Eric Houghtaling

Eric Houghtaling (born September 5, 1954) is an American Democratic politician representing the 11th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly, which covers portions of Monmouth County. Prior to his election to the Assembly, Houghtaling served as an elected official in Neptune Township, New Jersey.

Eric Houghtaling
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 11th District
Incumbent
Assumed office January 12, 2016 Serving with Joann Downey
Preceded by	Mary Pat Angelini Caroline Casagrande
Deputy Majority Leader of the New Jersey General Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office January 9, 2018
Leader	Louis Greenwald
Preceded by	Angelica M. Jimenez [1]
Chair of the New Jersey General Assembly Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources
Incumbent
Assumed office January 14, 2019
Preceded by	Bob Andrzejczak
Personal details
Born	September 5, 1954 Neptune Township, New Jersey
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Linda Houghtaling
Residence	Neptune Township, New Jersey
Website	Legislative Website

Early life

Houghtaling was born in Neptune Township, New Jersey. He is currently a resident of Neptune.[2] Houghtaling works as an electrician and member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.[3] Houghtaling and his wife, Linda, have three children and seven grandchildren.[2] Houghtaling served on the Neptune Township Committee from 2011 to 2015, and later became Mayor of Neptune Township, New Jersey in 2013.[4]

New Jersey Assembly

Houghtaling was elected to the General Assembly alongside running mate Joann Downey in November 2015, defeating Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande.[5] Houghtaling and Downey's victory was considered to be an unexpected upset.[6][7] Houghtaling was sworn into office on January 12, 2016. Houghtaling has worked to increase public awareness of Pancreatic Cancer and introduced legislation, which was later signed into law, designating November as Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in New Jersey. In July 2018 Houghtaling and fellow Assemblywoman Joann Downey accused fellow Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso of violating the Truth-In-Caller ID while sending out robocalls.[8]

Committees

• Agriculture and Natural Resources
• Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations
• Labor
• Telecommunications and Utilities

District 11

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 11th District for the 2018-2019 Legislative Session are:[9][10]

• Senator Vin Gopal (D),
• Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling (D), and
• Assemblywoman Joann Downey (D)

Electoral History

Assembly

New Jersey general election, 2017[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Joann Downey	31,347	27.7	2.5
	Democratic	Eric Houghtaling	31,012	27.4	1.8
	Republican	Robert Acerra	25,672	22.6	2.2
	Republican	Michael Whelan	25,320	22.3	2.1
Total votes			'113,351'	'100.0'

New Jersey general election, 2015[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Eric Houghtaling	15,149	25.6	5.0
	Democratic	Joann Downey	14,906	25.2	5.0
	Republican	Mary Pat Angelini	14,653	24.8	5.3
	Republican	Caroline Casagrande	14,418	24.4	4.7
Total votes			'59,126'	'100.0'

References

1. "GENERAL ASSEMBLY". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 29 March 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
2. "Assembly Members Houghtaling & Downey". Retrieved 2016-06-29.
3. "Asseman Eric Houghtaling". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
4. "Eric Houghtaling (D)". New Jersey Legislature. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
5. "2015 New Jersey Monmouth County Election Results" (PDF). p. 36. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
6. "LD11 Shocker: Democratic Victory in Monmouth County". 2015-11-04. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
7. "Elections 2015: Democrats oust Republicans in Assembly's 11th District". Retrieved 2016-06-29.
8. "Ethics panel finds probable cause to investigate DiMaso". New Jersey Globe. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
9. Legislative Roster 2018-2019 Session, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 22, 2018.
10. District 11 Legislators, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 23, 2018.
11. "2017-official-general-election-results-general-assembly.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 May 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
12. "2015-official-ge-results-nj-general-assembly.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 April 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2019.