Fred Thiele
Frederick W. Thiele Jr. (born August 8, 1953) is an American politician who serves in the New York State Assembly from the 1st district since 2013 and the 2nd district from 1992 to 2012, as a member of multiple political parties. Thiele was originally elected as a member of the Republican Party, but switched to the Independence Party of New York in 2009. He joined the Democratic Party after the Independence Party lost its ballot position.
Fred Thiele | |
|---|---|
 Thiele in 2009 | |
| Member of the New York State Assembly | |
| Assumed office February 15, 1995 | |
| Preceded by | John L. Behan |
| Constituency | 2nd district (1992–2012) 1st district (2013–present) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 8, 1953 Southampton, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic (2022–Present) |
| Other political affiliations | Republican (1982–2009) Alliance (2020–2021, national)[1] Independence (2009–2022, statewide) |
| Education | Long Island University (BA) Albany Law School (JD) |
| Website | Assembly website |
Political career
Thiele began his political career as counsel to former Assemblyman John L. Behan, a position in which he served until 1982.[2] Subsequent to his service as a legislative assistant he became Southampton Town Attorney and East Hampton Town Planning Board Attorney, from 1982 to 1987 and 1982 to 1986 respectively.
In 1987, Thiele won a bid to represent the 16th District within the Suffolk County Legislature, a position he would hold for the subsequent four years. After serving in the Suffolk County Legislature he would go on to be elected as Southampton town supervisor, where he would serve until winning a 1995 special election to succeed his former boss in the State Assembly.
Although elected as a Republican, after being elected to the Suffolk County Legislature, he joined the chamber's nine Democrats to elect a Democrat as presiding officer.
New York Assembly
In 1995, Republican Governor George Pataki appointed Assemblyman John L. Behan as New York State Commissioner of Veterans' Affairs. Behan resigned from the New York Assembly, leaving a vacant seat in the 2nd District. Thiele ran for the seat and defeated Democratic nominee Leo Davis 69%–28% in the March 1995 special election.[3]
He won re-election to his first full term with 62% of the vote.[4] Between 1998 and 2006, he never won re-election with less than 59% of the vote. In 2008, he defeated Democratic nominee Michael Pitcher 62%–38%.[5][6] He won re-election for the first time as a member of the Independence Party, defeating Republican nominee Richard A. Blumenthal 59%–41%.[7]
Thiele announced on October 1, 2009, that he was joining the Independence Party, saying the Republicans no longer stood for "pocketbook issues" and was given permission to caucus with the Democratic supermajority along with the other Independence Party assemblyman, Timothy P. Gordon[8][9] Thiele, the only Independent in the Assembly, supports an open primary in New York State and supported Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic Primary.[10] Before his switch, Thiele had been ranking minority member on the Assembly Education Committee and vice chairman of the Assembly Minority Joint Conference Committee.
Thiele was a member of the Democratic Party during his time in college. In 2022, left the Independence Party after its lost its automatic ballot line and joined the Democratic Party.[11]
He currently sits on the House Committee on Education, House Committee on Election Law, House Committee on Environmental Conservation, House Committee on Oversight, House Committee on Transportation, and House Committee on Ways and Means.[12]
Personal life
Thiele is a native of Sag Harbor, New York, and graduated from Pierson Middle-High School in 1971. He graduated from Southampton College of Long Island University in 1976 with a B.A. summa cum laude in political science and history. Thiele received a Juris Doctor degree from Albany Law School in 1979 and was admitted to the bar in New York in 1980.
Thiele resides in Sag Harbor. He has a daughter and two sons.
Electoral history
| Election history | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Year | Election | Results |
| Suffolk County District 16 |
1989 | General | √ Fred Thiele (R) 74.31% Roger E. Cullen 25.69% |
| Southampton Supervisor | 1991 | General | √ Fred Thiele (I) 45.11% George S. Stavropoulos (R) 33.27% Ronald J. Moss (D) 17.21% John D. Eckart (Conservative) 4.42% |
| New York Assembly District 2 |
1995 | Special | √ Fred Thiele (R) 68.92% Leo P. Davis (D) 27.84% Valerie Hegeland (Right to Life) 3.24% |
| New York Assembly District 2 |
1996 | General | √ Fred Thiele (R) 61.90% Melissa A. Walton (D) 30.90% Margaret A. Eckart (Conservative) 4.55% Michael J. Bradley (Right to Life) 2.65% |
| New York Assembly District 2 |
1998 | General | √ Fred Thiele (R) 59.85% Margaret A. Eckart (D) 29.94% Marie F. Mulcahy (Conservative) 10.21% |
| New York Assembly District 2 |
2000 | General | √ Fred Thiele (R) 60.17% Kevin R. Mitchell (D) 34.48% Marie F. Mulcahy (Conservative) 3.88% Van Buren D. Howell (Green) 1.48% |
| New York Assembly District 2 |
2002 | General | √ Fred Thiele (R) 68.89% Harriet Blossick-Sanchez (D) 25.49% Patricia Guarino (Conservative) 3.37% Robert Colapinto (Right to Life) 2.25% |
| New York Assembly District 2 |
2004 | General | √ Fred Thiele (R) 60.93% M. Treewolf West (D) 35.98% Patricia Guarino (Conservative) 3.09% |
| New York Assembly District 2 |
2006 | General | √ Fred Thiele (R) 59.22% M. Treewolf West (D) 40.79% |
| New York Assembly District 2 |
2008 | General | √ Fred Thiele (R) 62.06% William M. Pitcher (D) 37.94% |
| New York Assembly District 2 |
2010 | General | √ Fred Thiele (I) 59.35% Richard A. Blumenthal (R) 40.62% |
| New York Assembly District 1 |
2012 | General | √ Fred Thiele (I) Unopposed |
| New York Assembly District 1 |
2014 | General | √ Fred Thiele (I) 60.54% Heather Collins (R) 32.41% Brian DeSesa (Conservative) 7.02% |
| New York Assembly District 1 |
2016 | General | √ Fred Thiele (I) 62.35% Heather Collins (R) 37.65% |
| New York Assembly District 1 |
2018 | General | √ Fred Thiele (I) 59.81% Patrick M. O'Connor (R) 40.17% |
| New York Assembly District 1 |
2020 | General | √ Fred Thiele (I/D) 57.6% Heather Collins (R/C) 42.4% |
References
- "Elected Officials - Alliance Party". Alliance Party. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
- Chinese, Vera (October 10, 2008). "Thiele is seeking reelection on experience". The East Hampton Press.
- Effort to Preserve a Political Dynasty in East Harlem Fails by a Wide Margin Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine by David Firestone, in The New York Times on March 15, 1995
- "Our Campaigns - NY Assembly 02 Race - Nov 05, 1996". www.ourcampaigns.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- "Our Campaigns - NY Assembly 02 Race - Nov 04, 2008". www.ourcampaigns.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- Chinese, Vera (October 30, 2008). "Thiele defeats Pitcher; LaValle wins reelection". The Southampton Press.
- "Our Campaigns - NY Assembly 02 Race - Nov 02, 2010". www.ourcampaigns.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- Brand, Rick. "Republican Thiele switching to Independence Party Archived 2012-10-07 at the Wayback Machine". Newsday. October 2, 2009.
- Editorial Board (2016-10-16). "Fred Thiele to represent New York's 1st Assembly District". Newsday. Archived from the original on 2017-01-02. Retrieved 2017-01-02.
- "Independents Make Last-Ditch Effort to Vote in NY's Primary: Gothamist". Archived from the original on 2016-04-15. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
- "Elizabeth Holtzman". The Suffolk Times. July 5, 2022. Archived from the original on July 22, 2022.
- "New York State Assembly - Anthony H. Palumbo". assembly.state.ny.us. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
