John Faso

John James Faso Jr. (born August 25, 1952) is an American attorney and politician who served as the U.S. representative for NY's 19th congressional district from 2017 to 2019.

Faso graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1979.

After law school, Faso took political jobs in Washington, D.C., including as a lobbyist, while considering running for elective office in New York.

From 1979 to 1981, Faso served as a staff member on the United States House Committee on Government Operations.

From 1983 to 1986, he worked at the New York State Legislative Bill Drafting Commission.

In 1983, Faso moved to upstate New York, purposely choosing to live in a district where an Assembly seat would soon become open so that he could run.

He was elected to the New York State Assembly for the first time in 1986.

A Republican, Faso previously represented the 102nd district in the New York State Assembly from 1987 to 2002 and served as Assembly Minority Leader from 1998 to 2002.

Faso was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1987 to 2002.

In 1987, Faso called Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision regarding abortion rights, a "black mark upon this country."

In late 1994, Faso served on George Pataki's transition team, where he chaired the budget committee.

He became head of the team that wrote Pataki's first budget as governor.

In 1995, Faso became ranking member of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

He received the 1997 Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy Award for distinguished public service.

He was the original sponsor of charter school legislation and was involved in the passage of Governor Pataki's proposal to create charter schools in New York State in 1998.

He supported expanding the current cap on charter schools.

John Faso was elected Assembly Minority Leader in 1998.

Faso ran for New York State Comptroller in 2002 and for Governor of New York in 2006, but did not prevail in either race.

Faso's work on the state budget fueled a run for New York State Comptroller in 2002.

Initially trailing Democrat Alan Hevesi (then-Comptroller of New York City) by a 20-point margin, Faso lost the election 50%-47%.

During the campaign, Faso accused Hevesi of having mismanaged the city's pension funds.

Hevesi was later forced to resign from office and jailed in a pay-to-play scheme involving New York's state pension fund.

In 2005, Faso announced his intention to run for governor.

For the Republican nomination, Faso faced former Massachusetts Governor William Weld, former New York Secretary of State Randy Daniels, and Assemblyman Patrick Manning.

Weld reportedly offered Faso the chance to join his ticket as a candidate for lieutenant governor.

Faso received the Conservative Party's endorsement while Weld received the Libertarian Party's nomination, guaranteeing both candidates a spot on the ballot if they stayed in the race.

However, once the Republican State Convention voted to endorse Faso, Weld announced his withdrawal from the race.

Faso's running mate was former Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef.

Faso was opposed by Democratic nominee Eliot Spitzer.

On Election Day 2006, Spitzer defeated Faso 3,086,709 votes to 1,274,335 votes.

Spitzer resigned from office a year into his tenure in the midst of a prostitution scandal.

On September 14, 2015, Faso announced he would run for NY's 19th congressional district in the 2016 election.

Republican Chris Gibson, the retiring incumbent, endorsed Faso.

He won the Republican primary against Andrew Heaney, 67.5% to 32.5%.

During the general election, Faso faced academic and political activist Zephyr Teachout.

Faso was first elected to the post in 2016.

He was defeated for re-election to Congress in November 2018 by Democrat Antonio Delgado.

Faso is of Italian and Irish descent, the eldest of five siblings.

He attended Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, New York and SUNY-Brockport.

After college, Faso became a grants officer for Nassau County, New York.