Product Code Database
Thomas Charles Feeney III (born May 21, 1958) is an American politician from Orlando, Florida. He represented . He was defeated in the 2008 election by Democrat Suzanne Kosmas.
Feeney first came to national prominence in 2000, shortly after his election as Speaker, when he led efforts to certify the state's Republican presidential electors even though it was still unclear whether George W. Bush or Al Gore had won the state's electoral votes. Feeney and his colleagues claimed that Florida's electoral votes were in imminent danger of being removed from consideration if the results of the Direct election in the state could not be determined with legal certainty. While Article 2 of the United States Constitution places this power in the legislature, many Democrats insisted that Florida Recount needed to be completed, and that by doing so, a clear legal victor would emerge.
Feeney and then State Senate president John McKay argued the state Supreme Court's verdict in favor of the Democrats' position on recounts essentially "tainted" the entire process, so that there was (as Feeney stated) "a great risk" Florida's electoral votes would be disregarded altogether in the selection of the next President. The U.S. Supreme Court's verdict in Bush v. Gore rejected the argument from uncertainty by a margin of 6–3, and halted the recount process on other grounds. Bush won Florida and the election.
In 2001, Feeney was one of the lawmakers who opposed a demand by Bud Selig that the state finance a new baseball stadium for the Florida Marlins. At that time, Selig had threatened that the Marlins might leave South Florida if they did not receive a tax break.
Feeney is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he cosponsored H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act, and voted for H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. In 2008, he opposed H.R. 5767, the Payment Systems Protection Act (a bill that sought to place a moratorium on enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act while the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve defined "unlawful Internet gambling"). Despite his ties to the Bush family, Feeney broke with the White House and opposed the Medicare reform package of 2003 since he felt its centerpiece, a prescription drug benefit for senior citizens, was too expensive. He was a founding member of Washington Waste Watchers, a government spending watchdog group.
Feeney cosponsored a non-binding resolution against the use of foreign law in federal courts. When Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said (of the resolution) that "it's none of your business", Feeney said that Scalia's comments were "like being told your favorite baseball player disagrees with your approach to hitting."
He received a perfect score from Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform (ATR). He was named "Guardian of Small Business" by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). The National Taxpayers Union presented Feeney with the "Taxpayers' Friend Award" in 2004 and in 2006.
In January 2007, Feeney agreed to pay $5,643 to the U.S. Treasury to cover the trip's cost, after the House ethics committee concluded that the trip did not comply with House rules.Tamara Lytle, "'Duped', Sun-Sentinel, January 4, 2007 In April 2007, Federal agents asked the St. Petersburg Times for an email sent to the newspaper by Feeney's office describing the trip.Anita Kumar, "FBI asks Tom Feeney about trip with Abramoff", St. Petersburg Times, April 23, 2007
Feeney was named as "Representative #3" in the Justice Department's April 23, 2007 criminal information against Mark Zachares, a former congressional aide of Representative Don Young. Docket for Mark Zachares (PDF), April 23, 2007 Zachares pleaded guilty to accepting tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from Abramoff. In September 2008, Feeney's campaign ran a television ad in which apologized for his "bad judgment" in taking the trip.
Two identically sized units at the resort sold earlier in 2006 for $420,000 and $450,000. According to a note in the Harper's Magazine weblog "Washington Babylon," while not necessarily illegal, Feeney's failure to include the purchase as part of his 2003 financial reporting is a violation of House rules. "Congressman Tom Feeney: An Appreciation", Harper's Magazine, July 12, 2006
Feeney claimed that he has no recollection of even meeting Curtis; that he could not have engaged in such a scheme because Palm Beach County did not even consider obtaining touch screen machines until after the 2000 election; and that although Curtis wrote a book in the summer of 2004 accusing Feeney of a wide variety of misconduct, Curtis did not mention the alleged scheme to commit election fraud in the edition published prior to the 2004 election.
Feeney refused to debate Curtis. He said it would be a disservice to voters to do so. He also said that to hold the debate would acknowledge there were two credible candidates in the race. Curtis countered that Feeney was ducking him.Robert Perez, "House race turns zanier: Candidate's claims spark Internet spoof", Orlando Sentinel, October 7, 2006
In early October, Feeney's campaign sent out flyers to 110,000 voters that showed Curtis' head superimposed on the body of Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner. The flyer also mentioned Larry Flynt and Hustler magazine. Feeney said he was using such tactics to inform the voters that Flynt had endorsed Curtis. Curtis responded that he has never met Flynt or anyone at Hustler. Feeney was re-elected with 58 percent of the vote in 2006.
Feeney faced former state representative Suzanne Kosmas in the November election. Kosmas and Feeney served together in the State House from 1996 to 2003, representing neighboring districts. In a poll released on September 18, 2008, Kosmas had 42% of the vote, compared to 43% for Feeney, with the remaining voters undecided. Filings with the Federal Election Commission showed that Feeney had raised $1.5 million as of August 6, compared to $1.2 million by Kosmas, and that Feeney had $804,000 on hand as of that date, compared to $836,000 for Kosmas.
Kosmas attacked Feeney's ties to Abramoff, which helped her quickly gain her traction. The Orlando Sentinel endorsed Kosmas, suggesting Feeney was too conservative for the district. We think: Kosmas, Blythe, Putnam and Stearns would serve voters best. Orlando Sentinel editorial, 2008-10-12. An internal poll for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee showed Kosmas leading Feeney by 23 points, 58% to 35%. Congressional Quarterly had rated the contest as "No Clear Favorite" for most of the campaign, but changed it to "Leans Democratic" in its closing weeks. In the November election, Feeney was defeated, taking 41% of the vote to Kosmas' 57% – the largest margin of defeat for a Republican incumbent in the 2008 cycle.
|-
|-
|-
Sealed testimony
A three-judge panel of United States circuit judges for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously refused to allow federal prosecutors to subpoena Feeney's sealed testimony which he had provided to the House Ethics Committee. In July 2009, Brett Kavanaugh, one of the judges on the panel, called for an en banc review of the circuit's prior precedent by all of the judges in the D.C. Circuit.
2006 re-election campaign
In 2006, Feeney faced Democrat Clint Curtis in the November general election. In September, Feeney's campaign launched a website that depicts Curtis in a mental institution wearing a tinfoil hat. Curtis claimed that the attention was actually helping him.Emily Heil, "Feeney website dubs opponent ‘Crazy Clint’", The Hill, September 28, 2006 The website in question was created by a political consultant, Ralph Gonzales.
2008 re-election campaign
In June 2007, Feeney's district was one of five in Florida that Democrats hoped to win from the Republicans in 2008.Brendan Farrington, "Florida will be a congressional battleground again in 2008" , Herald Tribune, June 23, 2007 Despite the perception that Feeney drew it for himself, it had a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+3, making it a fairly marginal district on paper. The district gave George W. Bush 52% of the vote in 2000, and 56% in 2004. CQ Politics|District Detail: FL-24 It included much of Democratic-leaning Volusia County.
Electoral history
+ : Results 2002-2008
! Year
!
! Republican
! Votes
! Pct
!
! Democrat
! Votes
! Pct
!
! Third Party
! Votes
! Pct 2002 135,576 83,667 2004 Unopposed 100% 2006 123,795 89,863 2008 151,863 211,284 6,223
External links
Categories: 1958 Births, 21st-century Members Of The Florida Legislature, 21st-century United States Representatives, Presbyterians From Florida, Florida Lawyers, Living People, Pennsylvania State University Alumni, People From Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, People From Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, People From Oviedo, Florida, Politicians From Orlando, Florida, Republican Party Members Of The Florida House Of Representatives, Republican Party United States Representatives From Florida, Speakers Of The Florida House Of Representatives, University Of Pittsburgh School Of Law Alumni
|
|
