Chris Carney Christopher P . " Chris " Carney ( born March 2 , 1959 ) is an American politician who was the U . S . Representative for from 2007 to 2011 . He is a member of the Democratic Party and was a prominent member of the conservative Blue Dog Coalition . The district , located in northeastern Pennsylvania , includes Lackawanna and Luzerne counties outside of Scranton and Wilkes - Barre ( communities such as Clarks Summit , Kingston , and the Back Mountain towns of Trucksville , Shavertown , and Dallas ) as well as all or most of Bradford , Lycoming , Montour , Northumberland , Pike , Union , Snyder , Sullivan , Susquehanna , Wayne and Wyoming counties . Carney is also an associate professor of political science at Penn State Worthington Scranton , where he has taught since 1992 . In 2011 , he was appointed as director of homeland security and policy strategy for BAE Systems . Early life , education and career . Carney earned his bachelor ' s degree from Cornell College in Mount Vernon , Iowa , received his masters from the University of Wyoming , and completed his Ph . D in political science at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln . Carney has been an associate professor of political science at Penn State Worthington Scranton since 1992 . From 2002 to 2004 , Carney served as a counterterrorism analyst for the Bush administration , under Douglas Feith in the Office of Special Plans and at the Defense Intelligence Agency , researching links between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein . Military service . A Commander ( select ) in the United States Naval Reserve , Carney served multiple tours overseas and was activated for operations Enduring Freedom and Noble Eagle . He was direct commissioned as an Ensign in 1995 . He served as Senior Terrorism and Intelligence Advisor at the Pentagon . He is the recipient of the Defense Meritorious Service Medal , three Joint Service Achievement Medal s , the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal , and the Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal . His awards also include the Naval Rifle Marksman ribbon and the Naval Pistol Expert Medal . In September 2007 , Congressman Carney went on active duty with the Navy for his two weeks of service as a Lt . Commander in the reserves . On active duty , Carney will be working on the " Predator " project near Norfolk , VA . In July 2008 , Carney was promoted from Lieutenant Commander to Commander ( select ) in the Naval Reserve . He was one of just two members of the House to serve in the military reserves . During his unsuccessful 2010 re - election campaign Carney revealed that he had served as an interrogator at Guantanamo . Carol Rosenberg , writing in the " Miami Herald " , wrote that although Carney had traveled with fellow Congressional Representatives on fact - finding trips to Guantanamo , he had never informed them that he himself had served there . U . S . House of Representatives . Committee assignments . In January 2007 , Carney was named Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Management , Investigations , and Oversight , a surprising achievement for a freshman Congressman . Political positions . While opposing proposals to privatize Social Security , he said he is open to the idea of adding private accounts in addition to ( not at the expense of ) traditional defined benefits . Carney made change of direction in Iraq policy a cornerstone of his 2006 campaign , often decrying the Bush Administration ' s war policies . However , he subsequently voted to continue the war in Iraq , H . R . 2206 , and against H . R . 2956 , an effort to establish a timeline to withdraw from Iraq . He was one of only ten Democrats to vote against ending the war . He was not a proponent of investigating pre - war intelligence . “ The more energy spent on answering Congressional investigations , the less time will be spent on winning the war ” , he stated . On May 3 , 2007 , Carney voted with 166 Republicans against the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 , although the Pennsylvania delegation ( including 4 Republicans ) voted 14 - 4 in favor . In 2008 he was one of the " Blue Dog " Democrats who joined most Republicans in an unsuccessful to attempt to pass a bill amending FISA to grant telecommunications companies immunity from prosecution for their involvement in warrantless wiretapping of American citizens . Carney voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 . Congressman Carney also voted for the Affordable Health Care for America Act as well as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act . Political campaigns . 2006 . When Carney entered the race for the 10th , he was initially considered an underdog against Republican incumbent Don Sherwood . The 10th had been in Republican hands since 1961 . The four - term incumbent had barely defeated Democrat Patrick Casey in his bid to succeed popular 36 - year incumbent Joe McDade in 1998 , and narrowly defeated Casey in a 2000 rematch . In hopes of protecting Sherwood , the Republican - controlled state legislature made the 10th significantly more rural and Republican after the 2000 census , and the Democrats hadn ' t even put up a candidate in the last two elections . However , revelations of Sherwood ' s five - year - long extramarital affair with a woman more than 30 years his junior , along with allegations of abuse , severely hampered Sherwood ' s reelection chances in the 10th , which has a strong social conservative tint . Carney also garnered the endorsement of 30 labor unions . In the election , Carney defeated Sherwood , 53 % to 47 % . During the campaign , Carney raised money with a wide - variety of supporters including Sen . Barack Obama , Sen Joe Biden , Rep . Jay Inslee , Rep . Jack Murtha , and Richard Perle , former Chairman of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee Douglas Feith , former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy , congratulated Carney on Election Night . 2008 . On November 4 , 2008 , Carney defeated Chris Hackett 56 % to 44 % . Carney was one of the few incumbent Democrats to be rated vulnerable in this election cycle , because he was a freshman running in a strongly Republican district ( its Cook Partisan Voting Index was R + 8 ) . The National Republican Congressional Committee advertised for the Hackett , while the Service Employees International Union and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — which were among those organizations identifying Carney as especially vulnerable — advertised on his behalf , placing special emphasis on his vote for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $ 7 . 25 by 2009 , a measure passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by Bush on May 24 , 2007 . Since the summer of 2007 , the nonpartisan Cook Political Report and a number of other political analysts listed Carney ' s District as " slightly " leaning Democratic in 2008 , and according to the FEC Carney has raised over $ 500 , 000 towards his re - election in the first six months of 2007 . Public opinion polls conducted in January 2008 indicated a lead over Hackett ( then a candidate in the GOP primary ) , by significant double - digit margins and even a majority of registered Republicans , 53 percent , approve of Carney ' s job performance . Carney strove to portray himself as a conservative Democrat and asserted , time and time again , that Republican efforts to portray him as a " tax - and - spend " liberal would fail because 10th district residents are familiar with his moderate policies . The candidates differed over Social Security . Carney opposed Bush ' s plan for privatization , while Hackett supported it . In the April 22 Pennsylvania primaries , enormous Democratic voter turnout , most certainly due to the presidential race , led Carney to earn over 70 , 000 votes in the congressional primary , despite running unopposed — more than the combined vote in the Republican primary . Like all current Democratic members of Congress , Chris Carney was a superdelegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention . In late March , he was reported being somewhat skeptical of Hillary Clinton ' s electability , citing that her negatives are " widely known " , and adding , regarding Barack Obama , that , " what we don ' t know is whether the other shoe is going to drop for Mr . Obama . " He vowed that he would " wait and see how his district votes " , hinting that he would likely issue an endorsement after the April 22 Pennsylvania primary for the candidate that wins by a " landslide " — if a huge victory by either occurs — in his overwhelmingly conservative district in which registered Democrats are few compared to Republicans . Another northeastern Pennsylvania Congressman , Paul Kanjorski , had long endorsed and actively campaigned for Clinton , alongside a number of other Democratic politicians in the state , including Governor Ed Rendell , while U . S . Senator Bob Casey , Jr . was Obama ' s most significant supporter . Prior to 2008 , in his 2006 race against Sherwood , Obama had helped Carney raise funds for his campaign . Carney endorsed Clinton on May 9 after she carried his district in the Democratic primary by a whopping 70 % - 30 % margin . 2010 . Carney was challenged by Republican nominee Tom Marino . In the 2010 election , Marino defeated Carney , 55 - 45 % . Personal life . Carney lives with his wife , Jennifer , and their five children in Dimock Township in Susquehanna County .