Congressman Tom MacArthur - Chair of Heroin Task Force

Elected Officials of America: Underdog Stories

Congressman R-Tom MacArthur (NJ) was elected to an open seat in the 3rd Congressional District in 2014, after fending off his Democratic challenger in a battleground district that President Obama won in 2012. Since in office, he has authored the MacArthur Amendment of the American Health Care Act, successfully fought for a $10,000 property tax deduction in the recent tax bill, and chairs the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic. He entered politics after a successful business career, and was the Mayor of Randolph, NJ before running for Congress. In this episode, we talk about the 2017 NJ election results and what they portend for the country, the contentious town hall debate that received nationwide press coverage, Roy Moore, the heroin epidemic, and more.

2:30 - Can you talk about your background in business and how it parlayed into going into politics?

4:15 - When did you get the political bug?

5:00 - What resistance did you get from the Party?

6:20 - Any dark times in any of those campaigns?

8:20 - TownHall discussion: “I think that was the most difficult moment I had.”

11:00 - Can you tell me more about the MacArthur amendment?

12:30 - What was the biggest lesson of navigating such muddy waters?

13:30 - How can we fix the discord in the country?

17:09 - How do you see Roy Moore’s potential election affecting the Republican Party?

20:00 - What’s the story on the ground about the 2017 election results in New Jersey?

21:00 - What’s the best advice someone has given you?

26:30 - Can you speak about the heroin epidemic?