Background
McLaughlin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the third of four children of Arthur and Winifred McLaughlin.
McLaughlin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the third of four children of Arthur and Winifred McLaughlin.
He attended the Florida Institute of Technology and received commercial and instrument aircraft ratings.
He was raised in Wrentham, Massachusetts, attending public elementary school and Xaverian Brothers High School. He then studied finance at Arizona State University. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Empire State College (State University of New York) and an Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.
McLaughlin started in aviation flying for Mall Airways and Brockway Air.
He was also a corporate pilot for KeyBank. He then flew for America West Airlines and United States Airways until being laid off after the September 11 attacks.
During his career as a commercial pilot he compiled over 12,000 hours of flight time. He then entered the banking industry with a position at Citizens Bank and is currently a business banking officer with a local bank.
McLaughlin was elected to the state assembly on November 2, 2010, when he defeated incumbent Timothy P. Gordon.
He is a Republican member of the New York State Assembly representing the 107th Assembly District, which includes parts of Albany, Columbia, Greene and Rensselaer counties in the Capital Region.