Representative Michael E. McMahon

Michael E. McMahon (born September 12, 1957) is an American politician and attorney serving as the district attorney for Richmond County, New York, which is coextensive with Staten Island. A member of the Democratic Party, he is a former U.S. Representative for New York’s 13th congressional district, serving from 2009 until 2011, and a former member of the New York City Council. His single term in Congress coincided with a significant period in American political history, during which he participated in the federal legislative process and represented the interests of his Staten Island and Brooklyn constituents.

McMahon is a lifelong resident of Staten Island and is of German and Irish descent. He grew up in the Stapleton neighborhood on the North Shore and attended local parochial schools. In 1979 he graduated from New York University, and he later obtained a J.D. degree from New York Law School. Since 1981 he has been a member of the student Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg. After completing his legal education, McMahon was admitted to practice law and began building a career that combined legal work with public service and Democratic Party politics in New York.

Before holding elective office, McMahon worked as a partner at the Staten Island law firm of O’Leary, McMahon & Spero, while simultaneously serving in a series of staff roles in state and local government. He worked for Democratic State Assembly members Eric Vitaliano and Elizabeth Connelly, gaining experience in legislative affairs and constituent services. He later joined the staff of New York City Councilman Jerome X. O’Donovan, whom he would eventually succeed in the Council. These roles provided him with a grounding in municipal issues, including land use, public services, and neighborhood concerns, and helped establish his political base on Staten Island.

McMahon was elected to the New York City Council from Staten Island, succeeding O’Donovan, and served as a member of that body before his election to Congress. On the Council, he became Chair of the Sanitation & Solid Waste Management Committee, where he focused on minimizing the use of trucks to transport garbage and on more evenly distributing the burden of waste processing across New York City’s five boroughs. His work on sanitation and solid waste management reflected longstanding Staten Island concerns about environmental quality and the siting of waste facilities, and it helped raise his profile as a borough advocate on quality-of-life issues.

On May 28, 2008, the Staten Island Democratic Committee endorsed McMahon to run for the open Congressional seat in New York’s 13th congressional district, being vacated by retiring 12-year incumbent Republican Vito Fossella. Earlier, on June 11, 2008, he had been endorsed by the city’s 12 Democratic members of Congress. The 13th District, based largely on Staten Island with a portion of Brooklyn, had long been considered the most conservative of New York City’s congressional districts and the stronghold of the city’s Republican Party. Although Democrats held a 17-point edge in party registration, voters in the district tended to be more conservative on social issues and on “law and order” matters, which had enabled Republicans to hold the seat for over a quarter century. In 2008, Republicans struggled to find a successor to Fossella and ultimately nominated former State Assemblyman Robert Straniere. On September 9, 2008, McMahon defeated Steve Harrison in the Democratic primary with 75 percent of the vote to Harrison’s 25 percent, and in the November general election he won in a landslide, taking 61 percent of the vote to Straniere’s 33 percent. His victory made New York City’s entire congressional delegation Democratic for the first time in 76 years, even as Republican presidential nominee John McCain narrowly carried Staten Island in the presidential election.

McMahon served in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 3, 2009, to January 3, 2011, representing New York’s 13th congressional district during the 111th Congress. As a member of the House of Representatives, he participated in the democratic process and contributed to the legislative work of the chamber during a period marked by economic crisis and major policy debates. He served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, sitting on the Subcommittee on Europe, the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, and the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia. He also served on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, including the Subcommittee on Aviation, the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, and the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. In these roles he was involved in issues ranging from international security and trade to transportation policy and maritime affairs, matters of particular relevance to his coastal and commuter-heavy district.

During his term in Congress, McMahon took several positions that reflected the more centrist and sometimes conservative leanings of his district. In November 2009 he voted, along with 38 other Democrats, against the Affordable Health Care for America Act, and in March 2010 he voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He was the only member of the New York City congressional delegation to oppose the legislation and one of only two New York Democrats—along with Representative Michael Arcuri—to vote against it. In the 2010 midterm elections, amid a national Republican wave in which Democrats lost 63 House seats, McMahon was challenged by Republican and Conservative Party nominee Michael Grimm, a former FBI Special Agent, and Libertarian nominee Tom Vendittelli. Grimm defeated McMahon, making him one of a number of freshman Democrats who lost reelection in the 2010 Republican landslide.

After leaving Congress in January 2011, McMahon returned to private life and legal practice while remaining active in Staten Island and Democratic politics. When his former seat, renumbered as the 11th District, became vacant following Michael Grimm’s announcement in January 2015 that he would resign after pleading guilty to a felony tax evasion charge on December 23, 2014, McMahon publicly expressed a “serious interest” in seeking the seat in a special election. He ultimately declined to run for Congress again, instead deciding to pursue the office of Staten Island (Richmond County) district attorney. The Democratic nomination for the special congressional election went to New York City Councilman Vincent J. Gentile, who represented the Brooklyn portion of the district.

In November 2015, McMahon was elected Richmond County district attorney, defeating Republican candidate Joan Illuzzi. In this role he returned to public office in a law enforcement capacity, overseeing criminal prosecutions and justice administration for Staten Island. His tenure as district attorney has placed him at the center of local efforts to address crime, public safety, and the operation of the criminal justice system in New York City’s least populous borough. In April 2024, following the resignation of former Erie County District Attorney John Flynn, McMahon was sworn in as President of the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York, reflecting his prominence among New York’s prosecutors and extending his influence in statewide criminal justice policy discussions.