The McMahons Rise to Federal Office Together

FAMILY: New York Congressman-elect Michael McMahon, New York Supreme court justice Judith McMahon, their daughter Julia and son Joseph at an the unofficial swearing-in ceremony on Staten Island Sunday. (Peter Wei/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—“When Judith speaks, Michael has to listen.” The words of a little girl named Samantha from The PS 22 Chorus won the laughter of over 1,000 guests at the McMahons’ unofficial swearing-in ceremony Sunday at CUNY Staten Island Center for the Arts.

The Staten Island power couple’s political careers are tied. Where Michael McMahon goes, his wife, Judith McMahon, is bound to follow. Michael is the newly elected Congressman from the 13th District of New York, and Judith is newly elected as the New York State Supreme Court Justice.

The election of Michael McMahon to replace the last Republican Congressman has made the representation of New York State in the federal level completely blue. The 13th congressional district that McMahon represents covers whole Staten Island and part of Brooklyn including Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights and Gravesend.

The unofficial ceremony was intended to let the couple celebrate their victories with the people in their community.

Welcoming Judith to be one of his 11 colleagues, the administrative justice of the State Supreme Court Philip Minardo praised the couple’s talent, hard working ethics, and care for family.

“The McMahon’s are all about family,” said Justice Minardo. “The most important thing you can say about the McMahons are that they’ve devoted to their family.”

“I often think of what President Abraham Lincoln said: “‘I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day,’” the incoming justice McMahon said.

New York Senator Charles Schumer apparently had no doubt about this point. “Each of them got here in the old fashioned way—They earned it.” Born in New Jersey, Judith chose to major in pharmacy then felt that it was not for her so eventually became a lawyer.

On the topic of the middle class, Schumer said he shared with Congressman-elect McMahon: “The middle class is struggling together. People work hard to raise their families. It seems that sometimes Washington forgets about the middle class. They are more focused on the people on the top and people on the bottom.”

As a colleague in New York City for years, city Comptroller William Thompson saw such commitment in Michael’s record: “He stands up and fights for principles,” Thompson said. “He fights for what he believes in. He doesn’t alienate people on the other side.”