Eric James Joseph Massa (born September 16, 1959) is a former American politician who served as a U.S. Representative for the 29th Congressional District of New York. A Democrat, he served in Congress from January 2009 until his resignation in March 2010. Massa resigned during a pending House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct. Massa identified his declining health and the ongoing ethics investigation as the reasons for his resignation; however, he later said that there was a conspiracy "to oust him because he had voted against overhauling health care." It was reported in 2017 that Congress had paid nearly $100,000 to settle the harassment claims made by two male staffers against Massa.
Early life and career
Eric James Joseph Massa was born in Charleston, South Carolina on September 16, 1959. The son of a career naval officer, Massa grew up in various locations, including Argentina and New Orleans. After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis Massa was on active duty in the Navy for 24 years. He served in the Persian Gulf War and also served as aide to General Wesley Clark. Near the end of his Navy career, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, from which he later recovered.
Upon retirement from the military, Massa moved to Corning, New York to work for the Corning Glass Company in 2001. He lost his job due to downsizing and moved to Washington to work as a Republican staffer for the House Armed Services Committee in 2003. Massa was fired after it became known that he had written to his former boss, Democrat Wesley Clark, with advice on his presidential campaign. Thereafter, Massa joined the Democratic Party. He coordinated veterans' outreach efforts in New Hampshire and Virginia during Clark's unsuccessful 2004 presidential bid.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2006
In 2006, Massa ran for Congress in New York's 29th congressional district on the strength of his military background, which it was hoped would appeal to veterans and to independents who favor a strong defense policy. During the campaign, Massa positioned himself as strongly opposed to the Iraq war and unrestricted free trade, favoring instead fair trade. Other issues in his platform included expanding farm aid programs, as well as bringing homeland security money to the 29th District.
On Election night, incumbent Republican Rep. Randy Kuhl led Massa by a 52%-48% margin. Massa requested a recount and an accounting of absentee ballots because 6,000 votes separated the two and 10,000 were left to be counted. After a week of waiting, the ballots were approximately even and Congressman Kuhl was re-elected. Massa conceded the election with a telephone call to Congressman Kuhl.
2008
Almost immediately after conceding defeat in 2006, Massa prepared for a rematch against Kuhl in 2008. The race remained tight through the campaign; however, Massa emerged victorious, defeating Kuhl 51% to 49% (a margin of approximately 4000 votes), although Kuhl did not immediately concede defeat. All voting machines were impounded at Kuhl's request (pending a re-count), with 12,000 absentee ballots to be counted. The recount yielded a margin of victory of approximately 4,000 votes for Massa, and Kuhl conceded the race on November 21. Some press reports attributed Massa's victory to the plurality he attained among voters in Cattaraugus County, which voted for Kuhl in 2004 and 2006.
Tenure
Massa was assigned a seat on the House Armed Services Committee. He also inherited Kuhl's seat on the Agriculture Committee and was given a seat the House Homeland Security Committee.
Massa voted in favor of, and generally supported, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, but has said he finds faults with the legislation. After the act failed to generate the expected stimulus to the Southern Tier economy, Massa claimed that virtually all of the stimulus funds were funneled to the state governments and diverted to interests in New York City.
In April 2009, Massa was noted for his suggestion to close the United States-Mexico border as a response to the 2009 swine flu pandemic, which originated in Mexico. He also was a leading critic of Time Warner Cable's abortive plan to charge a tiered service rate for its high-speed Internet service.
Though he generally supported a health care reform plan, he opposed, and voted against, the plans put forth by the Obama administration, due to the cost, and preferred a single-payer health care system instead.