Rodney Frelinghuysen

Rodney Frelinghuysen
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 11th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1995
Preceded by	Dean Gallo
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 25th district
In office January 10, 1984 – January 3, 1995
Succeeded by	Anthony Bucco
Member of the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders
In office January 1, 1974 – January 1, 1983
Personal details
Born	(1946-04-29) April 29, 1946 New York City, New York
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Virginia Robinson (m. 1980)
Residence	Harding Township, New Jersey
Alma mater	Hobart College
Occupation	political assistant
Religion	Episcopalian
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1969-1971
Rank	Specialist 5
Unit	93rd Engineer Battalion
Battles/wars	Vietnam War

Rodney P. Frelinghuysen (pron.: /ˈfriːlɪŋhaɪsən/; born April 29, 1946) is the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 11th congressional district, serving since 1995. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Early life, education, and early political career

Frelinghuysen is a member of a family long prominent in New Jersey politics. He is the son of Peter Hood Ballantine Frelinghuysen II, great-great-grandson of Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, and great-great-great-nephew of Theodore Frelinghuysen, who each represented New Jersey in the Congress. After graduating from Hobart College in 1969, where he had been president of the Kappa Alpha Society, Frelinghuysen enrolled at Trinity College for graduate work. However, the United States Army drafted Frelinghuysen before he could graduate from Trinity. Following basic training at Fort Dix, he served with the 93rd Engineer Battalion in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam.

After his military service, Frelinghuysen worked for the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders until he was elected to serve as a Freeholder in 1974.

In 1983, Frelinghuysen was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly, representing the 25th legislative district. He ran in 1990 for New Jersey's 12th congressional district, but finished third to Dick Zimmer and Phil McConkey.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

Midway through his sixth term, incumbent U.S. Congressman Dean Gallo decided to retire after discovering he had incurable prostate cancer (he died two days before the election). Rodney was chosen to be the Republican nominee after Gallo dropped out. He defeated Democrat State Senator Frank Herbert 71%-28% in November 1994. After that, he won re-election with at least 62% of the vote. He was only challenged in the Republican primary twice, 2008 and 2010. In 2008, he defeated Kate Erber in the June primary 87%-13%. In 2010, he defeated Richard Luzzi 76%-24%.

Tenure

Like most other Republicans from New Jersey, Frelinghuysen has a relatively moderate voting record. He is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership, the Republican Majority For Choice, Republicans for Choice and Republicans For Environmental Protection. However, the Sunlight Foundation pointed out that among the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Frelinghuysen has the third-highest amount of investment in oil stocks. Frelinghuysen's scores from the League of Conservation Voters dropped sharply after 2008, from the 42-67% range during 1999-2008 to 21-23% during 2009-12. During the 2011-12 Congress, his League of Conservation Voters rating was 11th out of 13 members of the House from New Jersey, and 4th among the 6 Republicans from the state.

Frelinghuysen's record on abortion is somewhat mixed, receiving a 50% from the NRLC and a 30% from NARAL in 2003. When he was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly, he made a small financial contribution to the activist/civil disobedience group ACT UP.

In 2000, left-wing activist Michael Moore attempted to have a ficus challenge Frelinghuysen's unopposed re-election, to make the point that most Members of Congress "run unopposed in their primaries and 95% are re-elected every time in the general election". Adding, "we think it's time to point out to the Frelinghuysen family that we live in a democracy, not a dynasty." (Since 1793, New Jersey has sent six Frelinghuysens to Congress — four to the U.S. Senate and two to the House of Representatives.)

On May 24, 2007, Frelinghuysen chased down a pickpocket who had stolen his wallet near his home in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Two Washington police officers saw the chase and arrested the 18-year-old suspect who had been caught by the 61-year-old congressman.

In 2009, Frelinghuysen was the chief sponsor of 16 bills, 11 of which had no co-sponsors. He co-sponsored 90 other bills, occasionally with Democrats on non-controversial issues.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Defense
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Homeland Security

Electoral history

New Jersey's 11th congressional district: Results 1994–2010

Year		Democrat	Votes	Pct		Republican	Votes	Pct		3rd Party	Party	Votes	Pct		3rd Party	Party	Votes	Pct
1994		Frank Herbert	50,211	28%		Rodney Frelinghuysen	127,868	71%		Mary Frueholz	LaRouche Was Right	1,065	1%						*
1996		Chris Evangel	78,742	31%		Rodney Frelinghuysen	169,091	66%		Ed DeMott	Independent	2,870	1%		Austin S. Lett	Independent	2,618	1%	*
1998		John P. Scollo	44,160	30%		Rodney Frelinghuysen	100,910	68%		Austin S. Lett	Independent	1,737	1%		Agnes James	Independent	1,409	1%	*
2000		John P. Scollo	80,958	30%		Rodney Frelinghuysen	186,140	68%		John Pickarski	Independent	5,199	2%		James Spinosa	Independent	1,541	1%
2002		Vij Pawar	48,477	26%		Rodney Frelinghuysen	132,938	72%		Richard S. Roth	Libertarian	2,263	1%
2004		James W. Buell	91,811	31%		Rodney Frelinghuysen	200,915	68%		John Mele	Immigration Moratorium Now	1,746	1%		Austin S. Lett	Libertarian	1,530	1%
2006		Tom Wyka	74,414	37%		Rodney Frelinghuysen	126,085	62%		Richard S. Roth	Libertarian	1,730	1%		John Mele	Constitution	842	<1%
2008		Tom Wyka	105,095	37%		Rodney Frelinghuysen	177,059	62%		Chandler Tedholm	For the People	3,526	1%
2010		Douglas Herbert	55,472	31%		Rodney Frelinghuysen	122,149	67%		Jim Gawron	Libertarian	4,179	2%
2012		John Arvanites	123,897	40%		Rodney Frelinghuysen	182,237	59%		Barry Berlin	Opposing Congressional Gridlock	3,725	1%

*Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 1994, Stuart Bacha received 436 votes. In 1996, Victoria S. Spruiell received 1,837 votes. In 1998, Stephen A. Bauer received 755 votes.

External links

• Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen official U.S. House site
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Financial information (federal office) at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance (federal office) at LegiStorm.com
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Voting record at The Washington Post
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Profile at SourceWatch

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Dean Gallo	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 11th congressional district 1995–Present	Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Chaka Fattah D-Pennsylvania	United States Representatives by seniority 78th	Succeeded by Doc Hastings R-Washington