Husting was born April 25, 1866 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He was the son of Jean Pierre Husting, a native of Luxemburg, and his wife, Mary Magdelena Juneau, the daughter of Solomon Laurent Juneau. His family soon moved to Mayville, which became his established residence.
Forced to stop school to work at the age of sixteen, he did not continue his formal education until he entered the law school in Madison, in January 1895, when he was in the employ of the secretary of state.
After passing the bar examinations in December, 1896, he took up the practice of law in Mayville, where from 1902 to 1906 he held the position of district attorney for Dodge County. For the next eight years he represented the 13th district in the state Senate.
Although a Democrat, he worked with the La Follette Progressives in putting through much of the legislation fostered by that group. He was responsible for the two-cent railroad passage fare, advocated labor laws, worked for the state income tax and the resolution ratifying the national income tax amendment, was prominent in the investigation of the election of 1908 which resulted in the enactment of the Corrupt Practices Act, and favored the popular election of senators and the initiative and referendum.
His chief activities were in connection with measures looking to the conservation of natural resources, of which committee in the Senate he was chairman for two years. He represented the Senate on the special committee on waterpower, forestry, and drainage which carried on an investigation leading to the Husting Waterpower Bill, one of his most valuable contributions.
By 1912 he had become an outstanding Democrat in Wisconsin and was instrumental in carrying the state for Wilson in the election of that year. He was the first man from Wisconsin elected directly by the people to the United States Senate (1914), and the first Democrat elected to that position after 1893. Because of his opposition to the Shield's Waterpower Bill he gained some notice during his first session in Congress. He also received publicity because of his exposure of the propaganda plot of the American Embargo Conference of Chicago. He was well started on what might have been a noteworthy Senatorial career when he was accidentally shot and killed by his brother.
He never married.
