Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), of the 23rd district — which encompasses Tompkins County — was named an Honorary Chair of President Trump’s re-election campaign in New York on Jan. 15.
“I am honored to serve the president as a chairman for his New York campaign,” Reed said in a statement provided to the Ithaca Voice. “The president’s agenda of creating jobs and making America more safe and secure resonates with New Yorkers,”
Romna McDaniel, Republican National Committee chairwoman, and Brad Parscale, Trump’s campaign manager, said in a joint statement published on Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-N.Y.) re-election website: “Our New York Victory leadership team will work to elect Republicans across the state,” referring to President Trump’s campaign.
“[Trump’s] successes can be felt nationwide and electing Republicans across New York will help to ensure he can achieve more victories for the American people for many years to come,” the joint statement continued.
Reed was one of the first U.S. congressmen to endorse President Trump during the 2016 election.
“I look at Donald Trump as an opportunity, as an agent of change, as a disruptor,” he said in a 2016 interview on C-SPAN. “He’s somebody who’s going to do something in Washington.”
Reed has been a vocal opponent of the impeachment of President Trump.
Referring to Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Reed said in an MSNBC interview last November that the president “was raising the issue of corruption in sitting Vice President Biden,” calling it a “legitimate exercise of executive discretion.”
Reed faces re-election this November, when the incumbent may face Democrat Tracy Mitrano for a second time after defeating her in 2018, The Sun previously reported. While Mitrano defeated Reed within Tompkins County with nearly 75% of the vote, she lost the election to Reed’s 53.78% of the vote in the overall district, according to The Sun.
Reed has represented New York’s 23rd district since 2013, and represented New York’s 29th district from 2010 to 2013. Reed serves on the United States House Committee on Ways and Means.
Also selected to co-chair the New York campaign are Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), of Upstate New York, Reps. Peter King (R-N.Y.) and Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), who both represent sections of Long Island, as well as Dutchess County Sheriff Butch Anderson and New York City Councilman Joe Borelli (R-N.Y.), according to the Ithaca Voice.