Amy H. Handlin (born January 28, 1956) is an American Republican Party

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

who served in the

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...

, where she represented the 13th Legislative District from 2006 to 2020.

Education and career

Handlin earned a B.A. in 1977 from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, a

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1979, and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in Marketing from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

in 1991.Assemblywoman Handlin's legislative web page
New Jersey Legislature. Accessed February 21, 2008. She was an associate professor of marketing at

Monmouth University Monmouth University is a private university in West Long Branch, New Jersey. Founded in 1933 as Monmouth Junior College, it became Monmouth College in 1956 and Monmouth University in 1995 after receiving its charter. There are about 4,400 full ...

until her retirement in 2019Amy Handlin retiring from New Jersey Assembly
Asbury Park Press. Accessed June 5, 2019. and was also a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Public Issues.

Monmouth County Politics

Handlin was elected to the Monmouth County

Board of Chosen Freeholders In New Jersey, a Board of County Commissioners (until 2020 named the Board of Chosen Freeholders) is the elected county-wide government board in each of the state's 21 counties. In the five counties that have an elected county executive, the ...

in 1989 and re-elected in 1992, 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2004. Previously, she served as deputy mayor and township committeewoman in Middletown Township. Handlin is a former commissioner on the New Jersey State Commission on Higher Education and chair of Monmouth County's Communities Against Tobacco Coalition. Named 2003 Elected Official of the Year by the Northern Monmouth Chamber of Commerce, she has also been honored by the American Cancer Society of New Jersey, Prevention First, 180:Turning Lives Around and many other public health organizations for her work to reduce teen smoking. Handlin has also served on the boards of the New Jersey League of Women Voters and the American Association of University Women, among others. She is a past recipient of the Legislative Award of the New Jersey Environmental Federation, the Humanitarian Award of

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , ...

Women, the Rose and Scroll Award of the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners, and numerous other citations for civic leadership. Handlin, the author of the 1998 book ''Whatever Happened to the Year of the Woman? Why Women Still Aren't Making It to the Top in Politics'', and the books ''Be Your Own Lobbyist,'' (Praeger, 2010) and ''Government Grief'' (Praeger 2011). She has also been a columnist for the ''New Jersey Reporter'', a public-affairs magazine. A founding member and former chair of the Monmouth County Advisory Commission on Women, Handlin is a member of the national board of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and vice president of community relations for the Jewish Federation of Greater Monmouth County. A past chair of the Central Jersey Israel EXPO, she has also co-chaired the

United Jewish Communities The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), formerly the United Jewish Communities (UJC), is an American Jewish umbrella organization representing 146 Jewish Federations and 300 independent Jewish communities across North America, which rais ...

' Northeast Leadership Conference.

New Jersey Assembly

Handlin ran against fellow Republican

Joseph Azzolina Joseph Azzolina (January 26, 1926 – April 15, 2010) was an American Republican Party politician who served in the New Jersey Legislature for a total of 24 years. 22 of these years he served in the New Jersey General Assembly while he served t ...

whom she defeated in the June 2005 GOP primary. Handlin was one of the main proponents of the ban enacted in 2007 on consumption of alcohol in the PNC Bank Arts Center parking lots. After incumbent 13th District Senator Joe Kyrillos announced he would not seek re-election in 2017, Handlin initially intended to run for his seat, putting her into a contested primary with fellow Assembly member Declan O'Scanlon. However, Handlin ultimately dropped her Senate bid, and instead ran for re-election to her Assembly seat, which she retained in the general election. For the 2019 general election, Handlin announced she would not run for another term and was retiring from the Assembly. Her current term concluded in 2020 and she was succeeded by Republican Gerard Scharfenberger.

Committees

*Higher Education *Regulated Professions

Personal life

Handlin resides in Middletown Township, where she lives with husband David, son Daniel and daughter Rebecca.Assembly Member Amy H. Handlin

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...

. Accessed August 10, 2007.

Electoral history

Assembly

References

External links

Assemblywoman Handlin's legislative web page
New Jersey Legislature *''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms'' �
201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005Assembly Member Amy H. Handlin

{{DEFAULTSORT:Handlin, Amy 1956 births Living people Columbia Business School alumni Harvard Business School alumni Monmouth University faculty Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly New Jersey city council members County commissioners in New Jersey New York University alumni People from Middletown Township, New Jersey Women state legislators in New Jersey Women city councillors in New Jersey 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American women academics