Prior to being elected to Congress, Lazio was appointed executive assistant district attorney for Suffolk County in 1987[5] and served in the Suffolk County Legislature from 1990 to 1993.[6][7][8][9]
In Congress, Lazio served as Deputy Majority Whip, Assistant Majority Leader, and Chairman of the House Banking Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity. He was "widely viewed as the most influential moderate in a leadership dominated by conservatives."[11] From his earliest days in Congress, Lazio made housing one of his primary issues.[12]
During his time in Congress, Lazio championed the case to award a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor to President Theodore Roosevelt for his charge up San Juan Hill in the Spanish–American War.[13] Congress eventually passed legislation asking the president to grant the honor, and President Clinton awarded the medal in January 2001.[14]
At the time, the race between Lazio and Hillary Clinton was the most expensive Senate campaign ever conducted.[16]
During a September 13, 2000 debate in Buffalo, Lazio walked across the stage to Clinton and placed a campaign pledge in front of her. That action was "perceived as bullying and chauvinistic", and it made Lazio into "an example of what not to do during a debate with a female opponent". In 2008, Lazio commented: "'At the time, I was making a point about a campaign finance pledge that Mrs. Clinton had made and I didn't feel that it was being honored. I thought that was the opportunity to make the point. On substance, it was right - and on style and perception, it was a mistake, which I regret'".[17]
On November 7, 2000, Lazio lost the Senate race to Clinton by a margin of 55%-43%.[18]
Lazio announced his candidacy for governor of New York on September 22, 2009 in Albany.[19]
On June 2, 2010, Lazio received the New York State Republican Party's designation to run for governor. However, Carl Paladino, a candidate backed by the Tea Party movement,[20] soundly defeated Lazio in the Republican gubernatorial primary on September 14, 2010.[21][22] On September 27, Lazio, who had won the Conservative Party primary, confirmed that he would drop his bid for Governor by accepting a paper candidate nomination for a judicial position in the Bronx he did not expect to win.[23]
Career outside politics
Lazio in 2015
Following his loss in the 2000 U.S. Senate election, Lazio became CEO of the Financial Services Forum. Later, he became the managing director of global real assets for JPMorgan.[24]
As of 2017, Lazio led the housing finance practice group of Jones Walker LLP.[25]
.jpg)
