0/5

In general, we think there are way too many lawyers turned Representatives, but even we have to admit Congressman Jared Huffman is a credit to his profession. Huffman started his career working on antitrust litigation before opening his own public interest firm, where he apparently never lost a case. Huffman wracked up several notable legal victories, including a landmark Title IX case that forced the California State University system to provide equal opportunities to female athletes. Huffman made the transition from the courtroom to the statehouse in 2006, where he earned a reputation as an environmental and renewable energy activist. In the Assembly, he helped author the largest solar water-heating incentive program at the time and statewide phase-out of incandescent light bulbs.

When Huffman made the jump from Assembly to Congress in 2012, he quickly fell in with the Progressive caucus and continued his work to curb carbon emissions. Huffman has proposed legislation to replace the stagnant gas tax with a more aggressive carbon tax and was the lead sponsor of a House-passed bill to protect the Arctic from fossil fuel companies. He was also an early cosponsor of the Green New Deal and Environmental Justice For All Act.

But Huffman is not just a progressive on climate change policy. He is a vocal supporter of Medicare for All, debt-free college, abolishing the death penalty, and legalizing marijuana. Huffman's voting record is equally impressive, backing most progressive initiatives and getting a Vote Score in the 90s. Additionally, Huffman is a founder and co-chair of the Freethought Caucus, which advocates for protecting secular government institutions from right-wing assault.

Huffman's bad votes are generally confined to appropriation bills, so his record is not perfect, but clearly under more progressive leadership Huffman would be a reliable vote. With the exception of supporting Keith Ellison for DNC chair, Huffman publicly stays on the sidelines when it comes to intraparty fights. The main reason you will not see Huffman in our "progressive control group" is his unwillingness to throw himself wholeheartedly against the gears of the Democratic establishment. But hey, not everyone can be a hero.