Tom MacArthur

Thomas Charles MacArthur (born October 16, 1960) is an American former insurance executive and politician.

A Republican, MacArthur served on the city council of Randolph, New Jersey, from 2011 through 2013, and as its mayor in 2013.

He served on the Randolph, New Jersey, Township Council from 2011 through 2013, including a tenure as mayor in 2013.

Both bills were considered "dead," by virtue of a failure to garner approval from Republican-led subcommittees, before the final sine die Adjournment of the 114th Congress. MacArthur's legislation to reform FEMA was re-introduced in the 115th Congress and became law.

He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014.

MacArthur grew up in Hebron, Connecticut.

He received his bachelor's degree from Hofstra University.

After graduating from Hofstra, MacArthur became an insurance adjuster.

He served as the chairman and CEO of York Risk Services Group, a multi-national organization that provides insurance services.

He was chairman and chief executive officer of York Risk Services Group for 11 years.

When Jon Runyan, a Republican who represented NJ's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, announced that he would not run for reelection in 2014, MacArthur chose to run for the Republican Party nomination.

MacArthur resigned from the Randolph council to move into the congressional district, where he had owned a home.

He ran against Steve Lonegan in the Republican Party's primary election, and defeated him.

MacArthur faced Democratic nominee Aimee Belgard, a Burlington County freeholder, in the general election.

MacArthur's campaign expenditures totaled $5.6 million, with MacArthur personally contributing over $5 million to his campaign from his personal fortune.

MacArthur outspent Belgard by about three to one (with both campaigns' spending equaling a combined total of $7.4 million), making the race the most expensive open-seat contest in the country in 2014.

MacArthur defeated Belgard by nearly a 10-point margin.

He served as the U.S. representative for NJ's 3rd congressional district from 2015 to 2019.

He was sworn in on January 6, 2015, along with 58 other new members of the House of Representatives.

He was assigned to the Armed Services Committee and two of its subcommittees, the Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces and Subcommittee on Military Personnel.

MacArthur was elected Vice Chairman of the latter subcommittee.

He was also assigned to the Natural Resources Committee as well as two of its subcommittees, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands and the Subcommittee on Water, Power, and Oceans.

On February 2, 2015, MacArthur introduced the "Disaster Assistance Fairness and Accountability Act of 2015" that will prevent the Federal Emergency Management Agency from taking back disaster relief funds from individuals who applied for them in good faith.

On March 25, 2015, MacArthur introduced the "Veterans' Mental Health Care Access Act" to allow veterans with a Choice Card to access mental health care at any facility eligible for reimbursement by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

MacArthur ran for re-election in 2016.

He ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

In the general election, he faced Democrat Frederick John Lavergne.

MacArthur won the election with 60% of the vote.

At his second term MacArthur was appointed to the Committee on Financial Services and stepped down from the Armed Services Committee and the Natural Resources Committee.

He was also a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership and the Climate Solutions Caucus.

MacArthur was defeated by Democrat Andy Kim, a former national security aide to President Obama, in the midterm election on November 6.

The race was not officially called for eight days, after which Kim was declared the winner.

With a margin of victory of fewer than 4,000 votes, or slightly over one percent of votes cast, this congressional race was the closest in New Jersey.

During the campaign, MacArthur emphasized his bipartisan record, willingness to oppose his own party, and his record of constituent service, while seeking to highlight Kim's apparent exaggeration of his resume and portray him as a "radical resistance" figure.

Kim highlighted MacArthur's prominent role in the Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, while emphasizing his own experience in national security and his refusal to accept corporate PAC donations.

During the campaign, MacArthur sought to portray Kim as a D.C. elitist and outsider.

In an ad run by the New Jersey Republican Party, Kim was described as "Real Fishy" in Wonton font, a font that has been associated with expressing "Asianness," on a picture of dead fish.

MacArthur dismissed charges that the ad was racist, "Some fish on a piece of paper is suddenly racist? What is racist about a picture of fish? Now we're politicizing fonts? It's not a racist font, it's a font meant to stand out."

When MacArthur was accused of bigotry by U.S. Rep Adam Schiff in reference to another controversial ad that described Kim as "not one of us," MacArthur demanded an apology to his two adopted children, who are Korean American, and highlighted that the ad in question was not authorized by his campaign.

Committee assignments