John Francis "Jack" Quinn (born April 13, 1951) is the President of Erie Community College and a former politician from the State of New York. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives.
Quinn was born in Buffalo, New York and he graduated from Siena College. He was an English teacher in the Orchard Park Central School District and served on the Hamburg, New York Town Council from 1982 to 1984, followed by a stint as town supervisor until 1993. After the retirement of Congressman Henry Nowak, Quinn was elected to the House of Representatives in 1992 representing most of Buffalo and suburban Erie County. The district was heavily Democratic, and had been made even more Democratic after redistricting. However, Quinn defeated Erie County Executive Dennis Gorski in an upset. He was reelected five more times by surprisingly wide margins in what was by far the most Democratic district in the nation to be represented by a Republican. Were the district to exist now under its 1990s boundaries, Barack Obama would have defeated John McCain in 2008 there by 59%-40%.
Quinn had close ties to organized labor, something not common with most Republicans. Despite a close relationship with Bill Clinton, he voted for three of the articles of impeachment against him. There have been several suggestions that the House leadership pressured him into doing so, which were personally denied by Quinn in a 1999 article in the Washington Post. It has been reported that Clinton's visit to Buffalo after his 1999 State of the Union Address was in response to Quinn's vote.
During his tenure in Congress, Quinn was an active member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he served as chairman of the Railroads Subcommittee.
During the 2002 redistricting process, one map had Quinn drawn into a district with a longtime friend, Democrat John LaFalce. However, he ended up with a district that encompassed nearly all of his old district and added Chautauqua County. On April 26, 2004, Quinn announced he would not seek re-election. After leaving Congress, Quinn joined the lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates. He was appointed President of Erie Community College in 2008 . In that capacity, he has presided over rising enrollments during a time of decreasing or flat budgetary support from Erie County and the State of New York.
On November 2, 2004, Quinn's son, Jack Quinn III was elected to the New York State Assembly.
Famous quotes containing the words jack and/or quinn:
“This is the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog”
—Mother Goose (fl. 17th–18th century. The House That Jack Built (l. 16–17)
“In Europe an actor is an artist. In Hollywood, if he isn’t working, he’s a bum.”
—Anthony Quinn (b. 1915)