Sean Patrick Maloney

Sean Patrick Maloney (born July 30, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative from NY's 18th congressional district from 2013 to 2023.

The district includes Newburgh, Beacon, and Poughkeepsie.

Maloney was born on July 30, 1966, in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, to American parents.

His father's job as a lumberjack had temporarily brought them to Canada.

Maloney grew up in Hanover, New Hampshire.

He was raised with his six siblings in what he describes as a "small Irish Catholic family".

Maloney graduated from Hanover High School in 1984.

After attending Georgetown University for two years, Maloney transferred to the University of Virginia, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in international relations in 1988.

In 1991, Maloney began working on Bill Clinton's first campaign for president as deputy to chief scheduler Susan Thomases.

He entered politics as a volunteer for Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and later served as his senior West Wing adviser and White House Staff Secretary.

Before being elected to Congress, Maloney worked as a software company executive and as an attorney.

He then spent a year volunteering with Jesuit priests in the slums of Chimbote, Peru, after which he returned to the U.S. and attended the University of Virginia School of Law, graduating with a Juris Doctor in 1992.

During the campaign, Maloney was endorsed by the New-York-state-based gay rights organization Empire State Pride Agenda and Karen Burstein, the first lesbian to run for attorney general, in 1994.

Consistently polling in the single digits, Maloney was offered a chance to run for the office on the Liberal Party ticket but declined, saying he would support whoever won the Democratic nomination.

Maloney finished third in the September 12 primary, with 9.4% of the vote.

Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Andrew Cuomo won.

In his concession speech, Maloney said, "[T]his day may not be the outcome we hope, but I make you a promise that there will be another day."

In Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign Maloney worked as Director of Surrogate Travel.

After Clinton was reelected, Maloney was offered a position in the White House staff and served as a senior advisor and White House Staff Secretary from 1999 to 2000, among the youngest to serve in that capacity.

Following the killing of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, Maloney was one of two representatives Clinton sent to his funeral.

In an article about the event, a newspaper noted that Maloney often called himself "the highest-ranking openly homosexual man on the White House staff".

Maloney ran for the Democratic nomination for New York Attorney General in 2006.

According to Gay City News, his "competitive fundraising and wide travels across the state during the past year have impressed many party professionals with the seriousness of his run."

Maloney joined Governor Eliot Spitzer's administration in January 2007 as First Deputy Secretary under top adviser Rich Baum.

The Eliot Spitzer political surveillance controversy (popularly known as "Troopergate") broke out on July 23, 2007, when Cuomo's office admonished Spitzer's administration for ordering the State Police to create special records of Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno's whereabouts when he traveled with police escorts in New York City.

He was elected to the U.S. House in 2012, defeating Republican Party incumbent Nan Hayworth.

He campaigned as a moderate and was a member of the centrist New Democratic Coalition while serving in Congress.

He is the first openly gay person elected to Congress from New York.

He served as chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 2021 to 2023.

In the 2022 election, he lost reelection in New York's 17th congressional district to Republican Mike Lawler.

As of June 2023, Maloney is the nominee to serve as the United States ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

A member of the Democratic Party, Maloney ran for New York Attorney General in 2018, coming in third place to Letitia James in the primary.

Born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, and raised in Hanover, New Hampshire, Maloney earned his Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia.

In June 2018, Maloney again sought the Democratic nomination for attorney general of New York.

He also sought re-election to the U.S. House of Reprensentatives.

Maloney indicated that, had he won the primary, he would have run for attorney general and ended his House re-election bid.

In the Democratic primary for attorney general, Maloney finished third.

New York City Public Advocate Letitia James, who was endorsed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, won.

Zephyr Teachout, a law professor endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders and The New York Times, finished second.

Maloney was endorsed by Beto O'Rourke, among other public figures.