U.S. House of Representatives
Elections 2020 special In May 2019, Jacobs announced that he would run for
New York's 27th congressional district in the
2020 elections. He initially planned to challenge incumbent
Chris Collins in the Republican primary, but Collins resigned in October 2019 and pleaded guilty to insider trading charges. Jacobs defeated Nate McMurray, 50.7%-45.6%, in a
special election on June 23, 2020, for the balance of Collins's term and was sworn in as a member of Congress on July 21, 2020.
2020 general On the day of the special election, he also won a three-way Republican primary for the general election on November 3, in which he went on to win a full term by defeating McMurray a second time.
Tenure In January 2021, Jacobs objected to the certification of the
2020 U.S. presidential election results in Congress, basing his decision on what
The New York Times called "spurious allegations of widespread voter fraud". Jacobs's vote came shortly after the
2021 storming of the United States Capitol. On January 10, seven members of the New York State legislature signed an open letter calling on Jacobs to resign. On January 13, Jacobs voted against both articles of impeachment in the
second impeachment of President
Donald Trump. On February 4, he joined 10 other Republican House members voting with all voting Democrats to strip Representative
Marjorie Taylor Greene of her
House Education and Labor Committee, and
House Budget Committee assignments in response to controversial political statements she had made. On May 19, 2021, Jacobs was one of 35 Republicans who joined all Democrats in voting to approve legislation to establish the
January 6 commission meant to investigate the storming of the U.S. Capitol. In September 2021,
Forbes reported that Jacobs had violated the
Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012, a federal transparency and conflict-of-interest law, by failing to properly disclose 13 securities trades worth more than $356,000. In September 2022,
Business Insider reported that Jacobs had again violated the STOCK Act when he failed to properly disclose 43 additional securities trades worth between $456,043 and $1.415 million. On May 22, 2022, as a result of
sanctions imposed by the United States in response to the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, Jacobs was one of 963 Americans permanently banned from entering Russia. On May 28, 2022, during a press conference on the
Buffalo shooting and the
Robb Elementary School shooting, Jacobs said he would vote for bills banning
assault weapons and "raising the minimum age for some gun purchases to 21", explaining that the Buffalo shooting had "been a profoundly impactful event for me" and that he had rethought his stance on guns. Jacobs was endorsed by the
NRA Political Victory Fund during his 2020 congressional run, at the time saying he was honored to receive the endorsement and vowing to serve as an "ally and fighter" for gun owners in western New York. Subsequently, Jacobs was admonished by some Republican politicians for his remarks, and
Carl Paladino, the Republican nominee for governor in
2010, said he would consider challenging Jacobs for reelection in the Republican primary. On June 3, 2022, Jacobs ended his reelection campaign. On July 29, 2022, Jacobs and one other Republican,
Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, joined the Democrats in voting for a bill banning assault weapons. In 2022, Jacobs was one of 39 Republicans to vote for the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.
Committee assignments •
Committee on Agriculture •
Committee on the Budget •
Committee on Education and Labor Caucus memberships Source: •
Republican Governance Group •
Republican Main Street Partnership •
Republican Study Committee == Notes ==