Biography

Congressman Tom Reed was elected to represent the 29th District of New York in a special election held November 2, 2010. He will officially fill the vacant seat and take office on November 16, 2010 when the House reconvenes. Congressman Reed was also elected to represent the district for a full two year term beginning January 1, 2011.
Tom Reed is one of 12 children raised by Tom and Betty Barr Reed – both long-term residents of the city of Corning, NY. His father was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War. Tom attended All Saints Academy, Corning East H.S., and is a 1989 graduate of Horseheads High School. He attended Alfred University and received his undergraduate degree in Political Science. While at Alfred, Tom also was captain of the men’s swim team.
Tom then attended Ohio Northern University College of Law, graduating in 1996. He was admitted to the NYS Bar in February, 1997. Tom worked as an attorney in Rochester until 1999 when he returned to his hometown Corning, where he and his wife Jean live in the home he grew up in – the same house his grandfather built. Tom and Jean have two children, Autumn, 11, and Will, 9. He has been an attorney in private practice in Corning for nearly 10 years. Tom also is a co-owner of other businesses dealing with real estate and mortgage brokerage. He has served on many boards in the community and was elected Mayor of the City of Corning in November, 2007.
“In our family, the military ethics of honor, integrity and commitment to our nation are not just terms or concepts to be thrown around haphazardly,” Tom said. “They are beliefs to be held sacred and always respected.” Tom’s father died when young Tom was only two years old. “We watched as our mother carried on, moving the remaining five children with her to our hometown of Corning, where she raised us by herself in the home her dad, my grandfather built,” Tom said.
Tom’s wife Jean, worked as a waitress while he practiced for the bar exam and they started their family. “She also worked midnights at Strong Memorial, so I could start my legal career,” Tom recalls. In 1999, Tom moved back into the home he grew up in, opening his private practice in rented space “no bigger than our bedroom,” he said. Today, Tom employs 25 people in his businesses.
A commitment to family and friends, an enduring love for his hometown, and a deep concern about the “personal, petty political issues” he saw at City Hall were themes that likely helped propel him to the first political office he held – Mayor of Corning.
Concerning his successful bid to represent the 29th Congressional District, Tom says, “I still believe that the power of our nation, is not in the government we create, but rather the honest individuals who show up day in and day out and work for a living. We must again become a nation of personal accountability. One where our government does not guarantee success to everyone, but rather simply guarantees the individual is given the opportunity to succeed.”
Former Representative Amo Houghton is no stranger to politics, having served the 29th Congressional District for nearly two decades. “I could go on forever (about Tom Reed),” Houghton says. “I knew Tom’s grandfather. I went to school with his father. The 29th Congressional District is an extraordinary place, requiring someone who is decent, and honest, and we can be proud of,” Houghton said. “Tom is that kind of man.”