Born in
Orange,
New Jersey, Mahoney received a
Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from
St. Bonaventure University in 1952. He received a
Bachelor of Laws from
Columbia Law School in 1955 as a
James Kent Scholar. He was in the
United States Coast Guard from 1955 to 1958. He was in private practice of law in
New York City from 1958 to 1962 and from 1965 to 1986. He was the State Chairman of the
New York Conservative Party from 1962 to 1986. In 1985, Mahoney represented the
National Review and its editor,
William F. Buckley Jr., during the magazine's $16 million libel suit against
The Spotlight.
Conservative Party of New York Mahoney founded the
Conservative Party of New York, with his brother-in-law,
Kieran O'Doherty, who served as the new party's first chairman. The Conservative Party was established as a counterweight to the
Liberal Party of New York, which endorsed Democrats on the political left. Mahoney authored
Actions Speak Louder: The Story of the New York Conservative Party (Arlington House, 1968), which recounts the formation and early years of the party. Further information regarding Mahoney and the formation of the Conservative Party and its role in the conservative movement through 2002 is available in
Fighting the Good Fight, authored by
George J. Marlin (St. Augustine's Press, 2002). Marlin was the Conservative Party mayoral nominee in 1993, having been defeated by the then-liberal Republican
Rudy Giuliani. ==Federal judicial service==