Sherwood Louis Boehlert was born on September 28, 1936, in Utica, New York, to Elizabeth Monica (née Champoux) and Sherwood Boehlert,[1] and graduated from Utica College. He was a practicing Roman Catholic.[2][3] He served two years in the United States Army (1956–1958) and then worked as a manager of public relations for Wyandotte Chemical Company. After leaving Wyandotte, Boehlert served as Chief of Staff for two upstate Congressmen, Alexander Pirnie and Donald J. Mitchell;[4] following this, he was elected the county executive of Oneida County, New York, serving from 1979 to 1983. After his four-year term as county executive, he ran successfully for Congress in the elections of 1982. He was re-elected to every Congress subsequent until his retirement.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
Mitchell did not run for reelection in 1982. Boehlert entered the Republican primary to succeed him in the district, which had been renumbered from the 31st to the 25th in redistricting. He won the primary with 56% of the vote.[5] He won the general election by defeating Democrat Anita Maxwell 56%–42%.[6]
After that, he won re-election every two years until he decided to retire and not seek re-election, in 2006. His district number changed twice, each time after redistricting—from the 25th (1983–1993) to the 23rd (1993–2003) to the 24th (2003- 2007). He was challenged in the Republican primary five times: 1986 (67%),[7] 1996 (65%),[8] 2000 (57%),[9] 2002 (53%),[10] and 2004 (60%).[11] His lowest re-election winning percentage in the general election was 57%, in his last re-election in 2004, when he defeated Democrat Jeff Miller 57%–34%.[12]
Tenure
Boehlert is best known for his work on environmental policy. Beginning in the 1980s with the acid rain crisis, Boehlert became a prominent voice in the Republican party for the environment. He was a major contributor to the acid rain provisions of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. He pushed continually to increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for light trucks and automobiles and was the lead GOP sponsor of numerous CAFE amendments. Due to Boehlert's constant battles over environmental legislation, often putting him at odds with his party's leadership, National Journal dubbed Boehlert the "Green Hornet" and featured him as one of the dozen "key players" in the House of Representatives. Due to his centrist views, Time Magazine also recognized Boehlert as a "power center" on Capitol Hill and Congressional Quarterly named him one of the 50 most effective Members of Congress. Boehlert was a member of several national moderate GOP groups including the Republican Main Street Partnership and the Ripon Society.[citation needed]
On March 17, 2006, at a press conference Boehlert announced that he would not seek a thirteenth term in office. Several important landmarks are named for Boehlert that reflect his work on transportation and science issues. These include the renovated Union Station in Utica and the new science facilities[15] of the Air Force Research Laboratory—Information Directorate in Rome, New York.[16]
Committee assignments
Boehlert served on the Science Committee for his entire congressional career. In addition, he was the third-ranking member of the Transportation Committee; from 1995 to 2000, he served as the chairman of its Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. He was also a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, serving as interim chairman in 2004.
Post-congressional career
After 2007, Boehlert remained active promoting environmental and scientific causes. He served on the Board of the bipartisan Alliance for Climate Protection chaired by former Vice President Al Gore. Boehlert served as a Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center.[17] He was a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.[18]
Boehlert died from complications of dementia at a hospice care facility in New Hartford, New York, on September 20, 2021, at age 84.[21][22] His Funeral Mass was held at Our Lady of Lourdes, Utica, New York, on September 27, 2021.[23]
^"Lab building to be named for Boehlert". Rome Daily Sentinel. Rome, NY. Retrieved October 6, 2015. Rep. Michael A. Arcuri and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton today announced that Building #3 at the lab will be formally named the "Sherwood Boehlert Center of Excellence for Information Science and Technology."