Tim Bishop

Timothy Howard Bishop (born June 1, 1950) is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative for NY's 1st congressional district from 2003 to 2015.

He is a member of the Democratic Party.

The district includes most of Central and Eastern Suffolk County, including most of Smithtown, as well as the entirety of the towns of Brookhaven, Riverhead, Southold, Southampton, East Hampton, and Shelter Island.

The district encompasses wealthy enclaves such as the Hamptons, middle-class suburban towns such as Selden, Centereach and Lake Grove, working-class neighborhoods such as Mastic and Riverhead, and rural farming communities such as Mattituck and Jamesport on the North Fork.

Bishop is a twelfth-generation resident of Southampton, New York, where he was born on June 1, 1950.

He is the son of Catherine (Roesel) and Howard Cortland Bishop.

He is the great-grandson of Benjamin H. Bishop, a mayor of Southampton, and has English, Irish, and German ancestry.

He received a bachelor's degree in history from The College of the Holy Cross and a master's degree in public administration from Long Island University.

Bishop served as Provost of Southampton College for 16 years, where he began working in 1973 as an admissions counselor.

In his nearly 29 years at LIU's Southampton College, Bishop served in positions touching almost every aspect of college life, from institutional research and planning, financial aid, and enrollment services, to student activities, personnel, community relations, and fund raising.

He served as director of financial aid, assistant director of admissions, registrar, director of institutional research and planning, dean for enrollment services, and dean for administrative and student services.

In 1986, Bishop was appointed Provost of Southampton College.

In this position, Bishop served as the chief executive officer in charge of the day-to-day management of the entire campus.

Known as a strong and capable administrator, Congressman Bishop worked effectively with the college's diverse constituencies including students, alumni, staff, faculty, University officers, board members, government officials and community residents.

During his tenure, several academic programs achieved national prominence.

Southampton College of Long Island University produced 36 Fulbright Scholars, a remarkable achievement for a small college.

As provost, Bishop developed the award-winning Cooperative Education and Freshman Programs, an integral part of the LIU Plan implemented across the University.

Bishop negotiated the licensing agreement to power up the University's flagship radio station WPBX the only Long Island-based NPR affiliate — to 25,000 Watts.

During his tenure, four new graduate programs were added to the curriculum, and a new academic center, Chancellors Hall, was built.

Along with the Southampton College Chancellor, Robert F. X. Sillerman, Bishop developed the most successful single fund-raising event in the college's history, the All for the Sea rock concerts which grossed as much as $1 million annually.

In January 2007, he voted for a reduction of interest rates on future federal student loans.

Bishop supported the Shinnecock Indian tribe's successful attempts at gaining formal federal recognition.

Bishop also voted for the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (TARP), and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (also known as the "stimulus bill"), and for further measures in 2009 and 2010.

Bishop supported and voted for the Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.

Bishop participated in the bipartisan coalition of elected officials and community advocates that saved the 106th Air Rescue Wing located at Gabreski Airport from being shut down by the Pentagon's base closure commission.

In opposition to a plan that would have dumped more than twenty million cubic yards of contaminated dredge waste in the Long Island Sound, Bishop sponsored legislation to block the plan.

He also voted for the Budget Control Act of 2011, which provided for further gradual increments in the debt limit.

Bishop supported a $160,000 line-item for the Shinnecock Nation in President Obama's 2013 budget proposal.

In September 2013, the Office of Congressional Ethics recommended further review of an August 2012 incident in which Bishop was accused of soliciting a campaign contribution from hedge fund magnate Eric Semler in exchange for acting in an official capacity to obtain a fireworks permit for Semler's son's bar mitzvah on Long Island.

Bishop denied the allegations as "outrageous, unfounded attacks on my character and my family".

After the incident was picked up by the media, Semler called the allegations a "nonstory".

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the incident.

The falling out from the incident, along with the 2013 redistricting which made the 1st more favorable to Republicans, was cited as a factor in Bishop's failed re-election in 2014.

In his first political race, Bishop ran as a Democrat against Republican incumbent Felix J. Grucci, Jr. During the campaign, Grucci ran radio ads accusing Bishop of falsifying rape statistics at Southampton College, but his claims were based on articles from a college newspaper that contained numerous inaccuracies.

Grucci refused to repudiate the ads, and was defeated by Bishop.

Incumbent Bishop beat Republican William M. Manger, Jr. 56.2%-43.8%

Incumbent Bishop beat Republican Italo Zanzi 62.2%-37.8%

Incumbent Bishop defeated Republican Lee Zeldin 58%-42% and was re-elected.

Bishop narrowly defeated Republican Randy Altschuler by a margin of 50.2% to 49.8% after Altschuler conceded the race when trailing by 263 votes.

In September 2014, the Justice Department closed its investigation without filing charges, although the ethics probe remained open until Bishop left office in January 2015.