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Matt Doheny
Matt Doheny was a 2014 Independence Party candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 21st Congressional District of New York.[1] Doheny also ran in the Republican primary, but lost the nomination to Elise Stefanik. Since Doheny won the Independence nomination in the primary, his name would have remained on the general election ballot on November 4. Doheny stated on July 25, 2014, that he would not be actively campaigning and would instead support Stefanik, although he could not remove his name from the ballot.[2] In September 2014, the Conservative Party decided to nominate Doheny for a New York state Supreme Court judgeship in the 2nd Judicial District. Since candidates in New York cannot run for two offices at the same time, this successfully removed him from the ballot.[3][4]
Doheny was previously a 2012 Republican candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 21st Congressional District of New York. He was defeated by Bill Owens on November 6, 2012.[5]
Biography
Doheny is an investment fund manager.[6] He serves on the Board of Directors for Yellow Trucking and Kodak, and his community involvement includes being a member of the Flower Memorial Library Board of Directors and the Italian-American Civic Association.[7]
Education
Doheny attended the following academic institutions:[7]
- Alleghany College
- Cornell University Law School
Career
Doheny has served in the following positions:[7]
- Entrepreneur and founder of North Country Capital LLC
- Instructor of finance and business courses at Clarkson University and Jefferson Community College
- Member of the Jefferson County Republican Committee
Issues
2014 Conservative Party filing
In addition to the Republican and Independence parties, Doheny also tried to file with the Conservative Party. However, the New York Board of Elections declared his petition to be invalid. The investigation arose after Doheny's opponent in the Republican primary, Elise Stefanik, accused him of producing fraudulent signatures. Doheny retaliated by accusing Stefanik of the same offense, and the New York Board of Elections declared both Stefanik's Independence petition and Doheny's Conservative petition invalid.[8]
Elections
2014
The 21st Congressional District of New York held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Because incumbent Bill Owens (D) did not run for re-election, many predicted a close race between Republican, Conservative and Independence Party candidate Elise Stefanik and Democratic and Working Families Party candidate Aaron Woolf. Contrary to expectations, Stefanik defeated Woolf by a wide margin of victory, switching the partisan control of the seat from Democratic to Republican.[9]
Matt Funiciello also ran against Stefanik and Woolf on the Green ticket. Neither Woolf nor Funiciello faced competition in the primary election on June 24, 2014, while Stefanik battled with Matt Doheny for the Republican nomination. Although Doheny won the Independence Party's nomination, he was later nominated for a state Supreme Court judgeship, which removed him from the ballot and allowed the Independence Party to endorse Stefanik.
New York's 21st was considered a battleground district in 2014. Although Democratic President Barack Obama won the district by a fairly safe 6.1 percent margin of victory in 2012, Owens won by a mere 1.9 percent margin of victory that same year. In addition, with New York's 21st being an open seat in 2014, none of the candidates possessed the advantages that often come with incumbency, such as increased campaign finances and name recognition.
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Elise Stefanik |
60.8% | 16,489 | ||
| Matt Doheny | 39.2% | 10,620 | ||
| Total Votes | 27,109 | |||
| Source: New York State Board of Elections - Official Election Results |
||||
Independence nomination
After Doheny lost the Republican nomination to Elise Stefanik, he announced that he would not be actively campaigning for the general election, although he was still expected to be on the ballot because he had won the Independence Party nomination in the primary.[2] In September 2014, the Conservative Party nominated Doheny for a judgeship with the 2nd Judicial District of the New York Supreme Court, successfully removing him from the U.S. Congressional ballot.[3] If Doheny had remained on the ballot's Independence line, he would have risked splitting the Republican vote.
Media
- Doheny discussed his campaign for Congress in his first 2014 campaign ad.[10]
- American Crossroads, a conservative super PAC, released an ad opposing Doheny in early June of 2014. The ad criticized Doheny for losing three previous elections, being sued over not paying rent, being charged for boating while intoxicated and reportedly breaking labor laws.[11]
|
|
2012
Doheny ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House to represent New York's 21st District. He sought the nomination on the Republican ticket[12] and defeated recent seminary graduate Kellie Greene in the June 26 Republican primary.[13][6] The winner took on Democratic incumbent Bill Owens in the general election. He was defeated by Bill Owens on November 6, 2012.[14]
In 2010, Doheny was just under 2,000 votes short of beating Owens.[15]
Greene, an international business consultant,[16] said local Republican organizations had been dismissive of her campaign. The primary, she said, should not "be the will of the party. It’s supposed to be the will of the people." Several county Republican chairman responded. One said that Greene had not shown a strong enough campaign, and another said she did not send the campaign literature he had offered to distribute for her.[17]
On the issues, Doheny and Greene had their disagreements. Greene favored a flat tax, and while Doheny said that such a tax would be best in theory, he believed that a "flatter, simpler, fairer tax system" with no loopholes would be better in practice.[16] Regarding immigration, Doheny supported expanding H2A guest-worker visa programs, while Greene said "We don't have jobs for our own people."
Due to scheduling difficulties, the two candidates were unable to meet for a debate. Greene blamed the latest difficulty on Doheny's campaign.[18]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bill Owens Incumbent |
50.1% | 126,631 | |
| Republican | Matthew Doheny | 48.2% | 121,646 | |
| Green | Donald Hassig | 1.7% | 4,174 | |
| N/A | Write-in votes | 0% | 105 | |
| Total Votes | 252,556 | |||
| Source: New York State Board of Elections, "NYS Board of Elections Rep. in Congress Election Returns Nov. 6, 2012," accessed September 1, 2021 | ||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Matthew Doheny |
71.6% | 8,577 |
| Kellie Greene | 28.4% | 3,396 |
| Total Votes | 11,973 | |
Campaign finance summary
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Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Doheny lives in Watertown, New York, with his wife, Mary, and son, Declan.[7]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Matt+ Doheny+ New York + Congress"
See also
- United States House of Representatives
- New York's 21st Congressional District elections, 2014
- New York's 21st Congressional District
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Capitol Confidential, "Matt Doheny to launch third bid for NY-21," accessed March 11, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Syracuse Media Group, "Matt Doheny endorses rival Elise Stefanik for Congress in NY-21," accessed July 28, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 State of Politics, "Stefanik Lands Indy Line," accessed September 24, 2014
- ↑ WWNY TV, "Independence Party Backs Stefanik, Doheny Nominated For Judgeship," accessed September 24, 2014
- ↑ York ABC News, "2012 General Election Results," accessed November 6, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Watertown Daily Times, "Greene, Doheny diverge on H2A visa program," June 19, 2012
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Matt Doheny for Congress, "Meet Matt," accessed May 26, 2014
- ↑ Watertown Daily Times, "Stefanik challenges Republican opponent Doheny’s ballot petitions," accessed May 19, 2014
- ↑ Politico, "2014 New York House Election Results," accessed November 8, 2014
- ↑ YouTube, "Opportunity," accessed June 4, 2014
- ↑ National Journal, "American Crossroads Goes Negative Against Republican Candidate," accessed June 4, 2014
- ↑ Post Star, "GOP sues to remove Owens from third-party ballot line," May 1, 2012
- ↑ AP/CSPAN, "New York-Summary Vote Report," June 26, 2012
- ↑ York ABC News, "2012 General Election Results," accessed November 6, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ Central New York YNN "Doheny hopes for second shot at Republican primary," June 8, 2012
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Post Star, "Doheny details priorities and tax platform in Glens Falls visit," June 14, 2012
- ↑ Post Star, "Green says most GOP hierarchy has shunned her," June 6, 2012
- ↑ Watertown Daily Times, "GOP primary debate is off," June 21, 2012
