Rob Andrews

Early life, education, and early career

Andrews was born in Camden, New Jersey, the son of Josephine (née Amies) and Ernest Andrews; he is predominantly of Scottish and Scotch-Irish descent and counts American portrait painter Charles Willson Peale and Johannes Roosevelt among his ancestors. He grew up in Bellmawr and attended Triton Regional High School in Runnemede. Andrews was the first in his family to attend college, graduating from Bucknell University in 1979 with a BA in political science, summa cum laude. He later attended Cornell University Law School, earning his JD degree with honors in 1982. Before his election to Congress, Andrews was involved in legal education as a member of Cornell Law Review‍‍ '‍s board of editors.

He worked as an attorney and an adjunct professor at the Rutgers School of Law–Camden. Starting in 1983, Andrews operated a private legal practice. In 1986, he was elected as a member of the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders, where he served for four years, including two years as freeholder director (1988–1990).

U.S. House of Representatives

First elected to Congress in 1990, Andrews served for 24 years as the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional district, which includes most of Camden County and parts of Burlington County and Gloucester County. In the U.S. House of Representatives, he served on the Committee on Armed Services, Committee on the Budget, and Committee on Education and Labor, where he served as chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.

Elections

In 1990, after 15-year incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman James Florio resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives to take office as Governor of New Jersey, Andrews won the 1990 special election and simultaneous general election against Gloucester County Freeholder Daniel J. Mangini. He subsequently won re-election every two years until his retirement. Andrews had the 10th longest tenure among U.S. Representatives in New Jersey history, and the fifth longest among Democrats in the state. In November 2004, he received more votes than anyone ever elected to the U.S. House from New Jersey, a record which he broke again in 2008 and 2012.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
  • Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
• Committee on Education and the Workforce
  • Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training
  • Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (Ranking Member)
• Co-Chairman of the Steering and Policy Committee

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Arts Caucus
• Congressional Fire Services Caucus
• Hunger Caucus

Tenure

The New York Times characterized Andrews as "fiscally conservative but socially moderate." He has a lifetime rating of 17.24 from the American Conservative Union and a 2007 rating of 100 from Americans for Democratic Action. He has a liberal rating of 76.2 and a conservative rating of 23.8 from the National Journal.

According to President Barack Obama, he was an original author of the Affordable Care Act.

Alleged misuse of campaign funds

On December 2, 2008, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint against Andrews and four other politicians to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for allegedly violating the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). In the complaint, CREW stated that Andrews's campaign committee spent $952.04 of campaign funds on clothing, which FECA classified as personal spending. A spokesman for Andrews responded that the clothing was intended to replace lost luggage from a flight, and that Andrews deposited $952.04 into his campaign account after the airline reimbursed him. The FEC dismissed the complaint on July 16, 2009, but affirmed in the dismissal that the purchases violated campaign finance laws.

The Star-Ledger reported on November 20, 2011, that Andrews financed a family vacation to Edinburgh, Scotland, and other European destinations with over $9,000 of campaign funds. The report claimed that Andrews "mixed personal and political expenses in an unorthodox way" on multiple occasions. These expenses included a $10,000 house party celebrating both his career anniversary and his daughter's graduation, a $12,500 donation to the Walnut Street Theatre – where his daughter performed, and trips to California that overlapped with his daughter's auditions. Andrews and his chief of staff replied that the vacation involved attending an adviser's wedding, the party was primarily for "political associates", the theater donation was in support of its outreach program, and his daughter assisted him with fundraising during their trips.

CREW filed another compliant with the FEC on November 30, 2011, based on The Star-Ledgers article. Andrews described the complaint as "baseless" and stated, "The campaign has fully complied with all laws with respect to the proper expenditure and disclosure of campaign funds. All personal aspects of any expenditures or activities have always been paid in full from our family's personal funds." The Associated Press elaborated on March 28, 2012, that Andrews's 18 trips to California from 2007 to 2012 resulted in over $97,000 of campaign expenses and $260,000 of donations, short of the 3:1 ratio of donations to expenses that is expected from political fundraising trips.

The United States House Committee on Ethics started researching the complaint on July 17, 2012, and decided on August 31 that it would proceed with an investigation. On March 19, 2013, the Committee declared that a special panel would examine whether Andrews's travel expenses from the Edinburgh and California trips complied with campaign finance laws. Andrews resigned from Congress on February 4, 2014. He said that the campaign finance probe had "no role at all" in his resignation, and that he was departing for a position at the Dilworth Paxson law firm. The FEC dismissed the complaint on June 3, 2014, with "prosecutorial discretion", noting that Andrews reimbursed his campaign for the Edinburgh trip before he received the complaint, and that any violations in the California trips were "relatively small". The complaint was dismissed in June 2014.

Other political activities

In 1997, Andrews ran for Governor of New Jersey. In the Democratic primary, he was defeated 40%–37%, a margin of 9,993 votes, by State Senator Jim McGreevey. Andrews was a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 U.S. Senate election. Andrews lost to incumbent Frank Lautenberg, but subsequently won re-election to his House seat, with Andrews "[receiving] more votes in November 2008 than anyone ever elected to the U.S. House in New Jersey, breaking his own record."

Personal life

Andrews is married and has two daughters. He is an Episcopalian.

Electoral history

References

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2. [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=a000210 Robert Ernest Andrews], ''[[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]]''. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
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4. Sipress, Alan. (November 7, 1990). "Andrews Holds Off Mangini's Challenge Captures Seat In Congress Held For Years By Florio". [[Philadelphia Inquirer]].
5. Ostermeier, Eric. (February 4, 2014). "Andrews Exits US House with Top 10 Longest Tenure in New Jersey History". Smart Politics.
6. "Biography". Congressman Robert E. Andrews.
7. "Pelosi Announces Steering and Policy Committee Co-Chairs, Members | Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi".
8. "Congressional Fire Services Caucus - Congressional Fire Services Institute".
9. [http://www.house.gov/andrews/about_biography.shtml Robert E. Andrews - First District of New Jersey] {{webarchive. link. (April 28, 2007)
10. (May 10, 2008). "2007 Votes by State Delegation".
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12. (February 4, 2014). "Statement from the President on the Retirement of Congressman Rob Andrews". [[whitehouse.gov]].
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14. Theimer, Sharon. (December 3, 2008). "Andrews campaign's spending criticized". [[The Philadelphia Inquirer]].
15. Sloan, Melanie. (December 2, 2008). "Federal Election Commission Complaint".
16. Grim, Ryan. (December 2, 2008). "Handful of candidates spent campaign money on clothes".
17. (December 2, 2008). "Group: Several Got Campaign-Funded Clothes". [[Associated Press]].
18. (July 16, 2009). "FEC: No clothes-buying with campaign funds". [[Associated Press]].
19. Lebeaux, Susan L.. (July 14, 2009). "RE: MUR 6140 – Robert E. Andrews".
20. Friedman, Matt. (November 20, 2011). "South Jersey congressman spent $9,000 from campaign funds on donor's wedding".
21. "CREW Files Second FEC Complaint Against Rep. Rob Andrews".
22. Sloan, Melanie. (November 30, 2011). "Federal Election Commission Complaint".
23. Friedman, Matt. (December 1, 2011). "D.C. watchdog group: N.J. Rep. Rob Andrews 'knowingly and willfully' violated law in campaign funds controversy".
24. (March 28, 2012). "Campaign funds for personal trips?". [[Associated Press]].
25. Bresnahan, John. (July 17, 2012). "Andrews ethics case advances".
26. O'Keefe, Ed. (August 31, 2012). "House Ethics Committee continues probing Rob Andrews for improper using of campaign funds". [[The Washington Post]].
27. Jackson, Henry C.. (March 19, 2013). "Ethics committee investigates Reps. Young, Andrews".
28. Horowitz, Jason. (February 4, 2014). "Amid Ethics Inquiry, South Jersey Democrat Is Giving Up House Seat for a New Job". The New York Times.
29. Tamari, Jonathan. (February 4, 2014). "Rob Andrews to leave Congress".
30. Friedman, Matt. (February 4, 2014). "U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews says investigation played 'no role' in resignation".
31. O'Keefe, Ed. (February 4, 2014). "N.J. Democrat Rob Andrews to resign from Congress". [[The Washington Post]].
32. Friedman, Matt. (June 3, 2014). "Complaint against Rob Andrews for alleged misuse of campaign funds is dismissed".
33. Walsh, Jim. "FEC rejects complaint against Andrews".
34. "MUR #6511".
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37. Pulley, Brett. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03E1DD103DF937A35755C0A961958260 "McGreevey Wins Democratic Nod for Governor"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', June 4, 1997. Retrieved November 28, 2007.
38. "Robert E. Andrews (D-N.J.) - The Washington Post". [[The Washington Post]].
39. [http://camlaw.rutgers.edu/bio/912/ Profile of Camille Spinello Andrews] from [[Rutgers School of Law - Camden]]. Retrieved December 23, 2006.
40. "THE RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION OF EACH MEMBER OF CONGRESS". Pew Research Center.
41. "Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives.
42. "New Jersey's 1st Congressional District elections, 2012".