The Honorable Mike Ferguson is Chairman and CEO of Ferguson Strategies LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based government affairs and strategic business consulting firm. Congressman Ferguson served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 to 2009, representing New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District.
Congressman Ferguson was a co-chairman of Governor Chris Christie’s successful 2009 election campaign and a senior member of the Governor’s Transition Team, serving as Chairman of the Treasury Subcommittee. He has been Chairman of the NJSEA Board of Commissioners since his appointment to the Board in 2011, and was also appointed a Senior Advisor to the 2014 New York/New Jersey Super Bowl Host Committee.
Mr. Ferguson is a Senior Fellow of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest’s Odyssey Initiative for Biomedical Innovation and Human Health. The Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational organization that seeks to advance the discussion and development of patient-centered health care. In addition, Mr. Ferguson serves on the Board of Directors for the National Italian American Foundation, on the Advisory Committee of the Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame, and as a member of the Communications Committee for the United States Golf Association.
In the House of Representatives, Congressman Ferguson served as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has wide jurisdiction over the healthcare, telecommunications and energy industries. He was Vice Chairman of the panel’s Health Subcommittee.
Congressman Feguson was also a member of the House Financial Services Committee; Transportation and Infrastructure Committee; Small Business Committee; Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee; and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.
In Congress, Mr. Ferguson developed a reputation as one who bridged partisan divides and found practical solutions to legislative challenges. He successfully led the effort to secure House and Senate passage of the Lifespan Respite Care Act – legislation he authored – which authorized $289 million for states to train volunteers and provide other services to an estimated 50 million families caring at home for adults and children with special needs. President George W. Bush signed Rep. Ferguson’s bill into law on Dec. 21, 2006.
Congressman Ferguson received the 2007 Congressional Award from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the 2006 Legislator of the Year Award from the National Visiting Nurses Association, and the 2005 Outstanding Legislator of the Year award from the New Jersey Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Before entering Congress, Mr. Ferguson was an educator and small business owner. He founded an educational consulting firm that advocated school reform and scholarship programs and taught history and coached basketball at Mt. St. Michael Academy in the Bronx, NY. The Congressman was also an adjunct instructor of political science at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, N.J.
Rep. Ferguson’s experiences in the classroom inspired him to institute his “Substitute Civics Teacher Program,” in which he regularly visited New Jersey schools while in Congress to discuss civics and public service with students ranging from kindergarten to college.
A graduate of the Delbarton School in Morristown, N.J., Congressman Ferguson attended the University of Notre Dame, where he received a bachelor’s degree in government. He earned a master’s degree of public policy with a specialization in education policy from Georgetown University.
Congressman Ferguson and his wife, Maureen, have five children.