Frank LoBiondo

Early life, education, and business career

Born in Bridgeton, New Jersey, LoBiondo attended Georgetown Preparatory School, and received a B.A. in Business Administration from Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He worked for twenty-six years in a family-owned trucking company.

Early political career

LoBiondo served on the Cumberland County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1985 to 1987. In 1987, he was elected to NJ's 1st Legislative district in the lower chamber of the New Jersey General Assembly and served from 1988 to 1994. He won re-election in 1989, 1991, and 1993.

Elections

In 1992, LoBiondo ran for the U.S. House of Representatives, but was defeated by incumbent Democrat William Hughes by a wide margin. When Hughes declined to run for re-election in 1994, LoBiondo ran again and was elected to the House. He was a member of the Republican "freshman class" elected in the 1994 midterm election and was part of Speaker Newt Gingrich's Contract with America. Since then, he has won every re-election bid with at least 59% of the vote even though he represents a district that is marginally Democratic on paper. In 2012, his district gave President Barack Obama 54% of the vote.

LoBiondo is running for re-election to the U.S. House in 2014. He won the Republican nomination in the primary election on June 3, 2014. He will face Democrat William J. Hughes in the general election.

He has been endorsed by Gov. Chris Christie, the Laborers’ International Union of North America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the New Jersey State Building & Construction Trades Council, and the New Jersey State Fraternal Order of Police.

Lobiondo was reelected to the U.S. House in 2016. He did not have a challenger in the Republican primary and was victorious over Democrat David Cole in the general election.

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Political positions

As of March 1, 2017, LoBiondo has voted with his party in 91.4% of votes so far in the current session of Congress and voted in line with President Trump's position in 85.7% of the votes.

LoBiondo is a member of the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership. His record on several issues, particularly the environment, fits a moderate Republican. In 2005, National Journal ranked him as the most liberal Republican representative in New Jersey and more liberal than most of New York's Republican congressional representatives. Americans for Democratic Action in 2005 placed him in a higher liberal quotient than most of the Republican representatives in those two states.

LoBiondo was ranked as the 13th most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 114th United States Congress (and the most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey) in the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy that ranks members of the United States Congress by their degree of bipartisanship (by measuring the frequency each member's bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party and each member's co-sponsorship of bills by members of the opposite party).

Abortion

LoBiondo opposes abortion. One of the first votes he casts in almost every congressional session (in which Republicans are in the majority) is to restrict access to abortion services. This vote repeatedly occurs before votes on any other topic (i.e. terrorism, budget, defense, etc.).

Chris Christie and the Fort Lee lane closure scandal

When asked in early January 2017 to comment on the Fort Lee lane closure scandal, which had embroiled Governor Chris Christie and his aides, LoBiondo repeatedly declined to comment. LoBiondo later claimed that he had no knowledge of the allegations against Christie beyond what the newspapers were reporting. That same week in January 2014, Christie strongly endorsed LoBiondo and "promised to throw the full power of his political machine behind the congressman’s reelection bid".

Donald Trump

He endorsed Donald Trump in early 2016, rescinded his endorsement in October 2016 after the Donald Trump and Billy Bush recording surfaced, but ultimately ended up voting for him anyway.

Economy

He voted against the $15 billion bailout for GM and Chrysler in 2008. In early 2008, he voted against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which was developed in response to the Great Recession and aimed to save existing jobs and create new ones.

Environment and energy

In February 2017, he voted in favor of repealing a rule which required that energy companies disclose their payments to foreign governments. In February 2017, he voted to repeal a rule that required coal companies to restore streams and mined areas to their pre-development conditions.

Foreign policy

LoBiondo supported the Iraq War. In 2013 LoBiondo opposed Obama's request for congressional authorization to use force against the Assad regime in Syria, but in 2017 supported Trump's use of force without the latter consulting congress.

Gambling

In 2012, LoBiondo, along with Democratic congressman Frank Pallone, introduced legislation allowing states to legalize sports betting, then only allowed in four states, arguing it would strengthen Atlantic City as a venue for tourists’ dollars.

Healthcare

He is in favor of repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and voted in favor of the resolution that began the process of repealing Obamacare in January 2017 (in favor of LoBiondoCare). In 2013, he said that Obamacare was "too deeply flawed to implement and ultimately unworkable."

LGBT rights

LoBiondo opposes same-sex marriage. He voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act, and the 2004 and 2006 amendments limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples. In 2011, LoBiondo appeared in an It Gets Better Project video, part of a YouTube campaign reaching out to young gay teens who have been bullied.

National Public Radio (NPR)

He has voted in favor of terminating funding for NPR.

Net neutrality

He has voted against legislation which would establish net neutrality, which refers to the principle that Internet service providers cannot discriminate by user, content, website, or platform.

Term limits

In 1994, LoBiondo pledged to only serve six terms in Congress. Asked in 2014, during his tenth term how many more he intended to serve, LoBiondo declined to comment.

Controversy

On March 4, 2011, Andrew J. McCrosson Jr., who served as treasurer of LoBiondo's congressional campaign committee from 1995 until August 2010, pleaded guilty in federal district court to charges of embezzling more than $458,000 from campaign accounts over a fifteen-year period. The charges included one count of wire fraud and one count of and converting funds contributed to a federal candidate. LoBiondo’s campaign attorney called this "an abuse of the trust placed in him by the campaign." McCrosson was sentenced 30 months in prison.