Chris Collins (politician)

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Chris Collins (2013)

Christopher Carl "Chris" Collins (* 20th May 1950 in Schenectady , New York ) is an American politician of the Republican Party . From 2013 to 2019 he sat for the 27th Congressional constituency of the state of New York in the US House of Representatives .

Family, education and work

Chris Collins grew up as the son of General Electric employee and later CEO of General Railway Signal in Rochester Jerry Collins and his wife Connie with six siblings in different places. He attended Hendersonville High School in North Carolina , graduated in 1968 and then studied until 1972 at North Carolina State University in Raleigh , where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. In 1975 he graduated from the University of Alabama in Birmingham with a Master of Business Administration and then worked as a private businessman. From 1972 to 1983 he was employed by Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Alabama . Upon returning to New York State, Collins served as chairman of the board of Niagara Falls- based Nuttal Gear Corporation , which he founded in 1983 and sold in 1997. He then acquired or invested in other companies, among others in biotechnology and the generation of renewable energy.

Collins has three children with his wife Mary. You live in Clarence, northeast of Buffalo . Collins is a member of the Boy Scouts of America .

Political career

Collins ran for the first time in the 1998 election to the US House of Representatives for the Republicans in the then 29th Congressional electoral district of New York. He was defeated by 41 to 57 percent of the vote the long-term mandate holders of the Democrats , John J. LaFalce , although he spent well over LaFalce. In November 2007, Collins won the election to the county executive with 63.7 percent of the vote and headed the administration of Erie County from January 1, 2008 to January 1, 2012 . He was defeated in the next election in November 2011 with 47.2 to 52.8 percent to the Democrat Mark C. Poloncarz.

Chris Collins (middle) is presented with flags that have flown during battles in Southeast Asia (2011)

In the 2012 election , Collins was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , in the 27th  Congressional constituency of New York , which is located in western upstate New York and includes suburbs of Buffalo and Rochester and the Finger Lakes . On January 3, 2013, Collins succeeded the Democrat Kathy Hochul , whom he had beaten in the election with just 50.8 to 49.2 percent. He won two re-elections, in 2014 with 71 and most recently in 2016 with 67 percent of the vote; his mandate runs until January 3, 2019. He was a member of the committees for Agriculture , Small Business and Science, Space and Technology and a total of four sub-committees. He later sat on the Energy and Trade Committee and on three of its sub-committees. He also belongs or was a member of 36 Congressional Caucuses .

After Donald Trump's election victory in 2016, Collins was Secretary of Defense in the Trump Cabinet for talks.

After being temporarily arrested and charged with insider trading, he suspended his candidacy for the 2018 election . In late September 2019, Collins pleaded guilty to two counts and resigned from the US House of Representatives.

Positions and connection to Trump

Collins visits the Yahoo Center in Lockport (2015)

In February 2016, Collins became the first member of the US House of Representatives to support Donald Trump in his presidential campaign, having previously spoken out for Jeb Bush . The largely unknown Collins received profile and attention at the national level and served as a liaison to Congress during the election campaign and in the transition team to the Trump presidency . Even during Donald Trump's presidency, Collins is one of his allies and has often defended his rhetoric and positions, including the Republican tax reform of early 2018, which was particularly controversial in New York State, and Trump's appearance at the summit meeting with Vladimir Putin in July 2018, which was criticized even in conservative circles .

Insider trading charges

Collins was arrested by the FBI on August 8, 2018 on suspicion of insider trading . The Cook Political Report then moved the forecast for the November 2018 election from safe to likely for the Republicans. The Speaker of the House , Paul Ryan , distant Collins then from the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and referred the matter for investigation to the Ethics Committee.

On August 11, Collins announced that he was suspending his candidacy for the House of Representatives in November 2018. Party colleagues had urged him to take the step, assuming that he would not stand a chance in the election. A number of Republicans have offered themselves as substitute candidates, but it is unclear whether it would be legally permissible to remove Collins from the ballot. The Democratic rival candidate, Nate McMurray, who had only $ 80,000 available for his election campaign by the end of June 2018 and was considered hopeless, announced that he had collected over $ 100,000 in donations and recruited hundreds of volunteers in a few weeks. In mid-September 2018, Collins announced that he would remain on the ballot paper due to the unclear legal situation and would resume his election campaign.

In late September 2019, Collins pleaded guilty to two counts and resigned from the US House of Representatives. An extraordinary election for Collins' seat has been scheduled for April 28, 2020, but has been postponed to June 23 due to the COVID-19 pandemic . It was won by State Senator Christopher Jacobs (R).

Web links

Commons : Chris Collins  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituaries: Gerald E. "Jerry" Collins. In: Rochester Democrat And Chronicle , January 10, 2010.
  2. ↑ a b Chris Collins' Biography. In: VoteSmart
  3. ↑ Bill Moss: HHS inducts four to Hall of Fame. In: Hendersonville Lightning , October 11, 2013.
  4. ↑ Jerry Zremski: LaFalce in Unusual Position of Being Outspent in Hot Race. In: The Buffalo News , October 29, 1998
  5. ↑ a b Collins, Chris. In: OurCampaigns.com.
  6. ^ County Executive - History. In: OurCampaigns.com.
  7. ↑ For the political conditions in this constituency see Bruce Fisher: The Best Chance to Defeat Collins. In: The Public , January 31, 2018.
  8. ↑ a b As Chris Collins' resignation from Congress is official, his staff says there's work to do , October 1, 2019, WIVB-TV
  9. ↑ Jeremy Diamond: First congressman to back Trump: 'We need a chief executive'. In: CNN.com , February 25, 2016.
  10. ↑ James Arkin, Caitlin Huey-Burns: Chris Collins: Trump's Man on the Hill. In: RealClearPolitics , May 19, 2018
  11. ^ Nicole Gaudiano: Once-obscure Rep. Chris Collins sees his star rise with Trump. In: USA Today , February 21, 2017.
  12. ↑ Jimmy Vielkind: Chris Collins digs in against the Trump-haters. In: Politico , January 4, 2018; Tim Fenster: Collins defends Trump. In: Niagara Gazette , July 17, 2018.
  13. ↑ Kevin Breuninger, Brian Schwartz: New York GOP Rep. Chris Collins arrested on insider trading charges. In: CNBC.com , August 8, 2018.
  14. ↑ Taegan Goddard: Indictment Makes Collins Seat Less Safe. In: Political Wire , August 8, 2018.
  15. ^ Dan Mangan: Paul Ryan boots GOP Rep. Chris Collins from House Energy and Commerce Committee after insider-trading indictment. In: CNBC.com , August 8, 2018.
  16. ^ Rep. Chris Collins, fighting prosecution, seeks to end reelection bid. In: Politico , 11 August 2018
  17. ^ Bridget Bowman: Collins' Exit Sends New York Republicans Scrambling to Find Replacement. In: Roll Call , August 11, 2018.
  18. ^ Lisa W. Foderaro: Who Will Replace Chris Collins, the Indicted Congressman, on the Ballot? Perhaps no one. In: The New York Times , September 10, 2018.
  19. ^ Robert J. McCarthy: Collins, under indictment, to remain on congressional ballot as Dems cheer. In: The Buffalo News , September 17, 2018.
  20. ↑ Dave Debo: indicted Congressman Reverses Course, Says He Will Campaign For Re-Election. In: National Public Radio , September 19, 2018.
  21. ^ New York's 27th Congressional District special election, 2020. In: Ballotpedia. Lucy Burns Institute, accessed June 30, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Collins, Chris
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Collins, Christopher Carl (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH May 20, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Schenectady , New York