Joseph Howarth Jr. (born August 27, 1955) is an American Republican Party politician who represented the 8th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly since he was sworn into office on January 12, 2016.

[3] Howarth chose not to run for re-election in 2014 after serving a single term as a freeholder in order to allow himself an opportunity to take care of personal health issues.

[5] In the November 2017 general election, Howarth (with 28,841; 25.1% of all ballots cast) and Peters (with 28,671 votes; 25.0%), defeated Democratic challengers Joanne Schwartz (28,321; 24.7%) and Maryann Merlino (28,196; 24.6%) to win both Assembly seats from the district for the Republicans.

[8] After the 8th District's Senator Dawn Addiego switched her party affiliation from Republican to Democrat in early 2019, Howarth allegedly attempted to do the same.

The following Monday after Howarth's defeat, his nameplates were missing from the GOP caucus room, fueling speculation he would switch parties or resign, however neither happened.