33 Facts About Paul Tonko

Paul David Tonko is an American politician serving as the US representative for since 2013.

Paul Tonko represented the 21st congressional district from 2009 to 2013.

From 1983 to 2007, Paul Tonko represented the 105th district in the New York State Assembly.

Paul Tonko was appointed to serve as president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority from 2007 until his resignation in April 2008.

Paul Tonko is the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials in the 118th Congress.

Paul Tonko is a lifelong resident of Amsterdam, New York, near Schenectady, and is of primarily Polish descent.

Paul Tonko graduated from Amsterdam's Wilbur H Lynch High School in 1967, and received a degree in mechanical and industrial engineering from Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York in 1971.

An engineer for the New York Public Service Commission, Paul Tonko became active in local politics in the early 1970s and successfully ran for the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors.

Paul Tonko was a member of the board from 1976 to 1983, and the board's chairman from 1981 to 1983.

Paul Tonko was the youngest person in county history to be elected to the board of supervisors.

Paul Tonko was reelected 13 times, serving in the Assembly until 2007.

Paul Tonko was a member of standing committees on Agriculture, Transportation and Education, where he was the original sponsor and a chief proponent of the College Tuition Savings Program that was signed into law in 1997.

Paul Tonko sponsored Timothy's Law, a 2006 law that requires health insurers to cover mental health treatment.

Paul Tonko sponsored the Northeast Dairy Compact, and chaired the Legislative Commission on Rural Resources,.

Paul Tonko resigned his Assembly seat in June 2007 to become President and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Paul Tonko subsequently entered the race to succeed McNulty in the 21st district.

Paul Tonko had effectively clinched a seat in Congress in the primary; the 21st had long been the only safe Democratic district in the state outside the New York City, Buffalo and Rochester areas.

Paul Tonko ran for reelection on the Democratic, Working Families and Independence Party lines.

Paul Tonko was challenged by Republican and Conservative Party nominee Ted Danz, a former United States Navy Reservist and small business owner in the cooling and heating business.

Paul Tonko raised almost $980,000, and spent almost $780,000 on his campaign; Danz raised about $44,000 and spent about $42,000 on his campaign.

The Albany Times Union endorsed Paul Tonko, citing "a way of thinking and speaking like the engineer that he once was" and his support of the economic stimulus bill and health care bills.

The new 20th was no less Democratic than the old 21st, and Paul Tonko defeated Bob Dieterich in 2012, Jim Fischer in 2014, and Joe Vitollo in 2016 and 2018.

Paul Tonko was one of the 19 most liberal House members, according to the National Journal, for 2011.

Paul Tonko sponsored a bill to create an $800 million research program in wind energy technologies, which would benefit GE in his district.

Paul Tonko wanted to create a research program to improve the efficiency of gas turbines used in power generation systems that convert heat into energy.

In 2010, Paul Tonko got a provision in a House-passed bill, following the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, to prevent future spills and help small businesses in spill research.

Paul Tonko praised the 2011 State of the Union address, saying, "the President set out a bold agenda for our nation, an agenda that will focus on growing our economy, growing jobs, and growing opportunity for the middle class".

Paul Tonko has often warned of the threat that Obamacare's repeal would pose to small businesses, young people, and seniors.

Paul Tonko has worked to raise awareness about the region's waterways, chiefly the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, and the effects of flooding after Hurricane Irene.

Paul Tonko became a prominent opponent of the Trans Pacific Partnership in 2015, citing American trade deficits and the use of child labor by at least four countries that had already signed the pact as among his reasons for opposing the deal.

In 2017, Paul Tonko was one of three Catholic politicians whom Bishop Edward Bernard Scharfenberger of Albany publicly rebuked for participating in a rally supporting Planned Parenthood.

In 2022, Paul Tonko was instrumental in passing provisions contained in the CHIPS and Science Act into law.

In 2023, Tonko was among 56 Democrats to vote in favor of H Con.