Jack Davis (industrialist)

John R. "Jack" Davis is an industrialist and politician from western New York, known for his strong stance against free trade and in favor of protectionism. He is also the founder of the "Save Jobs Party". He was also the plaintiff in the United States Supreme Court case Davis v. Federal Election Commission.
Personal life
Davis grew up in western New York, attending local schools, before graduating from the University of Buffalo with a B.S. in Engineering in 1955. Davis served in the Marine Corps Reserve and the Coast Guard. He co-founded the I Squared R Element Company in 1964, which he still owns and operates. The company is now the only remaining US company that manufactures silicon carbide heating elements.
Davis is married and has six children.
Politics
Decision to leave Republican Party
Davis was a self-described "Goldwater Republican" for 50 years. In late 2003, he purchased two tickets to a $1,000-a-plate Republican fundraiser in Buffalo, attended by Vice President Dick Cheney. Davis insisted on talking to the Vice President about U.S. free trade policies, which Cheney's staff refused to allow.
Following a moderately heated dispute, Cheney staff members ordered Davis to be ejected from the fundraiser.
Davis then quit the Republican party. The incident also caused some embarrassment for Cheney's staff after an audio recording of the conversation between Davis and one Cheney staffer was played on a local radio station.
2004 Congressional campaign
In 2004, Davis officially entered politics, running as a Democrat for the U.S. Congress from the 26th District of New York. He ran against incumbent Representative Tom Reynolds, a Republican, who was considered unbeatable. Davis doubled his original commitment to the race, pouring a total of $1.2 million dollars of personal money into his campaign. Reynolds was forced to begin running campaign ads for the first time since his election in 1998.
On election day, Reynolds won, 56% to 44%; in contrast, he won the 2002 election 75% to 25% against the Democratic challenger. Many cite the amount spent by Davis as compared to Reynolds' prior challenger as the primary factor for the change. Some observers attribute the narrowed margin of victory to an undercurrent of resentment in the working-class areas of the 26th district over economic decline and a lack of manufacturing sector jobs. Others attributed the margin to the politics of the specific candidates; Reynolds' politics more closely resembling big-government neo-conservatism while Davis' more closely resembles the limited-government libertarian conservatism of Goldwater, the type of conservative thought more widely adhered to in Upstate New York.
After the election, Davis was fined for a violation of campaign finance reporting laws. Davis had used his non-profit "Save Jobs" organization to funnel money into his political efforts, failing to comply with political disclosure requirements of both the federal government and New York State.
Save Jobs Party
Following his defeat in 2004, Davis continued his political activism by forming his own political party, the Save Jobs Party. While Republicans accused him of using the party merely as a springboard for a 2006 rematch, Davis sponsored more than a dozen candidates for public office in races across Western New York. However, the Save Jobs party soon ran into trouble with state and federal officials.
In one incident, an Erie County Legislator sought an FBI investigation following last-minute phone calls impersonating the unpopular Erie County Executive made from Davis's campaign headquarters.
In another, Davis' Deputy Executive Director and Chair of his state PAC, took a plea deal in a petition fraud case involving Davis' party. He has since been granted a conditional discharge. In early 2006, Davis' state PAC was sued in State Supreme Court for failing to file required disclosure documents. Later that year, Davis abandoned the fledgling party.
2006 Congressional campaign
In 2006, Davis again ran for the 26th district Congressional seat, against Tom Reynolds. Since no other Democrat chose to run in the September 12, 2006 primary, Davis was the Democratic nominee.
Davis was also the candidate of the Working Families Party, despite opposing many of the primary elements of the Working Family Parties platform. Davis also secured the nomination of the Independence Party of New York after defeating attorney Robert Pusateri. Reynolds had received permission to compete for the endorsement, but declined to do so. Votes from all nominating parties counted towards Davis' total under New York's electoral fusion rule.
With the Mark Foley scandal in full swing, pollsters re-evaluated the odds of Davis winning against Reynolds. It was widely reported that Reynolds had knowledge of earlier e-mails between Foley and a page, although he was unaware of more explicit instant messages reported by ABC News.
2008 Congressional campaign
Davis ran a third time for the seat in 2008, after Reynolds announced his retirement. However, this time, he faced stiff primary competition in teacher Jon Powers and attorney Alice Kryzan. Davis focused most of his attack ads on Powers, portraying him as the candidate of special interests, while paying virtually no attention to Kryzan.
In what was seen as a major upset, Kryzan won the nomination over both Powers and Davis, and Davis finished in third place. Davis had indicated he would continue to run for the seat under his own "Save Jobs" party line, against Kryzan and fellow industrialist Christopher J. Lee, who has the Republican line; however, he has not actively campaigned and those plans appear to have been abandoned.
Davis v. Federal Election Commission
Following his 2008 campaign, Davis sued the Federal Elections Commission to overturn the so-called "millionaires amendment" to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. The court found in favor of Davis' argument that the amendment in question violated the First Amendment rights of wealthy candidates.
2011 potential congressional campaign
Davis changed his political affiliation from Democratic back to Republican in 2010, developing a favorable working relationship with Lee over the course of Lee's time in office. He has expressed interest in the to replace Lee, who resigned in February 2011. Davis met with the Republican chairs regarding a possible run, but according to Davis, the meeting "didn't go great" and the party was dissatisfied with his brief time in the Democratic Party and his willingness to run on a third-party line if he didn't get the Republican nomination. (The Republican nomination went to Jane Corwin.) He has also had discussions with Erie County Conservative Party chairman Ralph Lorigo regarding a potential run on that line.

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