Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.)

U.S. Representative (since January 1993)

(Congress Bio Directory)

Why She Matters

A longtime fixture in New York's House delegation, Maloney has represented New York City's famed Silk Stocking district covering the East Side of Manhattan since 1993.

In recent years she made no secret of her desire for a promotion. She campaigned hard for homestate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D) presidential bid in 2008, and she angled for Clinton's seat after she became secretary of state. But then-Gov. David Paterson (D) chose upstate upstart Kirsten Gillibrand, and Democratic powerbrokers rallied around the former congresswoman. Maloney seemed to be prepping for a primary challenge, hiring staff and stepping up her criticism of Gillibrand, but in August 2007 she announced she had changed her mind and would not run for Senate in 2010.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: New York City Council (1982-1992); Legislative Aide, New York state Assembly and Senate (1977-1982)
Birthday: Feb. 19, 1948
Hometown: Greensboro, N.C.
Alma Mater: Greensboro College, A.B., 1968
Spouse: Clifton Maloney
Religion: Presbyterian
Committees: Financial Services ; Oversight and Government Reform
DC Office: 2332 Rayburn BuildingWashington, DC 205151-202-225-7944

State/District Office: Manhattan, 1-212-860-0606; Queens, 1-718-932-1804
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Path to Power

Maloney started her political career in New York as the ultimate outsider; born in 1948 in Greensboro, N.C., she spent her entire childhood in North Carolina and graduated from Greensboro College in 1968. Her life in the Big Apple was sparked by a summer visit after college. "I went up to see a friend and never left," she told the New York Times in 1992. "I just fell in love with the place. My father was furious." Maloney had planned on attending law school at the University of North Carolina, but instead she became a teacher and found a job in the New York City school system.

Maloney soon took an administrative position with the city Board of Education, working on welfare-education programs over the next six years. She moved to the state legislature in 1977, becoming an aide first in the Assembly and then in the state Senate. In 1982, she ran for and won a seat on the New York City Council, easily defeating an incumbent on the Upper East Side. In a decade on the council, she developed a reputation as dogged and hard-working, drawing notice for her work on child care and city contracts. Maloney also notes in her congressional biography that she became the first council member to give birth while in office.

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Run for Congress

In 1992, congressional redistricting enlarged New York's 14th district - known as the Silk Stocking district on Manhattan's wealthy Upper East Side. The additions included part of the Upper West Side and more working-class sections of Brooklyn and Queens. More significantly, the changes added Democrats to a district that had been held by a moderate Republican, Bill Green, for seven terms. Maloney seized the opportunity. She mounted an aggressive underdog campaign, pounding the pavement as she passed out leaflets and greeted voters near subway stops and on street corners.

Though Green was known as a cultural liberal and had amassed an independent voting record, Maloney successfully tied him to the legacy of Ronald Reagan and then-President George H. W. Bush. Green criticized Maloney's record on the city council as unimpressive. But Maloney rode a wave favoring female candidates across the country and defeated Green, 50%-48%, relying on large margins in Queens to offset Green's win in Manhattan.

Early U.S. House Years

Maloney quickly embraced the cause of equal rights, noting to a women's group after her election that her previous trips to Washington were usually "to march." But she was also cognizant of her close win and wary of a tough battle for re-election. She gained the attention of party leaders early on by voting against President Bill Clinton's budget proposal raising taxes in May 1993, despite calls from the White House and threats from the House leadership. "I did not run for Congress to succumb to threats," she said at the time, citing a lack of sufficient spending cuts for her vote. "They will respect me more for it in the morning," she added, referring to Democratic leaders. She later voted in favor of a revised budget.

The freshman faced a hard-fought challenge for her first re-election from a well-funded GOP city councilman, Charles Millard. Bill Clinton came to campaign for her, and the race was called a toss-up. But Maloney held off Millard in a surprisingly large landslide, capturing 64% of the vote despite a Republican wave nationwide. She has not been seriously challenged since.

U.S. Senate Campaign

Along with Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), Maloney was the most vocal candidate for Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate seat in the two months after the November 2008 election. She traveled around the state and interviewed with Gov. David Paterson (D), but the star power of Caroline Kennedy (D) kept her waiting. "If this is a celebrity beauty contest, I am not going to win," Maloney said at the time. "But if people want to look at someone's record and their service and their work to help people, I think I have a chance."

Maloney picked up endorsements from the National Organization for Women and feminist leader Gloria Steinem (who said Kennedy should run for Maloney's seat in the House,) but she was passed over for Gillibrand. Maloney was one of several runners-up who did not attend Paterson's announcement, and she soon said she would consider a 2010 primary challenge.

After Israel, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), and Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer all decided against running, Maloney was left as the lone prominent primary obstacle for Gillibrand. In spring 2009, the congresswoman ramped up her fund-raising and began hiring campaign staff, and she let it be known that she would not be forced easily from the race. Israel had cited a plea from President Obama in his decision to withdraw, but Maloney stayed in even after a call from Vice President Joseph R. Biden.

She reportedly told political allies that she planned to run,and in June 2009 she escalated attacks on Gillibrand over her policy reversals on immigration and gun control. "Some people run to get elected," Maloney told the New York Daily News, pointing to Gillibrand's "character" as a target of criticism. "She's, to my knowledge, never passed anything. She spends all her time fund-raising. I spend my time doing things."

The longtime congresswoman faced a decidedly uphill battle, however, as many New York Democrats had already endorsed Gillibrand, as had close allies such as NARAL and EMILY's List.

In August 2007 Maloney announced she had changed her mind and would not run for Senate in 2010.

The Issues

Labeling herself a "pragmatic progressive," Maloney has built a mostly liberal and loyally Democratic voting record in the House. In the 111th Congress, she has voted with her party 99.2% of the time.

She has earned positive ratings in the 90s from left-leaning advocacy groups like the League of Conservation Voters and the American Civil Liberties Union. Maloney is a staunch supporter of abortion rights and played up her backing of gun control as a way of distancing herself from Sen. Gillibrand, who supported gun rights in the past. She voted against a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, as well as an extension of the USA Patriot Act.

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On foreign policy, Maloney voted initially in support of the Iraq war with "a heavy heart," but she later became disillusioned with the George W. Bush administration's handling of the war and joined the Out of Iraq caucus demanding a withdrawal of American troops. She has pushed for more homeland security funding for New York City, and as a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee she has supported bills aimed at cracking down on the financing of terrorist networks.

The Economy

In January 2009, Maloney became chairwoman of the House-Senate Joint Economic Committee after serving as vice chair to a fellow New Yorker, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D), in the 110th Congress. (The top post of the committee rotates between the House and Senate every two years.) She backed the $700 billion Wall Street bailout in fall 2008 as well as the $787 billion economic stimulus package under President Barack Obama in February 2009, which she called a "bold and targeted plan."

As head of the JEC, Maloney has held three hearings in 2009 on the oversight of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), and she has also tailored the panel's work to her focus on women's issues, holding a hearing on equal pay in April 2009 while issuing a report on the recession's impact on working mothers in June 2009.

Women's Rights

Advancing equal rights for women has been a passion for Maloney since before her first election to the House in 1992, dubbed the "Year of the Woman" for the number of females elected to Congress. Closely allied with groups like Emily's List and the National Organization for Women, she has taken an active role in pushing for passage of virtually every major piece of women's rights legislation, from the Equal Rights Amendment to an expansion of birth control to prosecution of human sex trafficking.

She was a co-chair of the House Women's Caucus in 1999 and 2000, and she loudly lobbied the Food and Drug Administration to approve over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill. In 2008, Maloney published "Rumors of Our Progress Have Been Greatly Exaggerated," a book detailing the ongoing struggle for women on a number of fronts, including equal pay, reproductive rights and politics.

Credit-Card Reform

Maloney was the original House sponsor of the Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights, legislation that sought to end abusive and predatory lending practices by credit-card companies. She introduced the bill in 2008, and it passed the House later that year but did not gain approval in the Senate before Congress adjourned.

Gaining momentum during the 2008-2009 economic crisis, Maloney reintroduced the measure in the 111th Congress, and President Obama signed it in May 2009. The law prohibits most retroactive interest rate increases and what is known as "double-cycle billing," among other fee restrictions by credit card companies.

The Network

Maloney counts New York's senior senator, Charles E. Schumer (D), as well as the former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) as her closest congressional allies. She is also close with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) - the two held joint signings when their books were published in 2008. Maloney has worked well with other longtime members of the New York congressional delegation, including Rep. Charles Rangel (D), Gary Ackerman (D), Carolyn McCarthy (D), Joseph Crowley (D) and Jerrold Nadler (D).

Maloney campaigned vigorously for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) in the Democratic presidential primary in 2008 before endorsing Obama in the general election.

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