McCarthy, Carolyn, 1944-

Carolyn McCarthy (born January 5, 1944) is an American nurse and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the U.S. Representative for New York's 4th congressional district from 1997 to 2015.

Born Carolyn Cook in Brooklyn, she was raised in Mineola, Mew York. In her youth, she was an athlete and wanted to become a physical education teacher but found reading challenging and later was diagnosed with dyslexia. After caring for a boyfriend who was injured in a car accident, McCarthy decided to work as a Licensed Practical Nurse. She married Dennis McCarthy in 1967.

On December 7, 1993, her husband, Dennis, was killed, and her son, Kevin, was severely injured on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train at the Merillon Avenue station in the village of Garden City, when 35-year-old Colin Ferguson opened fire on passengers. Ferguson killed six and wounded 19 others. McCarthy responded to the crime by launching a campaign for more stringent gun control that eventually propelled her to Congress in 1996 on the Democratic ticket. On Election Day, McCarthy defeated Republican incumbent Dan Frisa easily with 54 percent of the vote. She had tapped into a crossover vote, composed of many middle-class Republican women, who propelled her into office.

When McCarthy claimed her seat in the 105th Congress (1997–1999), she was initially assigned to the Education and Workforce and the Small Business Committees. She largely voted with her party and supported environmental, health care, and women’s rights legislation. Even though she personally opposed abortion, she supported a woman’s right to choose. McCarthy’s voting record deviated from her party on government spending and foreign policy issues; she also supported the use of force in Iraq in 2002. While McCarthy was a leading proponent of gun control in the House, she did not oppose gun ownership in principle and frequently stated her desire to safeguard a broad interpretation of the Second Amendment.

After being diagnosed with lung cancer and receiving treatment in 2013, McCarthy announced that she would not stand for re-election at the end of the 113th Congress. By 2018 McCarthy had been free of cancer for five years and had moved to Florida.