Tom Marino

Thomas Anthony Marino (born August 13, 1952) is an American politician and attorney, who served as a United States Representative from Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2019.

Marino was born on August 13, 1952, and raised in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.

After graduating from high school, Marino went to work in the factories of central Pennsylvania.

At age 30, Marino enrolled in the former Williamsport Area Community College (now Pennsylvania College of Technology).

Marino would then transfer to Lycoming College, where he graduated magna cum laude, before completing his J.D. degree at Dickinson School of Law.

It lost its suburban territory closer to Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, in the process losing its last connection to longtime congressman Joseph McDade, who represented the district from 1961 to 1999.

To make up for the loss in population, it was pushed slightly westward to take in State College, home to Penn State.

The new district was no less Republican than its predecessor, and Marino easily won a fifth term, defeating Democrat Marc Friedenberg with 66 percent of the vote.

After beginning his legal career in private practice, Marino served as a Lycoming County District Attorney from 1992 to 2002.

In 2002, Marino was appointed the United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania by President George W. Bush.

During his tenure as U.S. Attorney, Marino led the prosecution of executives of Rite Aid for criminal fraud.

The company's former president pleaded guilty to conspiring to inflate income by $1.6 billion and conspiring to obstruct justice.

On October 12, 2007, Marino resigned from his role as U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

In 2007, the new U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Peter Smith, confirmed that neither Marino, nor his office, were ever under review or investigation.

Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district, located in central and northeastern Pennsylvania, includes Bradford County, Juniata County, Lycoming County, Mifflin County, Pike County, Snyder County, Sullivan County, Susquehanna County, Union County, Wayne County, and portions of Perry County, Tioga County, Lackawanna County, Monroe County, and Northumberland County.

In 2010, Marino decided to challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Chris Carney of Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district.

He won the three-candidate Republican primary with 41% of the vote, defeating Dave Madeira (31%) and Snyder County Commissioner Malcolm Derk (28%).

On November 2, 2010, Marino defeated Carney 55-45%.

He represented the PA's 10th congressional district from January 3, 2011 to January 3, 2019, and the PA's 12th congressional district from January 3 to January 23, 2019, when he resigned to work in the private sector.

A member of the Republican Party, Marino was the United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in his early career.

In 2011, Marino became a co-sponsor of Bill H.R.3261, also known as the Stop Online Piracy Act.

In 2012, Marino won re-election to a second term, defeating Democratic nominee Philip Scollo 66%–34%.

Marino ranked third among Pennsylvania's congressional delegation in Americans for Prosperity's 2012 scorecard (70%) and fifth in the Club for Growth's 2012 scorecard (63%).

Marino was a member of the House Baltic Caucus.

In July 2013, Marino voted against Justin Amash's amendment #413 to H.R. 2397 "To end authority for the blanket collection of records under the Patriot Act and bar the NSA and other agencies from using Section 215 of the Patriot Act to collect records, including telephone call records, that pertain to persons who are not subject to an investigation under Section 215."

In 2014, Marino faced off against Independent Nick Troiano and Democrat Scott Brion.

Marino garnered 62% of the vote with Troiano received 13% and Brion received 25%.

A former supporter of President Donald Trump, who was co-chair of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign in Pennsylvania, Marino broke with Trump in 2022.

This came after Trump's decision not to endorse former Congressman Lou Barletta in the Republican primary election for Governor of Pennsylvania.

On September 1, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Marino to be Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, commonly known as the "drug czar".

He withdrew on October 17, 2017, following reports that he had been the chief architect behind a bill that protected pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors and crippled the DEA's ability to combat the U.S. opioid epidemic.

After a court-ordered redistricting, Marino's district was renumbered as the 12th District ahead of the 2018 elections.

Two weeks after being sworn in for his fifth term, Marino announced his resignation from Congress, effective January 23, 2019, to work in the private sector.

On January 17, 2019, two weeks after being sworn in for a new term, Marino announced his resignation from the House, to be effective January 23, 2019.

Marino described his decision to resign as follows: "Having spent over two decades serving the public, I have chosen to take a position in the private sector where I can use both my legal and business experience to create jobs around the nation."

Marino's resignation required a special election to be called by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf via a writ of election within 10 days of Marino's resignation becoming effective on January 23, 2019.

Per Pennsylvania law, the special election had to occur no fewer than 60 days following the gubernatorial proclamation being made.

On May 21, 2019, Republican state representative Fred Keller won the special election with 68.1% of the vote, defeating Marino's 2018 Democratic opponent Marc Friedenberg, and succeeded Marino in Congress.

Marino supported the death penalty.

He believed that the mentally ill and criminals should not be able to obtain guns.