George W. Bush in 2001 Ferguson was the Republican nominee for
6th Congressional District in 1998, but lost to Democratic incumbent
Frank Pallone. In 1999, Ferguson moved to the more Republican 7th district, where incumbent
Bob Franks was retiring to run for the United States Senate. Ferguson defeated
Thomas Kean Jr. and future
Governor of West Virginia Patrick Morrisey in the primary. He faced a difficult general election campaign against the Democratic candidate, former
Fanwood mayor
Maryanne Connelly but narrowly won, receiving 50% of the vote. At 30 years old, Ferguson was the youngest member of the New Jersey Congressional delegation. Ferguson initially was a Member of the
House Financial Services Committee, the
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the
Small Business Committee. Early in his career he played an active role in committee hearings on
corporate accounting scandals at
Enron and
Worldcom, and cosponsored the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. He also served on the House–Senate
conference committee which produced the first
terrorism risk insurance law in the wake of the
September 11, 2001 attacks. In his second term, Ferguson joined the
House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he served as Vice Chairman of the
Health Subcommittee, and also served on the
Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee and the
Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. During his time on the Energy and Commerce Committee, Ferguson became a key Republican Member on health care issues broadly and a champion for the life sciences industry which employed large numbers of his constituents. This included working with his colleagues to ensure passage of the
Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit. In 2002 and 2004, Ferguson defeated challenges from Democrats Tim Carden and
Steve Brozak by comparatively large margins. In 2005, citing his family's own experience in providing care to his mother as she fought cancer, Ferguson sponsored the
Lifespan Respite Care Act, which authorized $289 million in grants to states to train volunteers and provide
respite care services to sick and elderly family members or children with special needs. President
George W. Bush signed Ferguson's legislation into law December 21, 2006. In 2006, Ferguson won reelection in a tight race with Democratic state legislator
Linda Stender. Stender attempted to portray him as too conservative for the district and tie him with President Bush, who was extremely unpopular at the time in New Jersey. The 7th district had a slight Republican lean, and Stender won the more liberal suburban counties of
Middlesex and
Union. Ferguson managed to win reelection by winning large margins in the more conservative areas in
Somerset and
Hunterdon counties, and holding Stender to only a small lead in Union. Overall, he defeated Stender by just over 3,000 votes and a margin of less than 2 percentage points.
Retirement Ferguson announced on November 19, 2007, that he would not run for re-election in 2008, stating that he wanted to spend more time with his family. He was succeeded by fellow Republican
Leonard Lance, a state senator. Ferguson and his wife Maureen have five children.
Awards Ferguson was the recipient of the 2005 Outstanding Legislator of the Year award from the New Jersey
Veterans of Foreign Wars, the 2006 Legislator of the Year Award from the National Visiting Nurses Association, and the 2007 Congressional Award from the
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Voting record Overall, Ferguson's voting record was moderate by national Republican standards, as is typical of Republicans from New Jersey. He was known as a social conservative and staunch advocate for
anti-abortion causes, obtaining a 100% rating by the
National Right to Life Committee. ==Post-congressional career==