Jared Huffman
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, 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 to the Oregon  border. Early life, education, and legal career. Huffman 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. 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 ranked #1 in the world and had recently won the World Championship. He graduated "cum laude" from Boston College Law School 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. 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 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 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, 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, 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. 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. Personal life. Huffman lives in San Rafael with his wife, Susan, and their two children. His hobby is winemaking. In a November 9, 2017, interview with "The Washington Post"s Michelle Boorstein, Huffman said, "I suppose you could say I don't believe in God."