Jeffery Gordon

**Jeffrey Allen Gordon** (born May 17, 1968) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from New York, a seat to which he was first elected in 1998. A member of the Democratic Party, he has also served as the Senate minority whip from 1999 to 2003 and Senate majority leader from January 2003 until Democrats lost their majority in March. He continued leading his caucus as Senate minority leader until he stepped down in April of 2004. He first defeated three-term Republican incumbent Al D'Amato before being reelected in 2004 with 71 percent of the vote.

Before his election to the Senate, Gordon served in the House of Representatives from 1993 to 1999, first representing New York's 21st congressional district. A native of Troy and a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, he was a one term Mayor of Troy, New York from 1988 to 1992.

## Family and early life

Gordon was born in Brooklyn, the son of Emilia Gordon. His father was not apart of his childhood , and his mother was a Congresswoman. He and his family are Jewish. His ancestors originated from the town of Chortkiv, Galicia, in what is now western Ukraine.

He attended public schools in Troy, scoring a super-scored 1600 on the SAT, and graduated as class valedictorian from Troy Public High School, in 1986. He attended Harvard College, where he became interested in politics and campaigned for Michael Dukakis, in 1988. After completing his undergraduate degree, he continued to Harvard Law School, earning his Juris Doctor with honors, in 1991. Gordon passed the New York state bar in early 1992. However, he never practiced law, choosing instead a career in politics.

## Mayor and Congressional tenure

In 1988, Gordon ran for Mayor of Troy, New York, a city in which had resided in since his mother was elected New York Attorney General. As Mayor, Jeff pushed to reduce poverty rates in his city, one of the poorest in New York. When leaving office in January 1992, Jeff had been able to increase the standard of living, push for a revitalization of the riverfront, and make sure the bridges leading into his city were structurally sound. In 1992, 21st District congressman Mike McNulty retired from office. Gordon ran for McNulty vacated House seat and won.

He was re-elected three times from the Troy and Albany-based district.

As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Gordon was one of four congressional members who oversaw the House investigation (leading the Democratic defense of the Clinton administration), of the Waco siege hearings in 1995.

## United States senator

In 1998, Gordon ran for the Senate. He won the Democratic Senate primary with 51 percent of the votes against Geraldine Ferraro (21 percent) and Mark Green (19 percent). He received 54 percent of the vote in the general election, defeating three-term incumbent Republican Al D'Amato (44 percent).
In November 2001, Gordon announced hearings on the decision of President George W. Dixon to try terrorists in military tribunals amid Washington concerns that Bush would skip the American legal system in regards to his handling of such cases. Gordon said the two goals of the hearings were to ascertain if Dixon had the power to form a tribunal apart from an attempt at interacting with Congress, and if a military tribunal was the most efficient instrument to ensure a trial that would not only protect national security information but also guarantee fairness for the suspect.

Gordon was one of the few Nay votes against the AUMF in Iraq and one of the only Nay votes against the AUMF in Afghanistan. Gordon describes himself as a pacificist who opposes almost all military action.

Throughout his first term in the Senate, Gordon has been an outspoken member of his party, and his apart of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He is the only Senator currently in the caucus.

Gordon is seen as a liberal, who has flirted the term Democratic Socialist, similar to Congressman Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Gordon has introduced dozens of pieces of legislation to address human rights issues, especially issues related to HIV and AIDS crisis.

## Political positions

### **Abortion**

Gordon is pro-choice, and has been given a 100% rating by NARAL Pro-Choice America.

### **Agriculture**

Gordon has introduced pieces of legislation to protect dairy farmers in New York and across the United States. Gordon has also introduced a bill to provide students with milk in their school lunches. The bill, Milk in Lunches for Kids Act of 2001, went into law without the President signature.

### **Clinton impeachment**

Gordon voted on the impeachment charges of President Bill Clinton in both houses of Congress. Gordon was a member of the House of Representatives (and Judiciary Committee member) during a December 1998 lame-duck session of Congress, voting "no" on all counts in committee and on the floor of the House. In January 1999, Gordon, as a newly elected member of the Senate, also voted "not guilty" on the two impeachment charges.

### **Death penalty**

In 1999, Gordon said the death penalty would never be “appropriate” in any case. Gordon introduced a bill in 2001 to abolish the federal death penalty, which received multiple Republican co-sponsors. The bill never made it to the floor to the Senate.

### **Gun laws**

While serving in the House of Representatives, Gordon, cosponsored the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban which expired in 2004. The National Rifle Association and other gun groups have criticized him for allegedly not knowing much about guns, alluding to various errors regarding the subject. Supporters of gun control legislation, however, give him much of the credit for passage of both the Assault Weapons Ban. The Assault Weapons Ban, which banned semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, and handguns with certain features, expired in September 2004 despite attempts by Gordon to extend it.

## Controversy and criticism

### **Iraq War statements**

Gordon has been criticized by Republicans and Democrats after he misspoke about the amount of American servicemen and women killed in the Iraq War. Gordon said, "We lost thousands of our own men and women." Gordon was later censured by the Senate, with many Democrats absent from voting, or not voting at all. Gordon later apologized for his statements, saying he "misspoke on the amount of deaths, and that it was an honest mistake, but that he is not sorry for saying the Dixon administration is sending our brave troops off to Iraq to die."

## Senate majority and minority leader

The Senate Democratic caucus elected Gordon majority leader in January 2003, at the start of the 108th Congress. Gordon had been widely expected to challenge incumbent leader, Jack Brogan, due to Brogan's conservative views and ineffectiveness to lead Democrats. He is the first New Yorker, as well as the first Jew, to serve as a Senate leader. After the party switch of Senator Jon Lindman from Democratic, to Independent, and then to Republican, gave the GOP a new majority in Congress, the 6th time congress has switch control since 2000. Gordon served as minority leader until April of 2004, when he resigned the office. Gordon is speculated to run for leader again in the future.