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Jared Huffman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jared Huffman
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 2nd district
Assumed office
January 3, 2013
Preceded byLynn Woolsey
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 6th district
In office
December 4, 2006 – November 30, 2012
Preceded byJoe Nation
Succeeded byBeth Gaines
Personal details
Born
Jared William Huffman

(1964-02-18) February 18, 1964 (age 60)
Independence, Missouri, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseSusan Huffman
Children2
Residence(s)San Rafael, California, U.S.
EducationUniversity of California, Santa Barbara (BA)
Boston College (JD)
Signature
WebsiteHouse website
Jared Huffman's voice
Jared Huffman speaks in support of the America COMPETES Act
Recorded February 2, 2022

Jared William Huffman (born February 18, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 2nd congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Huffman represented the 6th district in the California State Assembly from 2006 to 2012. He chaired the Assembly Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee and the Assembly Environmental Caucus. He was elected to Congress in 2012 with more than 70% of the vote, defeating Republican nominee Dan Roberts.[1] His congressional district covers the North Coast from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border.

Huffman is the only elected member of the U.S. House who openly describes himself as religiously unaffiliated and a secular humanist. Huffman is also the only member of Congress who openly rejects the existence of God;[2] independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema has also been reported to be an atheist member of Congress,[3][4] although she has objected to that label.[5]

Early life, education, and legal career[edit]

Huffman was born in Independence, Missouri.[6] He graduated from William Chrisman High School in 1982 and in 1986 received his Bachelor of Arts in political science magna cum laude from University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity.[7][8] At UCSB, Huffman was a three-time All-American volleyball player. He was a member of the USA Volleyball Team in 1987 when the team was top-ranked in the world and had recently won the World Championship. He graduated cum laude from Boston College Law School in 1990, and then moved to the San Francisco Bay Area.[6][9]

Huffman worked as a consumer attorney specializing in public interest cases. Among his court victories was a case on behalf of the National Organization for Women, which required all California State University campuses to comply with Title IX.[10] Huffman was a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. In 1994, he was elected to the Marin Municipal Water District.[6] He served on the board for 12 years, including three terms as its president.[9]

California State Assembly[edit]

Elections[edit]

Huffman won the Democratic nomination for the 6th district, an open seat after incumbent Joe Nation was termed out, in a hotly contested June 2006 primary in which he surprised the political establishment with a victory over Pamela Torliatt, a Petaluma city councilwoman, and Cynthia Murray, a Marin County Supervisor who was initially considered the front-runner. Huffman also defeated Assistant State Attorney General Damon Connolly, Marin County Democratic Chairman John Alden, and sociologist Alex Easton-Brown.

Huffman defeated Republican nominee Michael Hartnett by a more than 2:1 margin in the 2006 general election.

Huffman faced two opponents in the 2008 general election: Republican Paul Lavery and Libertarian Timothy Hannan. He won with 70% of the vote, and the 137,873 votes he received were among the most by any California Assembly candidate in 2008. In the Democratic primary, Huffman was unopposed and received 57,213 votes—the most of any California Assemblymember in that election.

In the June 2010 California primary, Huffman defeated[11] Patrick Connally.[12] He defeated Republican nominee Robert Stephens in the general election[11] with more than 70% of the vote—the highest winning margin of any candidate on the ballot in the North Bay that year. Due to term limits, Huffman was unable to seek a fourth Assembly term in 2012.

Tenure[edit]

In his first four years as a legislator, Huffman authored and passed more than 40 pieces of legislation.[13] In 2008, he sponsored a bill (AB 2950), which he wrote with internet attorney Daniel Balsam, that aimed to close what its proponents characterized as loopholes in the CAN-SPAM Act that made it more difficult to bring lawsuits against deceptive spammers.[14] The bill passed the State Assembly and Senate, but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it.[15][16] On February 14, 2011, Huffman co-sponsored a bill with Paul Fong, California Assembly Bill 376, to make it illegal to possess, distribute, or sell shark fins, except for research or commercial purposes.[17]

Committee assignments[edit]

Upon his swearing-in on December 4, 2006, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez named Huffman chair of the Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials. In August 2008, the new Assembly Speaker, Karen Bass, named Huffman to chair the Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee.

U.S. House of Representatives[edit]

Official 113th session photo

Elections[edit]

2012[edit]

Main article: 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in California § District 2

After 20-year incumbent Lynn Woolsey announced her retirement, Huffman entered the race to run for her seat in the 2nd district, which had been renumbered from the 6th in redistricting.[18] California's 2nd congressional district now covers six counties: Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino, Trinity, Humboldt, and Del Norte.

Huffman finished first in the top-two primary, with 37% of the vote.[19] In November, he defeated Republican candidate Dan Roberts 71%–29%.[20][21]

2014[edit]

Main article: 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in California § District 2

In his first reelection campaign, Huffman dominated the open primary, receiving 67.9% of the vote against 22.3% for second-place finisher Dale Mensing, a Republican. He defeated Mensing in the general election, 75% to 25%.[22]

2016[edit]

Main article: 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in California § District 2

Huffman defeated Mensing again, receiving 68.3% of the primary vote to Mensing's 15.7% and 76.5% of the general election vote to Mensing's 23.5%.[23]

2018[edit]

Main article: 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in California § District 2

Huffman defeated Mensing a third time, with 72.5% of the primary vote to Mensing's 20.9%[24] and 77.0% of the vote in the general election.[25]

2020[edit]

Main article: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in California § District 2

Huffman defeated Mensing a fourth time, with 67.7% of the primary vote to Mensing's 18.9% and 75.7% of the general election vote.[26]

Tenure[edit]

In April 2018, Huffman, Jerry McNerney, Jamie Raskin, and Dan Kildee launched the Congressional Freethought Caucus. Its stated goals include "pushing public policy formed on the basis of reason, science, and moral values"; promoting the "separation of church and state"; and opposing discrimination against "atheists, agnostics, humanists, seekers, religious and non-religious persons", among others. Huffman and Raskin are co-chairs.[27]

In the aftermath of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops's vote to draft a document regarding Catholic politicians' worthiness to receive Communion, Huffman accused the Church of "weaponizing" its religion, and suggested that it should lose its tax-exempt status.[28]

Huffman voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.[29]

Opposed legislation[edit]

  • Preventing Government Waste and Protecting Coal Mining Jobs in America – a bill that would "amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to require state programs for regulation of surface coal mining to incorporate the necessary rule concerning excess spoil, coal mine waste, and buffers for perennial and intermittent streams published by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement on December 12, 2008."[30] Huffman opposed the bill, arguing that it should be opposed because the supporters "believe coal companies should be allowed to blow the tops off mountains and dump the waste into streams, no matter what the science says about the consequence for our environment and the public health."[31]
  • Water Rights Protection Act – a bill that would prevent federal agencies from requiring certain entities to relinquish their water rights to the United States in order to use public lands.[32] The bill was a reaction to the United States Forest Service's decision to pursue a "new regulation to demand that water rights be transferred to the federal government as a condition for obtaining permits needed to operate 121 ski resorts that cross over federal lands."[33] Huffman opposed the bill and accused the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power of being unnecessarily "adversarial" and having "unfairly vilified" the Forest Service after a committee hearing about the bill.[33]

Committee assignments[edit]

For the 118th Congress:[34]

Caucus memberships[edit]

Political positions[edit]

Abortion[edit]

Huffman opposed the overturning of Roe v. Wade, calling it "sad, outrageous" and saying, "it's going to be tragic for millions of women in this country."[38] He described the U.S. Supreme Court as "extreme, out of touch" and "right-wing".[39]

Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023[edit]

Huffman was among the 46 Democrats who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House.[40]

H. Res. 798[edit]

On November 2, 2023, after Hamas operatives had stormed into Israel four weeks earlier, killing about 1,200 people and taking hundreds of hostages, Huffman joined only 22 other Congressmembers in voting against H. Res. 798, a House resolution that condemned the support of Hamas and Hezbollah on university campuses and which passed with the bipartisan support of 213 Republicans and 183 Democrats.[41] After receiving swift criticism from Jewish American groups and other constituents, several days later Huffman disavowed his vote and issued a public apology.[42]

The Stop Project 2025 Task Force[edit]

On June 11, 2024, Huffman unveiled The Stop Project 2025 Task Force, led by a group of House Democrats, to combat the right-wing Project 2025 policy proposals, authored by the conservative Heritage Foundation, that would radically reshape U.S. federal government, should a Republican president be elected in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.[43][44]

Huffman warned that the Project 2025 agenda would hit "like a blitzkrieg" (a "lightning war") and that lawmakers would need to be prepared to tackle it well in advance.[43] "If we're trying to react to it and understand it in real time, it's too late," he stated.[43] He described Project 2025 as "a wrecking ball against everything that most of us hold dear about our country and our democracy,"[44] adding "that's the biggest challenge we face ... How do you explain that this really is what they're going to do without overwhelming people?"[44]

Personal life[edit]

Huffman lives in San Rafael with his wife, Susan, and their two children.[45] His hobby is winemaking.[46]

In a 2017 interview with The Washington Post's Michelle Boorstein, Huffman identified as a humanist and said "I suppose you could say I don't believe in God." Previously in his career, he had declined to discuss his religious beliefs or apply any label when asked.[47]

Electoral history[edit]

Electoral history of Jared Huffman
Year Office Party Primary General Result Swing Ref.
Total % P. Total % P.
2006 State Assembly 6th Democratic 22,544 32.47% 1st 106,589 65.84% 1st Won Hold [48]
2008 Democratic 57,213 100.0% 1st 145,142 69.45% 1st Won Hold [49]
2010 Democratic 53,534 81.77% 1st 119,753 70.45% 1st Won Hold [50]
2012 U.S. House 2nd Democratic 63,922 37.47% 1st 226,216 71.24% 1st Won Hold [51]
2014 Democratic 99,186 67.91% 1st 163,124 74.99% 1st Won Hold [52]
2016 Democratic 157,897 68.30% 1st 254,194 76.85% 1st Won Hold [53]
2018 Democratic 144,005 72.48% 1st 243,081 77.01% 1st Won Hold [54]
2020 Democratic 184,155 67.69% 1st 294,435 75.74% 1st Won Hold [55]
2022 Democratic 145,245 68.73% 1st 229,720 74.40% 1st Won Hold [56]
2024 Democratic 170,271 73.45% 1st TBD [57]
Source: Secretary of State of California | Statewide Election Results

References[edit]

  1. ^ Halstead, Richard. "Assemblyman Jared Huffman easily defeats Roberts". Marin Independent Journal. Archived from the original on April 1, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  2. ^ Nadeem, Reem (January 3, 2023). "Faith on the Hill: The religious composition of the 118th Congress". Pew Research Center. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  3. ^ Susskind, Jane (November 16, 2012). "Religious Diversity in Congress, A Year of 'Firsts'". Independent Voter Network. Archived from the original on May 27, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  4. ^ Winston, Kimberly (November 8, 2012). "Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona Democrat, To Replace Pete Stark As Sole Atheist In Congress". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  5. ^ Oppenheimer, Mark (November 9, 2012). "Politicians Who Reject Labels Based on Religion". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 3, 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2012. Sinema's campaign stated that "the terms non-theist, atheist or nonbeliever are not befitting of her life's work or personal character".
  6. ^ a b c Jim Wood (March 2009). "Jared Huffman". Marin Magazine. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  7. ^ "Jared Huffman". Roll Call. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  8. ^ Thurlow, George (Winter 2018). "The Three Gauchos on the Hill". Coastlines. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Full Biography". Congressman Jared Huffman. Archived from the original on December 21, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  10. ^ "Board Members". Central Valley Flood Protection Board. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  11. ^ a b Richard Halstead (June 8, 2010). "Huffman leads comfortably in early returns". Marin Independent Journal. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  12. ^ Huffman faces challenger in Democratic race Sonoma Index-Tribune (June 3, 2010) Archived June 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "California State Assemblymember Jared Huffman - 6th Assembly District". July 4, 2008. Archived from the original on July 4, 2008.
  14. ^ Deborah Gage (April 18, 2008). "Bill toughening anti-spam law in works". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  15. ^ Nancy Isles Nation (August 18, 2008). "Huffman's anti-spam bill passes". Marin Independent Journal. Archived from the original on June 6, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  16. ^ Shane Goldmacher (October 1, 2008). "BillWatch: Action on the final bills". The Sacramento Bee Capitol Alert blog. Archived from the original on February 25, 2013. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  17. ^ "Bill Text: CA AB376 #124; 2011-2102 | Regular Session | Introduced". legiscan.com. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  18. ^ "Campaign News and Updates". Archived from the original on January 2, 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
  19. ^ "CA - District 02 - Open Primary". Our Campaigns. July 13, 2013. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  20. ^ "CA - District 02". Our Campaigns. December 14, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  21. ^ Halstead, Richard. "Assemblyman Jared Huffman easily defeats Roberts". Marin Independent Journal. Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
  22. ^ "General Election - Statement of Vote - November 4, 2014" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  23. ^ Kovner, Guy (November 8, 2016). "Mike Thompson, Jared Huffman easily win re-election to Congress". Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  24. ^ "2018 Statement of Vote - June 5, 2018" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  25. ^ Almukhtar, Sarah; et al. (January 28, 2019). "California Election Results: Second House District". Election 2018. The New York Times. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
  26. ^ "California Election Results: Second Congressional District". The New York Times. November 3, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  27. ^ Manchester, Julia. "Dem lawmakers launch 'Freethought' congressional caucus". The Hill. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  28. ^ "California Democrat suggests Catholic church should be stripped of tax-exempt status if it denies Biden communion". Independent.co.uk. June 23, 2021.
  29. ^ Bycoffe, Aaron; Wiederkehr, Anna (April 22, 2021). "Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden?". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  30. ^ "H.R. 2824 - Summary". United States Congress. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
  31. ^ Beans, Laura (August 8, 2013). "House Republicans Use Fear Mongering In Fight for Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining". EcoWatch. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  32. ^ "H.R. 3189 - CBO". Congressional Budget Office. December 9, 2013. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  33. ^ a b Hudson, Audrey (October 11, 2013). "Tipton Bill Seeks to Stop Feds from Trampling Water Rights". The Colorado Observer. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  34. ^ "Jared Huffman". Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  35. ^ "Membership". Congressional Arts Caucus. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  36. ^ "Caucus Members". Congressional Progressive Caucus. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  37. ^ "Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute".
  38. ^ Huffman, Jared (June 24, 2022). "This decision by the radical SCOTUS goes against the will of the people and has hurled the U.S. down a terrifying path of stripping away fundamental freedoms. We cannot accept a world where our future generations have fewer rights than those that came before them". Twitter. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  39. ^ "Rep. Huffman Statement on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization | U.S. Congressman Jared Huffman". Jared Huffman. June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  40. ^ Gans, Jared (May 31, 2023). "Republicans and Democrats who bucked party leaders by voting no". The Hill. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  41. ^ "Huffman disavows vote on campus Israel critics after uproar". Marin Independent Journal. November 6, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  42. ^ "Rep. Jared Huffman backtracks on vote concerning campus antisemitism". Santa Rosa Press Democrat. November 6, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  43. ^ a b c Mascaro, Lisa (June 11, 2024). "House Democrats step up to try to stop Project 2025 plans for a Trump White House". Washington: Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 13, 2024. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  44. ^ a b c Smith, David (June 11, 2024). "Trump's Project 2025 plot would take 'wrecking ball' to US institutions, key Democrat warns". The Guardian. Washington. Archived from the original on June 13, 2024. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  45. ^ "Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael)". jaredhuffman.com. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  46. ^ McCutcheon, Michael; Barone, Chuck (2013). 2014 Almanac of American Politics. The University of Chicago Press.
  47. ^ Michelle Boorstein (November 9, 2017). "This lawmaker isn't sure that God exists. Now, he's finally decided to tell people". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  48. ^ Primary election: General election:
  49. ^ Primary election: General election:
  50. ^ Primary election: General election:
  51. ^ Primary election: General election:
  52. ^ Primary election: General election:
  53. ^ Primary election: General election:
  54. ^ Primary election: General election:
  55. ^ Primary election: General election:
  56. ^ Primary election: General election:
  57. ^ Primary election:

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U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 2nd congressional district
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