Carolyn McCarthy

Early life

McCarthy was born Carolyn Cook in Brooklyn, New York, on January 5, 1944, and was raised in Mineola, New York, on Long Island. Her father was a boilermaker and her mother worked at Woolworth.{{cite news |author-link= Dan Barry (reporter) |access-date=July 14, 2013}} In her youth, she was an athlete and wanted to become a physical education teacher but found reading challenging and later was diagnosed with dyslexia. She then studied at the Glen Cove Nursing School. After caring for a boyfriend who was injured in a car accident and being moved by the care given to him by nursing staff, Cook decided to work as a Licensed Practical Nurse. In 1967, she married Dennis McCarthy; they had a son, Kevin, and lived in Mineola.

By 1993, both McCarthy's husband and son worked for Prudential Securities in Manhattan, and commuted on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). On December 7 of that year, Dennis McCarthy was killed and Kevin was severely injured on an LIRR train at the Merillon Avenue station in the village of Garden City, when 35-year-old Colin Ferguson opened fire on passengers.{{cite news |access-date=July 14, 2013}} Ferguson killed six and wounded 19 others.{{cite news |access-date=July 14, 2013}} Carolyn McCarthy responded to the crime by launching a campaign for more stringent gun control that eventually propelled her to Congress in 1996 on the Democratic ticket. She defeated freshman Republican Dan Frisa by a large margin. In the biographical 1998 television movie The Long Island Incident, which portrayed these events, she was played by actress Laurie Metcalf.{{cite news |access-date=July 14, 2013}}

U.S. House of Representatives

During her time in Congress, McCarthy was described as "the doyenne of anti-gun advocates in the House" and "the fiercest gun-control advocate in Congress". She made attempts to broaden her policy portfolio, but was never able to entirely shed the label of being a one-issue congresswoman. She acknowledged this, saying in 2009 that although she is also known for her education and district work, she is still the "gun lady". McCarthy was a registered Republican before her first run for Congress, although she ran for office as a Democrat and "evolved" over the years into a reliable Democratic vote. She voted with her party 98.1 percent of the time during the 111th Congress.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Education and the Workforce
  • Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training
• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
  • Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance

Caucus memberships

• Co-chair, Congressional Hearing Health Caucus
• Congressional Glaucoma Caucus
• Financial Literacy Caucus
• International Conservation Caucus
• U.S.-Israel Security Caucus
• Women's Caucus

Political positions

Gun control

McCarthy's husband Dennis was murdered in the 1993 Long Island Rail Road shooting, which first prompted her to run for Congress.

McCarthy was one of the nation's most vocal gun control advocates. In 1997, she sponsored a bill requiring trigger locks on guns.{{cite news |author-link= Dan Barry (reporter) |access-date=July 14, 2013}} After the 1997 Empire State Building shooting, she introduced legislation to ban the sale of guns to tourists visiting the United States; afterwards, she received "threats serious enough to require police protection during most public appearances".{{cite news |access-date=July 14, 2013}} Later that year, McCarthy unsuccessfully opposed a Treasury bill provision that allowed the importation of weapons that had been modified in order to be compliant with the federal assault weapons ban.{{cite news |access-date=July 14, 2013}} In the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre, McCarthy proposed a bill that would require firearms to be child-resistant, would make it more difficult for young adults to purchase guns, and would regulate gun shows.{{cite news |access-date=July 14, 2013}}{{cite news |access-date=July 14, 2013}}

After the Federal Assault Weapons Ban expired in September 2004, McCarthy introduced the Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2007 to reauthorize it in February 2007.

On April 16, 2007, after the Virginia Tech shootings, McCarthy issued a press release calling for "legislation to prevent further acts of gun violence".{{cite web |access-date= January 31, 2008 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070630171348/http://carolynmccarthy.house.gov/?sectionid=155&sectiontree=155&itemid=613 |archive-date= June 30, 2007 |access-date=March 29, 2008}} McCarthy said her next priority was closing the gun show loophole.

In January 2012, McCarthy along with Senator Dianne Feinstein from California proposed a bill which would "ban the sale, transfer, manufacturing of importation of 150 specific firearms including semiautomatic rifles or pistols that can be used with a detachable or fixed ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds and have specific military-style features, including pistol grips, grenade launchers or rocket launchers." McCarthy spoke on the bill saying, "The American people are on our side this time, and we do outnumber some of the people who are fighting against us this time."

On a 2007 episode of MSNBC's program Tucker, Tucker Carlson interviewed McCarthy about the Virginia Tech massacre and her proposed reauthorization of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. She said that the legislation would ban large capacity "clips" and "shoulder things that go up."

War in Iraq

McCarthy voted in favor of the Iraq War Resolution in 2002.{{cite web |access-date=January 31, 2008}} In 2006, she voted in support of a Republican resolution in support of the war.

Death penalty

In her 1996 race, McCarthy said she was against the death penalty but added that she wouldn't support repeal because her district supported it.{{cite news |author-link= Dan Barry (reporter) |access-date=July 14, 2013}}

Hearing loss

McCarthy was one of the strongest advocates of hearing loss detection, prevention, and treatment. A onetime nurse, she repeatedly championed the Hearing Aid Tax Credit Act, which is designed to help those with hearing loss to afford hearing aids.

Abortion

McCarthy consistently supported a pro-choice abortion platform. In 1997, McCarthy voted against a ban on late-term abortions. In 2003, she was rated 100% by NARAL, and in 2006 she was rated 0% by the NRLC; both scores indicate a strongly pro-choice stance.

Age discrimination

In 2003, McCarthy introduced legislation prohibiting companies from compelling the retirement of older employees and denying them pension and benefits.{{cite news |access-date=July 14, 2013}}

Special education

McCarthy, who had dyslexia, testified in support of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and co-sponsored an act to fund early detection of dyslexia.{{cite web |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070201051114/http://republicans.edlabor.house.gov/archive/hearings/105th/fc/special51398/mccarthy.htm |url-status= dead |archive-date= February 1, 2007 |access-date=February 5, 2008}}{{cite web |access-date=February 5, 2008}}

Children's health insurance program

In September 2007, McCarthy supported an increase of $35 billion for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the national program to provide health care for children from families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private health insurance. She said, "No child in the 4th Congressional District, Long Island, or anywhere throughout our nation should ever go without medical care."{{cite web |access-date= February 5, 2008 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080131061602/http://carolynmccarthy.house.gov/?sectionid=11&parentid=1&sectiontree=11&itemid=693 |archive-date= January 31, 2008 |access-date=July 14, 2013}}

Stem cell research

McCarthy was a supporter of federally funded stem cell research but restricted to the use of embryos that would be discarded. In 2007, she supported the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act which did just that. It passed both the House and Senate but was later vetoed by President Bush.{{cite web |access-date= February 5, 2008 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080131061443/http://carolynmccarthy.house.gov/?sectionid=11&parentid=1&sectiontree=11&itemid=28 |archive-date= January 31, 2008 |access-date=February 5, 2008}}

Financial reform

On November 4, 1999, McCarthy voted in favor of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.

Tea party

In a 2011 press release, McCarthy expressed her sentiments on the Tea Party, saying "It's time to stop letting the Tea Party hold the House of Representatives hostage." McCarthy received a rating of 8% from the American Conservative Union in 2005, and holds a lifetime ACU rating of 20%.{{cite web |access-date=January 31, 2008}} She received a "Liberal Quotient" of 90 out a possible 100 in 2005 from Americans for Democratic Action.{{cite web |access-date=January 31, 2008}} McCarthy received a "C" on the progressive Drum Major Institute's 2005 on middle-class issues.{{cite web |access-date=January 31, 2008}} In 2003, The firearm-rights advocacy organization, the National Rifle Association, rated McCarthy with an "F", indicating a pro-gun control voting record.{{cite web |access-date=January 31, 2008}}

Political campaigns

The Fourth District and its predecessors had been in Republican hands since 1953, even though Nassau County has leaned Democratic for president since 1992.{{cite web |access-date=January 31, 2008}} In 1996, the district's first-term Republican incumbent Dan Frisa was running for re-election at the time that McCarthy testified at a congressional hearing against an ultimately unsuccessful Republican attempt to repeal the Federal Assault Weapons Ban in a congressional hearing.{{cite news |access-date=July 14, 2013}}{{cite news |access-date=July 13, 2013}}

After Frisa voted for the repeal, McCarthy, a lifelong Republican,{{cite news |access-date=July 13, 2013}} announced she would run against him in the primary. However, local Republican officials showed no support for her candidacy. So, with the support of the local and national Democratic parties, and the endorsement of Newsday, the local daily newspaper, McCarthy ran as a Democrat and defeated Frisa by seventeen points.{{cite web |access-date=January 31, 2008}} Afterwards, some Republicans tried unsuccessfully to persuade her to run as a Republican in 1998.{{cite news |access-date=July 13, 2013}}

She faced a close fight for reelection in 1998 against state assemblyman Gregory Becker.{{cite news |access-date=July 14, 2013}} In 2004, she faced Hempstead mayor James Garner. The race was expected to be competitive, but McCarthy won easily, taking 63% of the vote.

Although McCarthy always served as a Democrat, she did not change her voter registration from Republican until 2003.

2010

Before the election, it was reported that Democrats were concerned that McCarthy was in danger of losing her seat. In the end, however, McCarthy defeated Republican challenger Francis X. Becker, Jr, by a margin of 54% to 46%.

Earlier in 2010, it was widely reported that McCarthy was considering entering the 2010 special senatorial election to challenge Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, owing to the latter's support for gun rights. Gillibrand had been appointed to the seat on January 23, 2009, by Governor David Paterson to succeed Hillary Clinton, who had left the Senate to become Secretary of State in the new Obama administration. McCarthy commented, saying: "I've spent 15 years trying to prevent gun violence in this country, and if he [Paterson] does pick her [Gillibrand] and if no one goes and primaries her, I will primary her." She said she would not let New York be represented by someone with a 100% rating of the NRA. On MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, McCarthy said that she thought Gillibrand was working for the NRA. On June 4, 2009, however, McCarthy announced that she would not mount a primary challenge to Gillibrand.

2012

In early 2012, there was a question as to whether redistricting might eliminate McCarthy's district. In the end, her district was left essentially intact.

Electoral history

Third-party candidates omitted, so percentages may not add up to 100%.

Illness and death

McCarthy announced on June 3, 2013, that she had a treatable form of lung cancer. Though a heavy smoker for some forty years, she publicly attributed her cancer to asbestos, and in November 2013, she announced she would sue more than 70 companies that she blamed for asbestos exposure. She said that her father and brother, whose clothes she washed, worked with asbestos. The lawsuit was criticized by New York Times columnist Joe Nocera, who claimed McCarthy was part of a growing trend of cigarette smokers suing companies that once used asbestos, citing her nearly lifelong "pack-a-day" habit as evidence that she was knowingly bringing a bogus case and partaking in a widespread "asbestos scam".{{cite news |author-link= Joe Nocera |access-date=June 23, 2015}}

McCarthy, who moved to Fort Myers, Florida after leaving Congress, died at home on June 26, 2025, at the age of 81.

Recognition

In January 2025, President Joe Biden named McCarthy as a recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal, along with nineteen others.

Notes

References

References

1. Gootman, Elissa. (April 29, 2003). "McCarthy Quietly Changes Registration". [[The New York Times]].
2. Walter, Geoffrey. (January 8, 2014). "McCarthy will not seek re-election". [[Patch Media.
3. Haberman, Clyde. (June 26, 2025). "Carolyn McCarthy, Who Turned a Gunman's Massacre Into a Crusade, Dies at 81". The New York Times.
4. (1998). "Current Biography Yearbook, 1998". [[H. W. Wilson Company]].
5. (February 24, 2009). "Stick to Your Guns, Senator". National Review.
6. (January 13, 2011). "Carolyn McCarthy unveils gun-control bill". Politico.
7. (July 24, 2012). "Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) U.S. Representative (since January 1997)". [[The Washington Post]].
8. U.S. Congress House of Representatives. "List of Standing Committees and Select Committees and Their Subcommittees of the House of Representatives of the U.S. : Together with Joint Committees of the Congress with an Alphabetical List of the Members and Their Committee Assignments".
9. "MCCARTHY, Carolyn | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives".
10. (November 15, 1997). "Clinton Imposes Import Ban on Assault Guns". Los Angeles Times.
11. Eisenberg, Carol. (January 8, 2008). "Bush signs long-stalled gun-control legislation". [[Newsday]].
12. McCarthy, Carolyn. (January 24, 2012). "Lawmakers Unveil New Assault Weapons Ban". The Washington Post.
13. (April 19, 2007). "'Tucker' for April 18 - Tucker - NBC News". NBC News.
14. Sullum, Jacob. (February 1, 2013). "One 'Assault Weapon' Banner Says Barrel Shrouds Are Sometimes OK; Another Doesn't Know What They Are".
15. "'Gun Lady' Carolyn McCarthy finally going home".
16. (March 18, 2013). "NRA mocks congresswoman whose husband died in mass shooting".
17. Palmer, J. Jioni. (June 17, 2006). "Breaking ranks on Iraq". Newsday.
18. "Carolyn McCarthy". On The Issues.
19. (November 4, 1999). ["GovTrack: House Vote on Conference Report: S. 900 106th]: Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act". [[Govtrack]].
20. "Tea Party Republicans Block Vote to Decrease Taxes for 160 Million Americans". House Bio.
21. [[Henry J. Latham]] 1953–58, [[Seymour Halpern]] 1959–63, [[John W. Wydler]] 1963–73, [[Norman F. Lent]] 1973–93, [[David A. Levy]] 1993–95, [[Daniel Frisa]] 1995–97
22. Bazinet, Kenneth R.. (October 25, 2010). "New York Democrats anxious as Long Island Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, other pols face barrafgeNew York Democrats anxious as Long Island Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, other pols face barrage". New York Daily News.
23. (November 3, 2010). "McCarthy Declares Victory". [[The New York Observer]].
24. Danny Hakim. (January 24, 2009). "Paterson Picks Gillibrand for Senate Seat". The New York Times.
25. (January 23, 2009). "New York pol fumes over Senate choice". [[Boston Herald]].
26. "150 Minutes With Carolyn McCarthy". NY News and Feature.
27. Kleefeld, Eric. (June 4, 2009). "McCarthy Not Challenging Gillibrand In 2010 Senate Primary | TPMDC". [[Talking Points Memo]].
28. Lovett, Kenneth. (February 8, 2012). "L.I. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy's district on the chopping block". New York Daily News.
29. (February 9, 2012). "Redistrict plan may put McCarthy in uphill battle". New York Daily News.
30. "News 12 Long Island General Election Results 2010".
31. "Rep. Carolyn McCarthy says she has lung cancer". WABC TV.
32. (November 15, 2013). "NY Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, a longtime smoker, sues asbestos companies over her lung cancer".
33. (April 22, 2013). "You searched for asbestos/".
34. (January 8, 2014). "Rep. Carolyn McCarthy Announces Plan to Retire from Congress at End of Term".
35. Brodsky, Robert. (June 26, 2025). "Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, former congresswoman and prominent gun control advocate, dies at 81". Newsday.
36. The White House. (January 2, 2025). "President Biden Announces Recipients of the Presidential Citizens Medal".