Paxon was a member of the
New York State Assembly from 1983 to 1988, sitting in the
185th,
186th and
187th New York State Legislatures.
Congress He was elected to the
101st,
102nd,
103rd,
104th and
105th United States Congresses, holding office from January 3, 1989, to January 3, 1999. Paxon chaired the Republican House Leadership committee during the 105th Congress. In 1992, Paxon was elected to chair the
National Republican Congressional Committee.
Leadership challenge In the summer of 1997 several House Republicans, who saw
Newt Gingrich's public image as a liability, attempted to replace him as
Speaker. The challenge began July 9 with a meeting between Republican conference chairman
John Boehner of
Ohio and Republican leadership chairman Paxon. According to their plan,
House Majority Leader Dick Armey,
House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, Boehner and Paxon were to present Gingrich with an ultimatum: resign, or be voted out. However, Armey balked at the proposal to make Paxon the new Speaker, and told his chief of staff to warn Gingrich about the coup. On July 11, Gingrich met with senior Republican leadership to assess the situation. He explained that under no circumstance would he step down. If he was voted out, there would be a new election for Speaker, which would allow for the possibility that Democrats, along with dissenting Republicans, would vote in
Dick Gephardt as Speaker. On July 16, Paxon offered to resign his post, feeling he had not handled the situation correctly, as the only member of the leadership who had been appointed to his position, by Gingrich, instead of elected. Gingrich accepted Paxon's resignation and directed Paxon to immediately vacate his leadership office space. Paxon later considered, then rejected, a challenge to Armey's post as majority leader. He instead decided that he would not run for re-election in 1998. ==Later career==