In2014, Tenney challenged incumbent U.S. RepresentativeRichard L. Hanna in the Republican primary and lost. Tenney was elected to Congress in2016 after Hanna retired. In2018, Tenney's unsuccessful race againstDemocratic Party candidateAnthony Brindisi attracted national attention due to its competitiveness and due to controversial public statements Tenney had made earlier that year. Tenney's rematch against Brindisi in2020 was even closer than her 2018 race, leading to a lengthy recount. By the time the judge overseeing the recount ruled in Tenney's favor, the117th United States Congress had already been in session for a month.
Tenney is an outspoken supporter of PresidentDonald Trump. She has introduced legislation to make Trump's birthday a federal holiday.
Tenney was born and raised inNew Hartford, New York. Her parents were New York State Supreme Court Justice John R. Tenney and Cynthia Tenney. She attended New Hartford High School, where she played basketball and curling and competed in horseback riding.[1] Tenney received a B.A. fromColgate University in 1983 and a J.D. from theUniversity of Cincinnati College of Law in 1987.[2]
Tenney was a co-owner of Mid-York Press, a commercial printing company started by her mother's family in 1946. Mid-York Press is inSherburne, inChenango County.[4]
Tenney maintained a private law practice in Clinton. Before owning her own firm, she was a partner at theUtica-area law firm of Groben, Gilroy, Oster and Saunders.[3]
In January 2001, Tenney began co-hostingCommon Cents, a radio and television program that aired weekly across Oneida and most ofHerkimer County. In February 2010, she began co-hosting "First Look" onWIBX 950 Radio.[5]
In 2002, New York State AssemblymanDavid R. Townsend Jr. won reelection and asked Tenney to become hislegal counsel andChief of Staff. Though she was going through a divorce at the time, she agreed to take the positions part-time so she could continue operating her law practice and her family-owned newspaper.[6]
In 2009, Tenney ran forOneida CountySurrogate Court Judge as a Republican against incumbent Democrat Louis Gigliotti. She received 45% of the vote to Gigliotti's 55%.[7]
After Townsend launched a campaign for Oneida County Sheriff in 2010, Tenney decided to run for his Assembly seat. She defeated Oneida County Legislator George Joseph in the September Republican primary and was unopposed in theNovember general election,[8][9] becoming the first woman to represent the district.[10]
Tenney represented the 115th Assembly District from 2011 to 2013 and the 101st Assembly District from 2013 to 2017.[11] In 2011, Tenney voted against theMarriage Equality Act.[12] In 2012, Tenney was one of 18 cosponsors of the Internet Protection Act, a bill intended to fight online bullying, which did not pass.[13][14][15][16] Also in 2012, theConservative Party of New York State gave her an award for being the state's most conservative legislator.[17] She voted against the 2013 gun control law known as theNY SAFE Act, which she called an "assault on upstaters."[18] In 2014, theNew York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) claimed Tenney had missed 480 votes, the third-highest number of any assemblymember.[19]WRVO, aNational Public Radio affiliate inOswego, fact-checked NYPIRG's claim and found that she had a 95% attendance record from 2011 to 2016 and had missed 6% of the votes taken during that period.[20]
According to Syracuse.com, "Tenney was a vocal critic of a revenue-sharing deal theTurning Stone Resort Casino inVerona signed with New York state in 2013, in which the Oneida Indian National won exclusive rights to run casinos in a 10-county region of Central New York." Later, a Super PAC "with ties to the Oneida Indian nation" opposed her 2014 and 2016 congressional bids.[21] Tenney voted against the 2013 state constitutional amendment that authorized full-fledged casinos on non-Indian lands.[22]
In 2014, Tenney ran for the Republican nomination for New York's 22nd congressional district, losing the June 24 primary to incumbent Republican Richard L. Hanna by six points, 53% to 47%.[23] Tenney ran to the right of Hanna.[24]
Tenney again sought election to Congress from the 22nd District in the 2016 elections. Hanna retired weeks later, denying that the prospect of a primary rematch with Tenney was a factor.[25] Tenney was endorsed by theConservative Party of New York State, the pro-lifeSusan B. Anthony List, theCitizens United Victory Fund,[26] and New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms PAC.[27] Hanna did not endorse her.[28]
Tenney won a three-way Republican primary on June 28, 2016.[29] She defeated Democrat Kim Myers and Independent/Reform Party candidate Martin Babinec in the November general election with 44% of the vote to Myers's 39% and Babinec's 13%.[30][31]
On March 3, 2018, Tenney confirmed that she would seek reelection in 2018.[32] TheDemocratic Party nominated New York State Assemblymember Anthony Brindisi of nearbyUtica, who had served alongside Tenney in the Assembly.[33] Brindisi outraised Tenney, ending the year with $581,851 to Tenney's $573,486.[34] In March 2018,The Hill wrote that Tenney was "embracing President Trump's confrontational style."[35] In August, Trump spoke at a fundraiser for Tenney in Utica, the first time a president had visited the Mohawk Valley in nearly 70 years.[36]
On election night, Brindisi led by 1,293 votes.[37] By November 20, Brindisi's lead grew to over 3,900 votes, exceeding the number of outstanding absentee ballots.[38][39][40] On November 21, Tenney told local radio stationWUTQ-FM that it was unlikely she would overtake Brindisi, and agreed to help with the transition, but said that she wanted to see every ballot counted.[41] She conceded a week later, on November 28.[42] Her defeat made New York's 22nd congressional district the most pro-Trump congressional district in the nation flipped by a Democrat in 2018.[43]
Tenney sought election to Congress in New York's 22nd congressional district once again in 2020.[44] She won the Republican primary and challenged incumbent Anthony Brindisi in the general election. As of December 2, Tenney held a 12-vote lead in the general election; the race was one of two U.S. House races that remained unresolved.[45] On December 8, a New York state judge ordered a districtwide recanvass of all ballots, including provisional ballots and disputed ballots that were not included in the original count.[46]
On February 5, 2021, Tenney was declared the winner of the election by 109 votes.[47] She appeared to get a boost from former President Donald Trump, who won the district with 54.7% of the vote.[48] She assumed office on February 11, 2021, nearly a month after most of her colleagues were sworn in.[49]
Initial redistricting maps split NY-22 between several different districts.[50] Tenney announced that she would run in the new 23rd district, which covers the western part of theSouthern Tier. Although Tenney did not live in that district, she pointed out that her family's business was based inChenango County.[51] However, the initial redistricting maps were challenged in court and replaced with maps drawn by aspecial master. Tenney announced that she would instead run in the 24th district, which runs along theLake Ontario coast; she does not reside in that district either.[52] She won the Republican primary with 54% of the vote,[53] and handily won election in the strongly Republican district with 64% of the vote.[54]
During the 2021-22 campaign fundraising period, Tenney received $28,750 from theAmerican Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying group, which was her top contributor.[55] During the same period, she received approximately $2 million from a combination of large individual contributions and PACs, accounting for 63.64% of total fundraising. Tenney did not self-finance.[56]
In a radio interview shortly after the February 2018Stoneman Douglas High School shooting inParkland, Florida, Tenney baselessly claimed that "so many of these people that commit the mass murders end up being Democrats".[57][58][59] In a follow-up interview, she said, "This problem occurs across all sectors, with all types of people. It isn't just Republicans who commit all these terrible crimes. It is across all sectors and it is people who are typically mentally unstable who are committing a lot of the crimes that we're seeing."[60]
Whenreports emerged thatSecretary of Housing and Urban DevelopmentBen Carson's office had ordered a $31,000 dining room table set with taxpayer funds, Tenney blamed the "deep state" for the expenditure, adding, "I know that Ben Carson did not order that table. It has nothing to do with him. He comes from, you know, poverty."[61][62]
In March 2017, Tenney voted to reverse theFCC privacy rule that blockedISPs from selling customer browsing history without customers' permission.[63][64][65]
In November 2017, Tenney introduced the No Pensions for Corrupt Politicians Act, which would "close a loophole that has allowed corrupt members of Congress to collect federal pensions after they are convicted of crimes."[66]
In April 2018, Tenney signed a letter calling for criminal investigations into a number of former Obama administration officials and high-ranking Justice Department officials. The letter accused former FBI DirectorJames Comey of leaking classified information, 2016 presidential candidateHillary Clinton of concealing payments for theSteele Dossier, andLoretta Lynch of threatening whistle-blowers who had anti-Clinton information. The letter also accused former acting attorney generalSally Yates, former deputy FBI directorAndrew McCabe, former acting Deputy Attorney GeneralDana Boente, former senior counterintelligence officialPeter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page of criminal wrongdoing.[67]
In the fall of 2022, after an attacker fractured the skull ofPaul Pelosi, the husband of House SpeakerNancy Pelosi, Tenney and other Republican politicians circulated a baseless allegation that the attacker was a male prostitute. On her Twitter account, Tenney posted a doctored photograph of a group of young men holding hammers next to a gay pride flag and added the comment "LOL".[69][70][71]
In September 2024, Tenney sponsored bill H.R. 9495, "Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act",[72] which would allow the U.S. Treasury Secretary to designate any nonprofit as a “terrorist supporting organization” and revoke its tax-exempt status.[73][74] The bill has been opposed byAmerican Civil Liberties Union[75] and other organizations,[76] who have argued that it could be invoked to punish political opponents and stifle free speech.[74][77]
At a January 5, 2021 rally in Georgia, then-President Trump falsely claimed the votes in Tenney's race against Anthony Brindisi were being counted fraudulently (at the time, the Tenney-Brindisi race was the nation's only uncalled 2020 congressional race). Tenney shared a video of Trump's speech and did not challenge or dispute Trump's claims.[79]
Tenney condemned the2021 United States Capitol attack.[80][81] In February 2021, Tenney said she did not know whether she would havevoted to count the electoral votes from the states Biden won in 2020, but that she would have voted against Trump'ssecond impeachment.[80] In May 2021, Tenney said the following about the 2020 presidential election: "'No one knows about what happened in the election... We don’t know if it was stolen or not, (Cheney) doesn’t know, I don’t know, the President doesn’t know. But what I know is we need to fix it'".[82]
In February 2025, Tenney introduced a bill to make Donald Trump's birthday a federal holiday.[83]
On May 4, 2017, Tenney voted for theAmerican Health Care Act (AHCA), a bill that passed the House of Representatives and died in the Senate.[84] It would have rewritten many regulations of theAffordable Care Act (ACA) and eliminated theindividual mandate and federal protections for preexisting conditions in favor of high-risk pools.[85][86] Tenney also voted for a portion of the AHCA that targetedMedicaid funding by prohibiting Medicaid-related property taxes. The provision applied only to New York State, and only to counties outside of New York City.[87][88] Tenney argued the overall bill would lower insurance costs, including insurance premiums and related taxes.[87]
In 2021, amid theCOVID-19 pandemic, Tenney opposed the Biden administration's vaccine mandate for companies with more than 100 employees, calling it "unconstitutional".[89]
In April 2025, Tenney traveled to El Salvador[101][102] and received a tour ofCentro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), a maximum security prison used by theTrump administration to hold U.S. immigrants forcibly removed from the United States, including immigrants likeKilmar Abrego Garcia who were illegally abducted and transported to the prison. After visiting the CECOT prison camp, Tenney did not call for the repatriation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.[103]
Tenney was one of the 14 co-sponsors of the "Protect Children's Innocence Act", which would make giving transgender minorsgender-affirming care a class C felony.[104]
In 2017, Tenney co-sponsored legislation that would substantially eliminateNational Firearms Act restrictions on obtaining or possessing gunsilencers. After the2017 Las Vegas shooting, she said she still planned to support the bill.[106]
Tenney is a resident of New Hartford, New York. She and her ex-husband, Wayne Cleary Jr., have one son, Wayne "Trey" Ralph Cleary III.[108] In 2009, the younger Cleary received an appointment to theU.S. Naval Academy.[109] He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in theUnited States Marine Corps in May 2013.[110]
^Kraus, Jeffrey (2018). "New York's 19th, 22nd, and 24th Congressional Districts: Republicans Hold On in One of the Bluest of States". In Foreman, Sean D.; Godwin, Marcia L. (eds.).The Roads to Congress 2016: American Elections in a Divided Landscape. Cham: Springer International. pp. 155–177.doi:10.1007/978-3-319-58094-4_11.ISBN978-3-319-58094-4.
^Kraus, Jeffrey (2020). "New York's 19th and 22nd Congressional Districts: The Blue Wave Overwhelms the Red Tide". In Foreman, Sean D.; Godwin, Marcia L.; Wilson, Walter Clark (eds.).The Roads to Congress 2018: American Elections in the Trump Era. Cham: Springer International. pp. 173–194.doi:10.1007/978-3-030-19819-0_10.ISBN978-3-030-19819-0.S2CID202196031.
^Richardson, Heather Cox (April 17, 2025)."April 16, 2025".Letters from an American.Archived from the original on April 17, 2025. RetrievedApril 17, 2025.
