# Erik Peterson (politician)

Erik C. Peterson (born March 8, 1966) is an American Republican Party politician who represents the 23rd Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly. Peterson, who previously served on the Hunterdon County Board of Chosen Freeholders, replaced Assemblyman Michael J. Doherty, who was elected to the New Jersey Senate. He was sworn in on December 7, 2009, to fill Doherty's vacant Assembly seat.

## Early life

Peterson was born and raised in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, where he graduated from Cherry Hill High School East. He attended North Carolina State University and earned a bachelor's degree in business management in 1988. In 1990, he moved in Hunterdon County to work for the Beneficial Management Corporation. Recruited for the Accelerated Management Program at that company, he eventually ran the New Jersey operations of Beneficial's mortgage banking subsidiary. He then attended Temple University School of Law, graduating in 1996. That same year he was admitted to the bar in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania. After practicing law at various firms from 1998 until 2004, Peterson now has his own law office in Readington Township, specializing in real estate law, estate law, and business law. He currently resides in Franklin Township with his wife Jenni and their four children. He is a member of the Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce and the local Lions Club. He is on the board of the local United Way.

## Political career
### Hunterdon County Freeholder

Peterson's career in politics began with his appointment as a Republican County Committeeman for Lambertville, where he then resided. Peterson spent several years on the County Committee, only recently leaving that position. Peterson is also a former president of the Hunterdon County Young Republicans. Peterson was elected a Hunterdon County freeholder in 2005, running on a platform of fiscal conservatism, farmland preservation, and open government. He served as a freeholder from 2006 to 2009, and while on the board served as deputy director in 2007 and Director in 2008.

### New Jersey Assemblyman

Before being selected as Assemblyman in December 2009, Peterson ran in a special convention to replace Assemblywoman Marcia A. Karrow who had been appointed to the State Senate. In the first ballot taken of Republican committee persons of the 23rd district, Warren County Freeholder John DiMaio received 129 votes (short of a majority), Peterson 104, and fellow Hunterdon County Freeholder Matt Holt 56. In the second ballot, DiMaio defeated Peterson 153–141. In 2009, Republican Assemblyman Michael J. Doherty declined to seek re-election to his Assembly seat and instead challenged State Senator Marcia A. Karrow in the Republican primary for the special election in the 23rd district. Incumbent DiMaio, Peterson, and Doherty's chief of staff, Edward Smith, ran for the Republican nomination to the Assembly seats. DiMaio received the most votes in the June 2009 Republican primary election, 11,888 votes (34.2% of the total vote) while Peterson narrowly defeated Smith by 52 votes: 11,439–11,387 (33.0% to 32.8%). DiMaio and Peterson won easily in the heavily Republican 23rd district in November's general election. As Doherty was sworn in as State Senator on November 23, 2009, a convention of Republican county committee members gathered to name a successor for the vacancy. Peterson was selected by the county committee members on December 6, 2009, and sworn into office the following day.

#### Committees

Committee assignments for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:
* Health
* Public Safety and Preparedness
In addition to his committee assignments, Peterson also serves as the Deputy Minority Whip in the General Assembly.

#### District 23

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly. The representatives from the 23rd District for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:
* Senator Doug Steinhardt (R)
* Assemblyman John DiMaio (R)
* Assemblyman Erik Peterson (R)

### 2022 U.S. House election

In January 2022, Peterson announced he would seek the Republican nomination for the 7th congressional district in the 2022 election, seeking to challenge incumbent Democrat Tom Malinowski. Peterson received the endorsement of New Jersey Second Amendment Society, but was unable to win the party line in any county within the district. He lost the primary election coming in third place with 8,493 votes or 15.4%, with the winner, Tom Kean Jr. going on the defeat Malinowksi in the general election.

## Electoral history
### New Jersey Assembly

23rd Legislative District General Election, 2023 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | John DiMaio (incumbent) | 31,122 | 29.5 |
| | Republican | Erik Peterson (incumbent) | 30,366 | 28.8 |
| | Democratic | Tyler Powell | 22,118 | 21.0 |
| | Democratic | Guy Citron | 21,981 | 20.8 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 105,587 | 100.0 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
23rd Legislative District General Election, 2021 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | John DiMaio (incumbent) | 46,020 | 30.71% |
| | Republican | Erik Peterson (incumbent) | 44,801 | 29.90% |
| | Democratic | Hope Kaufman | 29,894 | 19.95% |
| | Democratic | Nicholas F. LaBelle | 29,146 | 19.45% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 149,861 | 100.0 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
23rd Legislative District General Election, 2019 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | John DiMaio (incumbent) | 27,887 | 30.41% |
| | Republican | Erik Peterson (incumbent) | 27,758 | 30.27% |
| | Democratic | Denise King | 18,093 | 19.73% |
| | Democratic | Marisa Trofimov | 17,969 | 19.59% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 91,707 | 100% |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
New Jersey general election, 2017 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | John DiMaio (Incumbent) | 33,880 | 29.4 | 3.0 |
| | Republican | Erik Peterson (Incumbent) | 32,233 | 27.9 | 3.4 |
| | Democratic | Laura Shaw | 24,386 | 21.1 | 2.7 |
| | Democratic | Charles Boddy | 21,690 | 18.8 | 0.9 |
| | End the Corruption | Tyler J. Gran | 1,921 | 1.7 | N/A |
| | We Define Tomorrow | Michael Estrada | 1,256 | 1.1 | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | '115,366' | '100.0' | |
New Jersey general election, 2015 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | John DiMaio (Incumbent) | 17,654 | 32.4 | 1.2 |
| | Republican | Erik Peterson (Incumbent) | 17,071 | 31.3 | 2.5 |
| | Democratic | Maria Rodriguez | 10,056 | 18.4 | 1.5 |
| | Democratic | Marybeth Maciag | 9,759 | 17.9 | 2.2 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | '54,540' | '100.0' | |
New Jersey general election, 2013 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Erik Peterson (Incumbent) | 35,604 | 33.8 | 2.9 |
| | Republican | John DiMaio (Incumbent) | 35,458 | 33.6 | 2.4 |
| | Democratic | John Valentine | 17,828 | 16.9 | 2.7 |
| | Democratic | Ralph Drake | 16,548 | 15.7 | 2.5 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | '105,438' | '100.0' | |
New Jersey general election, 2011 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | John DiMaio (Incumbent) | 21,289 | 31.2 |
| | Republican | Erik Peterson (Incumbent) | 21,074 | 30.9 |
| | Democratic | Karen Carroll | 13,369 | 19.6 |
| | Democratic | Scott McDonald | 12,420 | 18.2 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 68,152 | 100.0 |
New Jersey general election, 2009 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | John DiMaio (Incumbent) | 49,137 | 35.3 | 4.3 |
| | Republican | Erik Peterson | 48,067 | 34.5 | 3.5 |
| | Democratic | William J. Courtney | 21,997 | 15.8 | 3.9 |
| | Democratic | Tammeisha Smith | 19,939 | 14.3 | 4.1 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | '139,140' | '100.0' | |

### United States House of Representative

2022 Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Thomas Kean Jr. | 25,111 | 45.6 |
| | Republican | Phil Rizzo | 12,988 | 23.6 |
| | Republican | Erik Peterson | 8,493 | 15.4 |
| | Republican | John Flora | 3,051 | 5.5 |
| | Republican | John Henry Isemann | 2,732 | 5.0 |
| | Republican | Kevin Dorlon | 2,237 | 4.1 |
| | Republican | Sterling Schwab | 429 | 0.8 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 55,041 | 100.0 |