But Molinaro is not just a beleaguered moderate unfairly targeted by the MAGA-hating left. He tries to present himself as a pragmatist, but he clearly prides himself as a reliable Republican — even as that obeisance may drag him down at home. He has fallen in line with more conservative priorities, particularly on immigration. When Molinaro lent his support to opening an impeachment inquiry into Biden — arguing that there was enough smoke pertaining to potential wrongdoing to see if there was any fire with a formal investigation — the Democratic congressional campaign arm seized on it as a further example of his allegiance to Washington Republicans over his own constituents.
It’s nearly impossible for him to characterize himself as a good option for Democratic voters, partially because he would be attacked regardless of his positions — and because he is, at his core, a true modern Republican. He needs to prove to his constituents that his blend of party loyalty and strategic independence is the best method to represent them.
In an interview in his district in late November, Molinaro further explained his governing philosophy: He sees his role as bifurcated between the duties of Washington and the duties of representing voters at home. The Molinaro who escorted Johnson into the chamber is the same Molinaro who holds community meetings in his district where the speaker of the House is never mentioned.
“They’re just two very different things,” Molinaro said. He denied that this created any dissonance, that two different jobs necessarily resulted in two different politicians. “I’m very much the same exact person.”
Molinaro has been a politician for his entire adult life, which is apparent as soon as you meet him. Molinaro was elected mayor of his small hometown when he was 19 and has held some kind of public office almost continuously for the three decades since. Now 48 years old, he served as county executive of Dutchess County — located to the south of his current district — for 12 years before entering Congress.
Molinaro’s handshake is firm, his eye contact expert, his talking points assured without seeming overly studied. He appears nearly immune to questions intended to catch him off guard, volleying back almost immediately with deft answers. Most of the time, he even responds to the question that was asked, instead of the one he’d prefer.
But he’s not above delivering a soundbite: When I interviewed him in his Washington office, Molinaro told me that his strategy in representing his district was to “listen, learn and lead.”
“I live by that: I listen to the people who have concerns, I learn from their concerns and then I respond to them as respectfully as possible,” he said. (Molinaro said the words “listen” and “listening” roughly 20 times in that 30-minute conversation.) By his own account, Molinaro is “highly caffeinated.” When he enthusiastically told me that he finds the constant grind of a congressional campaign “invigorating,” he actually meant it.
It’s relatively easy to find Molinaro these days during a tricky congressional vote, whether it’s related to impeachment, government funding or a bipartisan tax deal. He’ll likely be in the hallway just off the House floor, surrounded by a gaggle of reporters eager to hear how one of the new go-to “moderate” members — read: unwilling to burn the House down for ideological purposes — will describe the internecine drama of the day. As one House Democrat who sits on a committee with Molinaro cracked: “If he wasn’t always on TV, I couldn’t pick him out of a lineup.”
Molinaro has arguably earned the media attention. “Not many freshmen come in here and make an impact in their first term, and he has. He has stature, he has confidence, he’s very well-spoken, and he’s been courageous on a number of legislative issues,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a moderate Republican from Pennsylvania and chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, citing Molinaro’s support for organized labor. (In 2022, Molinaro won the endorsement of the state’s largest public workers union, and he has sponsored legislation to provide tax deductions for union workers.)
“It generally takes people two or three years to figure out where the bathrooms are in this town,” Rep. Dusty Johnson, chair of the centrist Republican Main Street Partnership, told me. “Within six months, Marc Molinaro was already viewed as a savvy and strategic operator.”
Molinaro’s influence stems in part from his situation. He is what former Speaker Nancy Pelosi liked to call a “majority maker” — a representative who won a tough swing district, helping to clinch control of the House for his party. “I truly think every member is a ‘majority maker,’” Molinaro demurred when I made this comparison, “but obviously there are certain districts that if that member didn’t win, there still would be a Republican.”