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. 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. His congressional district covers the North Coast from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border.

Early life and education Huffman was born in Independence, Missouri. His family were members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 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. 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 worldwide 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.

Legal career 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. Huffman was a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. In 1994, he was elected to the Marin Municipal Water District. Patrick Connally. He defeated Republican nominee Robert Stephens in the general election 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.

In 2009, Huffman authored a bill (AB 1437) to require all shelled eggs sold in California to comply with Proposition 2's requirement that egg-laying hens be raised with enough space to fully extend their limbs and turn around. The law was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2010 and took effect on January 1, 2015. It was later codified and expanded by 2018 California Proposition 12, which prohibited the sale of products from animals raised in battery cages, gestation crates, and veal crates.

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.

2022

Huffman defeated former Ferndale city councilmember Douglas Brower, with 68.7% of the primary vote to Brower's 8.6% and 74.4% of the general election vote.

2024

Huffman defeated Chris Coulombe, with 73.4% of the primary vote to Coulombe's 16.4% and 71.9% of the general election vote.

2026

Huffman is running for reelection and faces several challengers in the primary on June 2, 2026.

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. Huffman was named Humanist of the Year by the American Humanist Association in 2020. Huffman and Raskin both received the Religious Liberty Award from the American Humanist Association in 2024.

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.

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

On July 19, 2024, Huffman called for Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 United States presidential election.

Committee assignments For the 119th Congress: Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

Caucus memberships Congressional Arts Caucus Congressional Equality Caucus Congressional Freethought Caucus (Co-Chair) Congressional Progressive Caucus Medicare for All Caucus Congressional Coalition on Adoption Rare Disease 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." He described the U.S. Supreme Court as "extreme, out of touch" and "right-wing".

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

H. Res. 798 On November 2, 2023, after the October 7 attacks 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. After receiving swift criticism from Jewish American groups and other constituents, several days later Huffman disavowed his vote and issued a public apology.

The Stop Project 2025 Task Force 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 for a radically reshaped U.S. federal government should a Republican president be elected in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, which was authored by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

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. 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 – a bill that would prevent federal agencies from requiring certain entities to relinquish their water rights to the United States to use public lands. 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." 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. His hobby is winemaking.

In a 2017 interview with The Washington Posts 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. 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. He has also stated that he doesn't believe in life after death.

Electoral history + Year Office Party Primary General Result Swing . Total % . Total % . 2006 State Assembly 6th Democratic 22,544 32.47% 1st 106,589 65.84% 1st Hold 2008 57,213 100.0% 1st 145,142 69.45% 1st Hold 2010 53,534 81.77% 1st 119,753 70.45% 1st Hold 2012 U.S. House 2nd 63,922 37.47% 1st 226,216 71.24% 1st Hold 2014 99,186 67.91% 1st 163,124 74.99% 1st Hold 2016 157,897 68.30% 1st 254,194 76.85% 1st Hold 2018 144,005 72.48% 1st 243,081 77.01% 1st Hold 2020 184,155 67.69% 1st 294,435 75.74% 1st Hold 2022 145,245 68.73% 1st 229,720 74.40% 1st Hold 2024 170,271 73.45% 1st 272,883 71.88% 1stHold Source: Secretary of State of California Statewide Election Results