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. He is a member of the
Democratic Party.
From 2006 to 2012, Huffman was a member of the
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.
The ...
, representing the
6th district. 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.
His congressional district covers the North Coast from the
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...
to the
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
border.
Early life, education, and legal career
Huffman graduated from
William Chrisman High School in 1982 and in 1986 received his
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
in political science ''
magna cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
'' from
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...
, where he was a member of the
Phi Delta Theta Fraternity
Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta ...
. At UCSB, Huffman was a three-time All-American volleyball player. He was a member of the
USA Volleyball
USA Volleyball (USAV) is a non-profit organization which is recognized as the national governing body of volleyball in the United States by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). It ...
Team in 1987 when the team was ranked #1 in the world and had recently won the World Championship. He graduated ''cum laude'' from
Boston College Law School
Boston College Law School (BC Law) is the law school of Boston College. It is situated on a wooded campus in Newton, Massachusetts, about 1.5 miles from the university's main campus in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
With approximately 800 stud ...
in 1990.
Huffman became 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
Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
. Huffman was a senior attorney for the
Natural Resources Defense Council. He was also a publicly elected director of the
Marin Municipal Water District for 12 years, including three terms as board president.
California State Assembly
Elections
Huffman won the Democratic nomination for the 6th district 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 Connelly,
Marin County
Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...
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
Patrick Connally. He defeated Republican nominee Robert Stephens in the general election
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
In his first four years as a legislator, Huffman authored and passed more than 40 pieces of legislation. 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.
The bill passed the State Assembly and Senate, but Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
vetoed it. 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.
Committee assignments
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
Elections
2012
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. California's 2nd congressional district now covers six counties:
Marin,
Sonoma,
Mendocino,
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...
,
Humboldt, and
Del Norte.
Huffman finished first in the top-two primary, with 37% of the vote. In November, he defeated Republican candidate Dan Roberts 71%–29%.
2014
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%.
2016
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%.
2018
Huffman defeated Mensing a third time, with 72.5% of the primary vote to Mensing's 20.9% and 77.0% of the vote in the general election.
2020
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.
Tenure
In April 2018, Huffman,
Jerry McNerney,
Jamie Raskin
Jamin Ben Raskin (born December 13, 1962) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Maryland's 8th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the Maryland State Senate fro ...
, and
Dan Kildee
Daniel Timothy Kildee (; born August 11, 1958) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 5th congressional district since 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
From 1977 to 2009, Kildee was a municipal ...
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.
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.
As of October 2021, Huffman had voted in line with
Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time.
Opposed legislation
*
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."
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."
*
Water Rights Protection Act
The Water Rights Protection Act () is 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.
The bill was introduced into the United States Ho ...
– 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.
The bill was a reaction to the
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Nationa ...
'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."
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.
Committee assignments
*
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives.
History
The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure was formerly known as the Committee on Public Works a ...
**
Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
**
Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials
**
Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment
*
Committee on Natural Resources Committee on Natural Resources may refer to:
* Philippine House Committee on Natural Resources, a committee of the House of Representatives of the Philippines
* United States House Committee on Natural Resources, a committee of the U.S. House of R ...
**
Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife (chair)
**
Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
**
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
*
Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
Caucus memberships
*
Congressional Arts Caucus
*
Congressional Freethought Caucus
*
Congressional Progressive Caucus
*
Medicare for All Caucus
Political positions
Abortion
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."
United States Supreme Court
In 2022, Huffman described the U.S. Supreme Court as "extreme, out of touch" and "right-wing" in response to ''
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization
''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization'', , is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the court held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion. The court's decision overruled both ''Ro ...
''.
Personal life
Huffman lives in
San Rafael with his wife, Susan, and their two children. His hobby is
winemaking
Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and ...
.
In a November 9, 2017, interview with ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
''s Michelle Boorstein, Huffman said, "I suppose you could say I don't believe in God."
Electoral history
California State Assembly
U.S. House of Representatives
References
Further reading
*
External links
Congressman Jared Huffmanofficial U.S. House website
Jared Huffman for Congresscampaign website
*
*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huffman, Jared
1964 births
21st-century American politicians
American atheists
American humanists
American men's volleyball players
Boston College Law School alumni
20th-century American lawyers
21st-century American lawyers
20th-century American politicians
California lawyers
Living people
Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California
Politicians from Independence, Missouri
People from San Rafael, California
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's volleyball players