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Erik Peterson (politician)

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Erik Peterson
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly
from the 23rd district
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 7, 2009
Serving with John DiMaio
Preceded byMichael J. Doherty
Member of the Hunterdon County Board of Chosen Freeholders
In office
January 1, 2006 – December 7, 2009
Preceded byFrank J. Fuzo
Succeeded byRobert G. Walton
Personal details
Born (1966-03-08) March 8, 1966 (age 58)
Cherry Hill, New Jersey, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseJenni Peterson
Children4
ResidenceFranklin Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey
WebsiteLegislative Website
Assembly Republican Website

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

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Peterson was born and raised in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, where he graduated from Cherry Hill High School East.[1] 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.[2][3] 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.[2][3]

Political career

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Hunterdon County Freeholder

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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.[2] He served as a freeholder from 2006 to 2009, and while on the board served as deputy director in 2007 and Director in 2008.[4]

New Jersey Assemblyman

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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.[5] 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%).[6] DiMaio and Peterson won easily in the heavily Republican 23rd district in November's general election.[7] 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.[8][9] Peterson was selected by the county committee members on December 6, 2009, and sworn into office the following day.[10]

Committees

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Committee assignments for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:[11]

  • 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

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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.[12] The representatives from the 23rd District for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:[13]

2022 U.S. House election

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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.[14][15][16][17]

Electoral history

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New Jersey Assembly

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23rd Legislative District General Election, 2023[18]
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 105,587 100.0
Republican hold
Republican hold
23rd Legislative District General Election, 2021[19]
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 149,861 100.0
Republican hold
23rd Legislative District General Election, 2019[20]
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 91,707 100%
Republican hold
New Jersey general election, 2017[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican John DiMaio (Incumbent) 33,880 29.4 Decrease 3.0
Republican Erik Peterson (Incumbent) 32,233 27.9 Decrease 3.4
Democratic Laura Shaw 24,386 21.1 Increase 2.7
Democratic Charles Boddy 21,690 18.8 Increase 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 '115,366' '100.0'
New Jersey general election, 2015[22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican John DiMaio (Incumbent) 17,654 32.4 Decrease 1.2
Republican Erik Peterson (Incumbent) 17,071 31.3 Decrease 2.5
Democratic Maria Rodriguez 10,056 18.4 Increase 1.5
Democratic Marybeth Maciag 9,759 17.9 Increase 2.2
Total votes '54,540' '100.0'
New Jersey general election, 2013[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Erik Peterson (Incumbent) 35,604 33.8 Increase 2.9
Republican John DiMaio (Incumbent) 35,458 33.6 Increase 2.4
Democratic John Valentine 17,828 16.9 Decrease 2.7
Democratic Ralph Drake 16,548 15.7 Decrease 2.5
Total votes '105,438' '100.0'
New Jersey general election, 2011[24]
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 68,152 100.0
New Jersey general election, 2009[25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican John DiMaio (Incumbent) 49,137 35.3 Increase 4.3
Republican Erik Peterson 48,067 34.5 Increase 3.5
Democratic William J. Courtney 21,997 15.8 Decrease 3.9
Democratic Tammeisha Smith 19,939 14.3 Decrease 4.1
Total votes '139,140' '100.0'

United States House of Representative

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2022 Republican primary results[17]
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 55,041 100.0

References

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  1. ^ Assemblyman Erik Peterson Archived 2016-01-13 at the Wayback Machine, Hunterdon County Republican Committee. Accessed January 2, 2018. "Mr. Peterson was born in Camden County, New Jersey where he attended Cherry Hill public schools, graduating from Cherry Hill East High School."
  2. ^ a b c "Hunterdon County Republican Committee". Archived from the original on October 28, 2009. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
  3. ^ a b "Assistant Republican Whip Erik Peterson". New Jersey Assembly Republicans. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  4. ^ "Assemblyman Erik Peterson (R)". New Jersey Legislature. New Jersey Office of Legislative Services. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  5. ^ Olanoff, Lynn (February 22, 2009). "John DiMaio named to fill Assembly seat". Express-Times. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  6. ^ "Official List Candidate Returns for General Assembly For June 2009 Primary Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. June 29, 2009. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  7. ^ Wichert, Bill (2009-11-04). "Republican Michael Doherty wins New Jersey Senate post; GOP running mates John DiMaio and Erik Peterson capture state Assembly seats". The Express-Times. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  8. ^ "Clinton Twp.'s Tom Borkowski seeks Peterson's Freeholder job". The Hunterdon County Democrat. 2009-11-16. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  9. ^ Wichert, Bill (2009-11-23). "Michael Doherty sworn in as new state senator representing Warren, Hunterdon counties". The Express-Times. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  10. ^ "Erik Peterson sworn in early to two-year term in New Jersey Assembly". The Express-Times. 2009-12-07. Retrieved 2010-01-11.
  11. ^ Assemblyman Erik Peterson (R), New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 23, 2024.
  12. ^ New Jersey State Constitution 1947 (Updated Through Amendments Adopted in November, 2020): Article IV, Section II, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 28, 2022.
  13. ^ Legislative Roster for District 23, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 23, 2024.
  14. ^ Wildstein, David. "Peterson will run for Congress in NJ-7". New Jersey Globe. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  15. ^ Wildstein, David. "Peterson gets endorsement from N.J. Second Amendment Society". New Jersey Globe. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  16. ^ Fox, Joey. "Kean beats parade of challengers in 7th district Republican primary". New Jersey Globe. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  17. ^ a b "2022 Official Primary Election Results: U.S. House of Representatives" (PDF). New Jersey Department of State - Division of Elections. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  18. ^ "Candidates for General Assembly - For GENERAL ELECTION 11/07/2023 Election" (PDF). New Jersey Department of State. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  19. ^ "Official List, Candidates for General Assembly For GENERAL ELECTION 11/02/2021 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. November 30, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  20. ^ "Official List, Candidates for General Assembly For PRIMARY ELECTION 06/04/2019 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. April 11, 2019. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  21. ^ "2017-official-general-election-results-general-assembly.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 May 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  22. ^ "2015-official-ge-results-nj-general-assembly.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 April 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  23. ^ "2013-official-general-election-results-general-assembly.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  24. ^ "2011-official-gen-elect-gen-assembly-results-121411.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  25. ^ "2009-official-gen-elect-gen-assembly-tallies-120109.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 December 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
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New Jersey General Assembly
Preceded by Member of the New Jersey General Assembly for the 23rd District
December 7, 2009 – Present
With: John DiMaio 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Frank J. Fuzo
 Hunterdon County at-large Freeholder
January 1, 2006 – December 7, 2009 		Succeeded by
Robert G. Walton
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