Christopher Peterson, the Democratic nominee for Governor of Utah in 2020 is Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s pick to serve as director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs.
A former University of Utah law professor who worked at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during the Obama administration, Peterson received 30% of the vote against Republican Spencer Cox in his bid for an open seat six years ago.
In that campaign, Peterson and Cox released a joint public service announcement pledging to “disagree without hating each other” and to stand united once ballots were counted, which got national attention as a rare example of civil campaigning in a polarized year.
“Chris Peterson has spent decades fighting for consumers through public service, congressional advocacy, and in the courtroom,” said Sherrill. “At a time when the CFPB has abandoned the consumers it should be protecting, and New Jersey families are facing rising costs from Donald Trump’s war in Iran and illegal tariffs, Chris’s unparalleled experience protecting families from predatory practices will help ensure New Jersey remains at the forefront of consumer protection and continues standing up for residents no matter what is happening in Washington.”
Peterson also served as a special advisor in the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Legal Policy for Personnel and Readiness, focusing on consumer protections for military service members. His research on the Military Lending Act helped lay groundwork for proposed federal legislation, the Veterans and Consumers Fair Credit Act, aimed at capping consumer loan interest rates.
Among the issues Peterson will need to deal with is a new state law that created the nation’s most aggressive regulation of the consumer data industry, imposing annual registration fees of up to $1.5 million on certain companies that sell or license personal data and civil penalties of up to $50,000 per record for unlawful sales of sensitive data.
Political data vendors from both parties say the breadth of the legislation — and the lack of implementing regulations — created immediate uncertainty over whether some voter files, demographic models, and targeting and microtargeting products can continue to be sold in New Jersey without risking crippling liability.
Peterson’s nomination must be confirmed by the State Senate, but Sherrill can name him acting director until that happens.
When the post was created in 1971, during a time of heightened attention to consumer protection issues, the enabling legislation made this a Senate-confirmable position. Two state consumer affairs directors used the post to run for Congress: Millicent Fenwick, who gave up her State Assembly seat to become New Jersey’s first consumer affairs director under Gov. William Cahill and won a congressional seat in 1974; and Adam Levin, who was named by Gov. Brendan Byrne, ran for Congress in 1982, losing to Rep. Matthew Rinaldo (R-Union). In 1982, Assemblyman James Barry, Jr. (R-Morristown) resigned from the legislature to become consumer affairs director under Gov. Thomas Kean.