ Edsall, Thomas B. Holtzman maneuvers way from errand boy to candidate. Reading Eagle. December 26, 1985.
  20. ^ "FOX News Documentary Shows Congressmen Sent Millions in Earmarks to T…". Fox News. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012.
  21. ^ Election 2008 - Latest Polls. RealClearPolitics. Retrieved on 2010-07-12.
  22. ^ Commonwealth of PA - Elections Information Archived 2012-02-03 at the Wayback Machine. Electionreturns.state.pa.us (2008-11-04). Retrieved on 2010-07-12.
  23. ^ Kanjorski wins easily; eyes Barletta rematch | The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, PA Archived 2012-03-08 at the Wayback Machine. Timesleader.com. Retrieved on 2010-07-12.
  24. ^ Kanjorski ponders 'nuts,' bolts from blue | The Times-Tribune, Scranton, PA Archived 2010-11-14 at the Wayback Machine. thetimes-tribune.com Retrieved on 2011-01-10.

External links

Media related to Paul Kanjorski at Wikimedia Commons

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Frank Harrison
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district

January 3, 1985 – January 3, 2011
Succeeded by
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Former US Representative Order of precedence of the United States
as Former US Representative
Succeeded byas Former US Representative