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Valerie Vainieri Huttle (born September 15, 1956) is an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly where she represented the 37th Legislative District, from 2006 to 2022. Huttle served on the Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 2001 through 2006.

In the Assembly, Huttle served on the Homeland Security and State Preparedness (Chair), Labor (Vice-Chair), and Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committees.

Biography and early political career

Huttle was born in 1956 to Anthony P. and Natalie Vainieri. Her family founded the Vainieri Funeral Home in North Bergen; in addition, her father served on the North Bergen Board of Commissioners and one term in the General Assembly from the 32nd District from 1983 to 1985. Her brother Anthony P. Vainieri, Jr. is currently serving on the Hudson County Board of County Commissioners and is the current Chairperson. She is a state-licensed funeral director and has served as president of the funeral home since 1981.

Huttle graduated cum laude from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1980 with a B.A. in English, and received state certification for teaching. She also attended Rider University, but did not receive a degree. Huttle is a former member of the Board of Palisades General Hospital and founder of the Southern Bergen County Homeowners Association. She is also a co-founder of "WIN", Women Involved Now, an educational and social network for women in the community. Huttle sits on the Board of Trustees as Vice-President of Shelter Our Sisters, an organization that brings awareness to the plight of victims of domestic violence while providing hope and revitalization to their lives through counseling and direct care. She has served as a former Trustee of Vantage Health.

While a resident of Cliffside Park, Huttle mounted a bid for the New Jersey Senate in 1997 in the 38th District against Republican incumbent Louis F. Kosco. Despite raising more funds in the campaign than Kosco, she was defeated by him the general election 55% to 42%. Three years later in 2000, by now a resident of Englewood, she and running mate Jack Alter (who was also the mayor of Fort Lee) defeated Republican incumbent Bergen County Freeholders Richard Mola and J. William Van Dyke. Two years later on January 2, 2003, she was unanimously chosen by her peers to serve the Board as the first ever Chairwoman under its present County Executive form of government. Her colleagues returned her to the Chairperson's seat once again in 2004.

As Freeholder, Huttle sat on the Community Oversight Board at Bergen Regional Medical Center during her first two years of service, providing oversight of the privately managed county hospital. She has also served on the county Board of Social Services and is a member of the Community Action Partnership Board of Trustees for the last four years where she worked for development of a one-stop homeless shelter to better address the needs of that growing population. She was a member of the Board of School Estimate at the Bergen County Technical Schools, a former member of the Board of School Estimate at Bergen Community College and chaired the Freeholder committee for Health and Human Services. After serving one year as both an Assemblywoman and Freeholder, she declined to seek re-election in 2006 to the Freeholder board.

Huttle is a resident of Englewood, where she lives with her husband Frank Huttle III and their two daughters, Alexandra and Francesca. Frank Huttle has served as Mayor of Englewood since January 2010, succeeding Michael Wildes. Huttle and her husband were inducted into the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in ceremonies held in September 2000 at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, having been recommended for the honor by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Archbishop Edward Egan designated Mrs. Huttle a Dame and Mr. Huttle a Knight of the order.

Legislative career

After the resignation of District 37 State Senator Byron Baer on September 8, 2005, Huttle had put her name in the ring to fill the Senate vacancy. Ultimately, she withdrew and endorsed Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg of Teaneck to fill the seat. On October 5, after an extended legal battle related to inclusion of five disputed ballots, Weinberg was ultimately victorious over Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa in her bid to replace Baer, both on an interim basis and on the November General Election ballot.

With Weinberg's court victory, Huttle and Engelwood Mayor Michael Wildes both announced their candidacies for Weinberg's Assembly slot on the November general election ballot and to fill the balance of her term in the Assembly once she took her seat in the Senate. The choice was decided by yet another special convention of the Bergen County Democratic Committee on October 6, 2005, with Huttle out-polling Wildes 121-96 (Huttle would ultimately not serve the remainder of Weinberg's term). Running together with Weinberg and incumbent Assemblyman Gordon M. Johnson, Huttle was elected on Election Day, November 8, 2005, to the Assembly and sworn in as a new member on January 10, 2006, the first day of the 212th Legislative Session.

As of 2015, Huttle chairs the Assembly Human Services Committee and sits on the Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee and the New Jersey Legislative Select Committee on Investigation investigating the Fort Lee lane closure scandal. Since 2015, she has served as a Deputy Speaker.

Following a legislative study mission to Israel in 2016, Huttle along with other Assembly Democrats sponsored an anti-BDS bill barring the state's pension funds from investing in companies that boycott Israel or Israeli businesses.

In 2021, Huttle announced she would seek the District 37 Senate seat due to Loretta Weinberg's announcement that she would be retiring at the end of her term, going against fellow Assemblyman Gordon Johnson in the 2021 Democratic Primary Huttle was endorsed by the New Jersey Working Families Party, EMILY's List, however she lacked her local Democratic party's support as they elected to back Johnson to bracket with the Democratic Party on the primary ballot. Due to this, Huttle made changing ballot design and party endorsements part of her campaign, aligning with local progressive groups pushing for this. Huttle lost the primary, being defeated by Johnson 3-1.

References

1. ^ Assemblywoman Vainieri-Huttle's legislative web page, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed December 6, 2019.
2. "Staff". Vainieri Funeral Home. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
3. Heinis, John (January 2, 2015). "Anthony Vainieiri sworn in as District 8 Freeholder in North Bergen". Hudson County View. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
4. Henig, Jeffrey (2021-01-04). "Hudson County Commissioners Reorganize, Vainieri Still Chair, Romano Vice Chair". Hudson TV. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
5. ^ "Biography of Freeholder Chairwoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle". Bergen County. Archived from the original on February 8, 2007. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
6. McAleavy, Teresa M. (October 23, 1997). "Huttle War Chest Outpaces Kosco's". The Record. Archived from the original on February 25, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
7. "Official Results - GENERAL ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE OFFICE OF STATE SENATE FOR ELECTION HELD NOVEMBER 4, 1997" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. December 2, 1997. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
8. Strunsky, Steve (November 19, 2000). "POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT; Many Local Returns". The New York Times. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
9. Fallon, Scott (May 28, 2006). "Republicans scrapping over three other posts". The Record. Archived from the original on February 25, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2015. Democratic Freeholder Valerie Huttle is not seeking a new term.
10. Van Dusen, Matthew; Pries, Allison (January 1, 2010). "Englewood to welcome new mayor at Tuesday reoganization [sic] meeting". The Record. Archived from the original on 2010-01-03. Retrieved July 20, 2011. "In Englewood, attorney Frank Huttle will be sworn in as the new mayor and Lynne Algrant becomes the latest addition to the council Tuesday night at the city's annual reorganization meeting. Huttle, who defeated longtime Councilman Scott Reddin by a narrow margin in the June primary, replaces Michael Wildes, who announced last year that he would not seek a third term.... Huttle, head of the Englewood-based BergenPAC, husband of Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle, and a partner in the Teaneck law firm DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Wisler LLP, will appoint a new council president, and various city appointments will be made.
11. Fallon, Scott. "Opened ballots confirm Senate victory", The Record, October 6, 2005. Accessed April 1, 2008.
12. Fallon, Scott. Huttle gets Democrats' nod to run for Assembly in 37th -- Freeholder defeats Englewood mayor in party tussle", The Record, October 7, 2005. Accessed April 1, 2008. "Freeholder Valerie Huttle will succeed Loretta Weinberg as a Democratic Assembly candidate in the 37th District after defeating Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes in a county committee election Thursday night. Huttle won, 121-96, to be the party's nominee on the Nov. 8 ballot. She will fill the rest of the Assembly term after Weinberg resigns."
13. Posted on (August 1, 2018). "Vainieri Huttle, Schaer, Pinkin, Mukherji, Lampitt & Mazzeo Bill Barring State Pension Investments in Anti-Israel Companies Now Law". Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
14. Friedman, Matt. "Longtime Assembly allies poised for primary fight to replace Weinberg". Politico PRO. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
15. "New Jersey". Working Families Party. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
16. "Emily's list backs Quijano, Vainieri Huttle". New Jersey Globe. 2021-05-13. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
17. "In reversal, Vainieri Huttle backs eliminating organizational lines". New Jersey Globe. 2021-05-19. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
18. NJ.com, Susan K. Livio (2021-06-09). "Johnson wins bitter Senate Democratic primary in fight to succeed Weinberg". NJ.com. Retrieved 10 June 2021.

External links

• Website for Valerie Huttle
• Assemblywoman Vainieri Huttle's legislative web page, New Jersey Legislature
• New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms
  • 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005

• 1956 births
• County commissioners in New Jersey
• Fairleigh Dickinson University alumni
• American funeral directors
• Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
• Living people
• Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly
• People from Cliffside Park, New Jersey
• Politicians from Englewood, New Jersey
• Politicians from Bergen County, New Jersey
• Rider University alumni
• Women state legislators in New Jersey
• 21st-century American women politicians
• 21st-century members of the New Jersey Legislature