Quick Facts
Biography
John Faso (born August 25, 1952) is an American politician and the U.S. Representative for New York's 19th congressional district since January 3, 2017. He served as minority leader of the New York State Assembly from 1998 until 2002, representing the 102nd district from 1987 until 2002. A Republican, he gave up his seat in the Assembly to run for New York State Comptroller in 2002, losing to Alan Hevesi.
In 2006, he made a run for Governor of New York, but was defeated by Democratic nominee Eliot Spitzer.
In 2016, he ran for U.S. Congress in New York's 19th congressional district. He was the endorsed Republican, Conservative, Independence, and Reform candidate. On November 8, 2016, Faso won the election to Congress for New York's 19th district, besting Democratic challenger Zephyr Teachout.
On January 3, 2017, Faso was sworn in as a member of the 115th Congress.
Early life, education, and early career
Faso is of Italian and Irish descent, the eldest of five siblings. He attended Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, New York and SUNY-Brockport. After college, Faso became a grants officer for Nassau County, New York.
Faso graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1979.
Career
After law school, Faso took county and state political jobs in Washington, D.C.
1987 to 2002
Faso was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1987 to 2002. He received the 1997 Nelson A Rockefeller College Award for distinguished public service. In late 1994, Faso served on George Pataki's transition team, where he chaired the budget committee. He became head of the team that wrote Pataki's first budget as governor.
In 1995, Faso became the Ranking Member of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.
Faso was the original sponsor of charter school legislation and was involved in the passage of Governor Pataki's proposal to create charter schools in New York State in 1998. He supported expanding the current cap on charter schools.
2002 to 2016
From 2003 to 2006, Faso served as a member of the control board working to fix the financial and managerial issues with the City of Buffalo and the Buffalo City School District.
In late 2002, Faso joined the firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips; he took a leave of absence to run for governor in 2006, then rejoined the firm.
In 2010, when Faso was a partner and lobbyist the firm, it agreed to be banned for five years from appearing before the state's public pension funds.
The ban expired in October 2015.
He served for seven years as a Presidential appointee to the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, which provides important training for high school history teachers across the nation.
2002 State Comptroller's campaign
Faso's work on the state budget fueled a run for New York Comptroller in 2002. Initially trailing Democrat Alan Hevesi (then-Comptroller of New York City) by a 20-point margin, Faso lost the election by a 50%-47% margin. Faso attacked Hevesi throughout the campaign for being “ethically challenged” and denounced him for politicizing pension funds. Hevesi was later jailed in a pay to play scheme involving New York's state pension fund.
2006 gubernatorial campaign
In 2005, Faso announced his intention to run for governor. His campaign was managed by Bill O'Reilly, a political consultant. For the Republican nomination, Faso faced former Massachusetts Governor William Weld, former New York Secretary of State Randy Daniels, and Assemblyman Patrick Manning. Weld reportedly offered Faso the chance to join his ticket as a candidate for lieutenant governor. Faso received the Conservative Party's endorsement while Weld received the Libertarian Party's nomination. After a weak showing at the state Republican convention, Weld announced his withdrawal from the race.
In June, the Republican State Convention voted to endorse Faso. Faso's running mate was former Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef. Faso was opposed by Democratic nominee Elliot Spitzer. Spitzer won with 69% of the vote.
During the campaign, Faso said that Spitzer was temperamentally unsuited for the job, and had one set of rules for himself and another for everyone else. Spitzer would later be forced to resign from the governship after revelations of his involvement in a prostitution scandal. Ironically both statewide candidates who defeated Faso were forced out of office due to scandals (that Faso had warned of during the campaign).
2009 U.S. House campaign
After then-Representative Kirsten Gillibrand was appointed to the U.S. Senate, a special election was called in 2009 to determine her successor in New York's 20th congressional district. Faso positioned himself against Senator Betty Little and Assemblyman Jim Tedisco in the Republican primary, but eventually withdrew after party support coalesced around Tedisco. Tedisco lost the election to Democrat Scott Murphy, who in turn, lost to Chris Gibson at the next election.
2016 U.S. House campaign
On September 14, 2015, Faso announced he would run for New York's 19th congressional district in the 2016 election.
Republican Chris Gibson, the retiring incumbent, endorsed Faso. Faso and Gibson have known each other since 1986. Faso won the Republican primary against Andrew Heaney, 67.5% to 32.5%. Faso defeated Democratic nominee Zephyr Teachout in the general election, winning 53% of the vote.
Personal life
Faso and his wife, Mary Frances, have two children and have resided in Kinderhook, New York for more than thirty years. Faso is a Roman Catholic.