Before the subpoenas fly: a look at Congress’ private sector newbies

by Daysha Taylor, November 15th, 2006, 7:00 am

Election season is finally over. Newspapers, whose headlines heralded the Democratic takeover of both the US House and Senate, are already kindling in fireplaces across the country. The majority of the newbies in the House are stepping up to the fed level after working for state and local governments or agencies. But others are influential private business executives who will be getting their first taste of government work in January. They include: 

Tim Mahoney (D-Florida) is founder, chairman, and COO of Florida-based venture capital firm vFinance Inc.  Mahoney, who took the seat of disgraced Congressman Mark Foley, is a proponent of publishing the minutes of meetings between lobbyists and lawmakers on the Internet. He also favors investing in the Canadian oil and natural gas industry – not in drilling off the coast of Florida. 

Vern Buchanan (R-Florida) serves as chairman and president of Buchanan Automotive. A self-made millionaire and small business advocate, Buchanan opposes stem cell research, abortion, and gay marriage. He favors increasing intelligence and counterterrorism programs. 

John Yarmuth (D-Kentucky) served as an executive in the U of L’s university relations office during the early ’80s before taking a position with home health provider Almost Family, Inc. During the ’90s, Yarmuth founded LEO Weekly (purchased by Times Publishing in 2003) and was a regular columnist until launching his campaign. Yarmuth favors troop withdrawal from Iraq and improving health insurance coverage. 

Jason Altmire (D-Pennsylvania) resigned as VP Government Relations and Community Health at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s to run his 2006 campaign. Altmire favors national health care reform and the development of alternative energy resources. He’s against privatization of Social Security. 

Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona) worked for Pricewaterhouse Coopers in the ’90s before taking over her family’s tire company, El Campo Tire. In 2000 she formed Giffords Capital Management. Giffords favors full inspections of all international cargo, immigration reform, and border security. She also want to focus on tracking al-Qaida and bringing US troops home from Iraq. 

Jerry McNerney (D-California), an authority on wind turbine systems, was a contractor for Sandia National Laboratories in the early ’80s. A decade later, he served as an energy consultant for PG&E, FloWind, and Electric Power Research Institute. McNerney favors banning gifts from lobbyists, increasing fuel efficiency in new vehicles, and developing alternative energy sources. He also is pushing for health care reform and withdrawing troops from Iraq. 

Freshly plucked from the legal profession are new Reps Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) of Boies, Schiller & Flexner; Patrick Murphy (D-Pennsylvania) of Cozen O’Connor; John Sarbanes (D-Maryland) of Venable; and Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota) of Lindquist & Vennum.