29 Facts About Paul Kanjorski

Paul Edmund Kanjorski was born on April 2,1937 and is an American politician who was the US representative for from 1985 until 2011.

Paul Kanjorski attended public schools before enrolling at Wyoming Seminary, a private college preparatory school in Kingston.

Paul Kanjorski finished his high school education at the Capitol Page School in Washington, DC Paul Kanjorski became a congressional page at age 15, first appointed by Republicans but ending up working on the Democratic side of the House.

Paul Kanjorski witnessed the 1954 US Capitol shooting incident, helping to bring stretchers into the chamber for the wounded.

Paul Kanjorski attended Temple University in Philadelphia from 1957 to 1961, and briefly served in the United States Army Reserves from 1960 to 1961.

Paul Kanjorski then attended Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle.

Paul Kanjorski volunteered to advocate on behalf of victims of Hurricane Agnes which devastated the Wyoming valley in 1972.

Paul 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.

Paul 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 Paul Kanjorski's daughter and four other nephews.

Paul Kanjorski 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.

Paul Kanjorski 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.

On May 10,2007, the usually moderate Paul Kanjorski voted with fellow Democrats to begin the redeployment of all forces from Iraq, however the bill was defeated.

Later that year, Paul Kanjorski was instrumental in the crafting of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, helping draft a considerable portion of this legislation.

One of Paul Kanjorski's final votes in Congress, merely weeks before his final term ended, was a vote against the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, legislation signed into law by President Obama in December 2010.

Paul Kanjorski further asserted that, if not stopped, the run would not only have caused the American economy to crash immediately, within 24 hours it would have brought down the world economy as well.

Felix Salmon of Conde Nast Portfolio questioned why Paul Kanjorski's account had not been stated before.

Paul Kanjorski ran in the crowded special election as an independent, finishing behind State Representative Ray Musto.

Paul Kanjorski ran against Musto in the Democratic primary later that year, but finished third.

In 1984, after sitting out the 1982 campaign, Kanjorski defeated incumbent Frank G Harrison, who had defeated Nelligan in 1982, in the primary.

Paul Kanjorski won the general election by a solid 17-point margin, even as Ronald Reagan carried the district in his landslide reelection bid.

In 1986, Paul Kanjorski faced a younger, well-financed Republican opponent in Marc Holtzman.

However, Paul Kanjorski won by 41 points, his largest margin of victory in a contested election.

Paul Kanjorski was unopposed in 1988 and 1990 and did not face another credible opponent until 2002, when he faced Lou Barletta, the mayor of Hazleton.

In 2008, Fox News broadcast a segment accusing Paul Kanjorski of obtaining $10 million in earmarks for a company run by his family.

Multiple polls had shown Paul Kanjorski trailing by as many as five percentage points, and the race was pegged as one of the nation's most competitive leading into the 2008 elections.

Paul Kanjorski was one of the few House Democrats in the Northeast in any danger of being unseated.

However, Paul Kanjorski won in a much more competitive race than his first matchup with Barletta, taking 52 percent of the vote to Barletta's 48 percent, even as Barack Obama easily carried the district.

Paul Kanjorski lost three of the district's five counties, including Luzerne County, where both he and Barletta live.

However, as in 2002, Paul Kanjorski swamped Barletta in Lackawanna County, winning by 12,500 votes ; he lost the area he had represented prior to the 2000 redistricting by almost 4,000 votes.