Amy H. Handlin (born January 28, 1956) is an American

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politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly, where she represented the 13th Legislative District from 2006 to 2020.

Education and career

Handlin earned a B.A. in 1977 from Harvard University, a MBA from Columbia University in 1979, and a Ph.D. in Marketing from New York University in 1991.Assemblywoman Handlin's legislative web page

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

. Accessed February 21, 2008. She was an associate professor of marketing at Monmouth University until her retirement in 2019Amy Handlin retiring from New Jersey Assembly

Asbury Park Press The ''Asbury Park Press'' is a daily newspaper in Monmouth and Ocean counties of New Jersey and has the third largest circulation in the state. It has been owned by Gannett since 1997. Its reporting staff has been awarded numerous national hon ...

. Accessed June 5, 2019. and was also a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Public Issues.

Monmouth County Politics

Handlin was elected to the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1989 and re-elected in 1992, 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2004. Previously, she served as deputy mayor and township committeewoman in Middletown Township. Handlin is a former commissioner on the New Jersey State Commission on Higher Education and chair of Monmouth County's Communities Against Tobacco Coalition. Named 2003 Elected Official of the Year by the Northern Monmouth Chamber of Commerce, she has also been honored by the

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of New Jersey, Prevention First, 180:Turning Lives Around and many other public health organizations for her work to reduce teen smoking. Handlin has also served on the boards of the New Jersey

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...

and the

American Association of University Women The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide network of 170,000 ...

, among others. She is a past recipient of the Legislative Award of the New Jersey Environmental Federation, the Humanitarian Award of Brandeis University Women, the Rose and Scroll Award of the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners, and numerous other citations for civic leadership. Handlin, the author of the 1998 book ''Whatever Happened to the Year of the Woman? Why Women Still Aren't Making It to the Top in Politics'', and the books ''Be Your Own Lobbyist,'' (Praeger, 2010) and ''Government Grief'' (Praeger 2011). She has also been a columnist for the ''New Jersey Reporter'', a public-affairs magazine. A founding member and former chair of the Monmouth County Advisory Commission on Women, Handlin is a member of the national board of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and vice president of community relations for the Jewish Federation of Greater Monmouth County. A past chair of the Central Jersey Israel EXPO, she has also co-chaired the United Jewish Communities' Northeast Leadership Conference.

New Jersey Assembly

Handlin ran against fellow Republican Joseph Azzolina whom she defeated in the June 2005 GOP primary. Handlin was one of the main proponents of the ban enacted in 2007 on consumption of alcohol in the

PNC Bank Arts Center The PNC Bank Arts Center (originally the Garden State Arts Center) is an amphitheatre in Holmdel, New Jersey. About 17,500 people can occupy the venue; there are 7,000 seats and the grass area can hold about 10,500 people. Concerts are from May ...

parking lots. After incumbent 13th District

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Joe Kyrillos Joseph M. Kyrillos Jr. (born April 12, 1960) is an American Republican Party politician and businessman from New Jersey. Kyrillos served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1992 to 2018, where he represented the 13th Legislative District, and i ...

announced he would not seek re-election in 2017, Handlin initially intended to run for his seat, putting her into a contested primary with fellow Assembly member

Declan O'Scanlon Declan Joseph O'Scanlon Jr. (born June 9, 1963) is an American politician who has served in the New Jersey Senate since 2018, representing the 13th Legislative District. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the New Jersey ...

. However, Handlin ultimately dropped her Senate bid, and instead ran for re-election to her Assembly seat, which she retained in the general election. For the 2019 general election, Handlin announced she would not run for another term and was retiring from the Assembly. Her current term concluded in 2020 and she was succeeded by Republican

Gerard Scharfenberger Gerard P. Scharfenberger (born November 29, 1958) is an American politician, adjunct professor and Republican Party politician who has served in the New Jersey General Assembly representing the 13th Legislative District since 2020, replacing ...

Committees

*Higher Education *Regulated Professions

Personal life

Handlin resides in Middletown Township, where she lives with husband David, son Daniel and daughter Rebecca.Assembly Member Amy H. Handlin
Project Vote Smart. Accessed August 10, 2007.

Electoral history

Assembly

References

External links

Assemblywoman Handlin's legislative web page

*''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms'' �
201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005Assembly Member Amy H. Handlin
Project Vote Smart {{DEFAULTSORT:Handlin, Amy 1956 births Living people Columbia Business School alumni Harvard Business School alumni Monmouth University faculty Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly New Jersey city council members County commissioners in New Jersey New York University alumni People from Middletown Township, New Jersey Women state legislators in New Jersey Women city councillors in New Jersey 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American women academics