Tim Kennedy | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's26th district | |
| Assumed office May 6, 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Brian Higgins |
| Member of theNew York State Senate | |
| In office January 1, 2011 – May 6, 2024 | |
| Preceded by | William Stachowski |
| Succeeded by | April Baskin |
| Constituency | 58th district (2011–2013) 63rd district (2013–2024) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Timothy Martin Kennedy (1976-10-20)October 20, 1976 (age 49) Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Katie Kennedy |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | D'Youville University (BS,MS) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Timothy Martin Kennedy (born October 20, 1976)[1] is an American politician who is theU.S. representative forNew York's 26th congressional district. A member of theDemocratic Party, he was elected in the April 2024special election to finish the remainder ofBrian Higgins' term in the118th United States Congress. Prior to his congressional tenure, Kennedy served in theNew York State Senate from 2011 to 2024.[2]
Kennedy was raised inSouth Buffalo, one of five children of Martin F. and Mary Kennedy. His father worked as Buffalo's commissioner of assessment and taxation, and his mother is a retired nurse who taught nursing atD'Youville University.[3][4] He received his early education at St. Martin's Elementary School, and attendedSt. Joseph's Collegiate Institute. He earned abachelor's degree and amaster's degree inoccupational therapy fromD'Youville University.[5]
From 1999 to 2010, Kennedy worked as a licensedoccupational therapist atCatholic Health.[5][6]
In late 2004, at the age of 28, Kennedy was appointed to theErie County Legislature, representing the 2nd district, afterMark J. F. Schroeder was elected to the State Assembly.[7]
In 2005, Kennedy defeated Democratic primary opponent Paul Sullivan by a vote of 65% to 35%.[8] He won 72% of the vote in the general election against his Republican opponent, Julieanne Mazurkiewicz.[9]
In 2007, Kennedy ran unopposed for a second full term to the Erie County Legislature.[10]
In 2010, Kennedy challenged incumbentWilliam Stachowski for the Democratic nomination for the 58th district in theNew York State Senate.[11] Kennedy also earned the endorsement of theConservative Party,[12] which had previously supported Stachowski.[13] Stachowski was one of eight Democratic state senators who had voted against a bill allowingsame-sex marriage in New York, while Kennedy supported it, earning him the backing ofgay rights organizations in the primary.[14][15] Kennedy ultimately defeated Stachowski by a margin of 63% to 26%.[16] amid a wave of anti-incumbent voter sentiment.[12] Stachowski remained on the ballot on theIndependence Party andWorking Families Party lines.[17]
In the 2010 general election, Kennedy defeated Republican AssemblymanJack Quinn III,[18] gaining 47% of the vote to Quinn's 45%. The remaining votes went to Stachowski.[19]
Seeking reelection in 2012, Kennedy won a primary challenge from DemocratBetty Jean Grant, prevailing by 156 votes.[20] The closeness of the election prompted a protracted court battle heard by Justice Joseph R. Glownia of theState Supreme Court.[21] Kennedy ran uncontested in the November 2012 general election and was re-elected.[22]
In 2014, Kennedy defeated Grant in a Democratic primary rematch, receiving 16,660 votes (60.2%) to Grant's 10,997 votes (39.8%).[23] The race received much attention, with campaign spending by the candidates and outside groups surpassing $1 million.[24] Kennedy received the backing of theNew York State United Teachers and realtors, while Grant received theErie County Democratic Committee endorsement[25] and help from theIndependent Democratic Conference, a breakaway group of state Senate Democrats who sided with Republicans in the Senate.[24] Kennedy's base of support was South Buffalo, Lackawanna, and Cheektowaga, while Grant's base of support was Buffalo's East Side.[26]
In the November 2014 general election, Kennedy (who ran on the Democratic, Working Families, and Independence ballot lines) defeated Ricky T. Donovan, Sr. (who ran on the Republican and Conservative ballot lines). Out of 59,094 total votes, Kennedy received 42,278 (71.5%), while Donovan received 11,973 (20.3%).[27]
In the 2016 general election, Kennedy ran unopposed on the Democratic, Working Families, Independence, andWomen's Equality ballot lines and received 89,650 votes.[28]
In 2018, Kennedy defeated Shaqurah Zachery in a Democratic primary, winning 23,640 (76.6%) of the vote.[29] He ran unopposed in the general election.[30]
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In 2011, Kennedy voted in favor of theMarriage Equality Act, which legalizedsame-sex marriage in New York.[31][32] Kennedy lost the support of the Conservative Party in 2012 following his vote on the marriage issue.[33]
Also in 2011, Kennedy authored Jay-J's Law, which sought to stiffen penalties for repeat child abusers by increasing the look back period in which someone can be charged with aggravated assault. The bill was named after Jay-J Bolvin, a young boy who suffered 11 fractured bones, a severe seizure disorder and developmental delays as a result of a severe beating from his father, who had previously been convicted of assaulting one of his other sons. The bill was passed by the legislature and later signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo in July 2013.[34]
In 2012, Kennedy introduced a package of four bills to combat theopioid epidemic in New York. One of the bills would create a prescription-monitoring system for physicians and pharmacists to track the prescription of narcotic painkillers. This proposal was made byNew York State Attorney GeneralEric Schneiderman.[35]
Kennedy ran for State Senate in 2010 as a pro-life candidate.[36] In 2013, Kennedy cast a procedural vote for the tenth point of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Women's Equality Act, which would have expanded abortion rights in New York. In February 2014, Kennedy acknowledged that his position on abortion had "evolved" and that he supported the tenth point of the Women's Equality Act; he added, "'I believe at the end of the day that a woman has to be able to make a decision upon her health, her life and her family that is in her best interests and their best interests'". Pro-choice groups praised his shift on the issue,[33] while Bishop Richard Malone of the Buffalo diocese of the Roman Catholic Church criticized him for it.[37] In 2019, Kennedy voted in favor of the Reproductive Health Act,[38] which was described byThe Buffalo News as "the most sweeping set of protections to the state’s abortion laws in 49 years".[39]
In 2013, Kennedy co-sponsored legislation to increase the stateminimum wage to $9 an hour, and automatically adjust the minimum wage to account for cost-of-living increases.[40]
In May 2013, Kennedy introduced a Jackie's Law into the Senate, which was prompted by the death ofWest Seneca woman Jackie Wisniewski, who was killed after being stalked by a former boyfriend using a GPS tracking device on her car. Kennedy's bill updated New York's stalking statutes by allowing police to pursue criminal charges against those who use electronic tracking devices to stalk victims. Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes sponsored companion legislation in the Assembly. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law in July 2014.[41]
In 2014, Kennedy introduced legislation that would limit the state's legal immunity for claims for damages. The legislation would specifically amend Section 58 of the State Highway Law, which immunizes the state from "liability for damages arising from defects in its highways" during cold-weather months. The bill proposed by Kennedy "would allow motorists to seek damages from the state for 'egregious or unreasonable' defects year-round or when it was given prior notice of a defect."[42] State AssemblymanThomas J. Abinanti filed companion legislation in the State Assembly.[42]
Kennedy has been a supporter of the legalization ofmixed martial arts (MMA) in New York, which at the time was the only U.S. state to bar MMA events.[43] Kennedy argued that MMA could economically benefitWestern New York, with events atFirst Niagara Center in Buffalo benefiting local businesses.[44] The legal status of MMA had been a state political issue for years; the state Senate passed legalization legislation seven times over six years, but the bills were not taken up by the State Assembly. Kennedy expressed disappointment at the failure to pass the legislation in 2015,[43] and welcomed passage of MMA legislation in 2016.[44]
In 2017, Kennedy supported legalizingvehicle for hire companies in all areas of New York State.[45]
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When the Democratic Party won the majority in the State Senate in 2018, Kennedy was appointed chair of the New York State Senate Transportation, Infrastructure, and Capital Investment Committee.[46] He also served on the Finance, Rules, Energy & Telecommunications, Insurance, Banks, and Social Services Committees.[5]
In his first year chairing of the Senate Transportation Committee, Kennedy secured $100 million for theNiagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) Buffalo Metro Rail System.[47] Kennedy was one of the main players in getting a newAmtrakBuffalo–Exchange Street station built.
In 2019, Kennedy convened a Transportation Committee hearing about Limousine Safety, where families of victims of the Schoharie County and Suffolk County limousine crashes testified.[48] Subsequently, the New York State Senate passed a package of bills designed to improve bus and limousine safety.[49]
Also in his first year as chairman of the Transportation Committee, Kennedy authored legislation that became law allowing school districts to install cameras on the back of school buses to catch vehicles illegally and dangerously passing stopped buses.[50]
During his tenure as Transportation Committee chair, he secured historic investments in local roads and bridges, through the CHIPS, PAVE NY and BRIDGE NY programs.[51]
In 2020, Kennedy passed legislation that became law to allow striking workers to collect unemployment insurance after two weeks, when striking workers previously had to wait seven weeks prior to filing for unemployment.[52]
In 2022, after theracist shooting at Tops grocery store in Buffalo, Kennedy supported a "landmark legislative package to immediately strengthen the state's gun laws, close critical loopholes exposed by shooters in Buffalo and Uvalde and protect New Yorkers from the scourge of gun violence that continues to infect our nation and endanger our communities."[53]
On November 14, 2023, Kennedy announced that he would run for the soon-to-be vacated congressional seat held at the time byBrian Higgins.[54] He won the election on April 30, 2024, defeating Republican nominee Gary Dickson.[55] Kennedy received 68.6% of the vote to Dickson's 31.3%.[56]
Kennedy was sworn into the U.S. House of Representatives on May 6, 2024.[57]
The first bill Kennedy cosponsored was H.R. 2530, the Nurse Staffing Standards for Patient Safety and Quality Care Act. In his first floor speech, he highlighted the need for safe staffing nurse-to-patient ratios.[58]
On the second anniversary of theracist shooting at Tops grocery store in Buffalo, Kennedy honored the victims in a 30-minute special order proceeding where he was joined byRep. Jim Clyburn.[59] He also introduced legislation withRep. Grace Meng to ban the sale of enhanced body armor, which was used by the shooter in Buffalo.[60]
Kennedy voted for a resolution on June 9, 2025 that expressedgratitude toUnited States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during theJune 2025 Los Angeles protests.[61]
He voted totable thearticles of impeachment introduced by Rep.Al Green against presidentDonald Trump on June 24, 2025.[62]
Kennedy lives in Buffalo with his wife Katie and their three children.[6]
He isRoman Catholic[37] and hasIrish heritage.[63]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tim Kennedy | 44,411 | 62.60% | +4.80 | |
| Working Families | Tim Kennedy | 3,639 | 5.13% | −0.97 | |
| Total | Tim Kennedy | 48,050 | 67.73% | +3.83 | |
| Republican | Gary Dickson | 16,859 | 23.76% | −4.94 | |
| Conservative | Gary Dickson | 5,123 | 7.22% | −0.08 | |
| Total | Gary Dickson | 21,982 | 30.98% | −5.02 | |
| Write-in | 159 | 0.22% | +0.12 | ||
| Total votes | 70,946 | 100.0% | |||
| Democratichold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tim Kennedy | 190,668 | 59.4 | |
| Working Families | Tim Kennedy | 18,463 | 5.8 | |
| Total | Tim Kennedy (incumbent) | 209,131 | 65.2 | |
| Republican | Anthony Marecki | 95,035 | 29.6 | |
| Conservative | Anthony Marecki | 16,737 | 5.2 | |
| Total | Anthony Marecki | 111,772 | 34.8 | |
| Total votes | 320,903 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 26th congressional district 2024–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 365th | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| People | |
