Houghton was born in Corning, New York and he graduated from Harvard University. Houghton was a business executive, an heir to the Corning Glass fortune.

In 1986, Houghton was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican. He was the richest member of the House, with a wealth of $475 million. Houghton has a moderate voting record and he unsuccessfully sought out a Republican to challenge Tom DeLay for the spot of majority leader. He was one of only four Republicans to vote against all the impeachment articles against President Clinton. In 2001, Houghton was one of only three Republicans to vote against permanently repealing the estate tax. He also voted with the Democratic Party on issues of environmental protection, civil rights, human cloning, and funding for the arts and education. In 2002, he was among the extreme minority of Republicans to vote against approving the use of military force in Iraq. On April 7, 2004, Houghton announced his intentions not to seek a tenth term in Congress. On January 3, 2005, Houghton's term as a congressman expired.

Houghton throughout his career was Upstate New York's most well known Republican member of Congress, but he clashed frequently with the increasingly Southern, socially conservative orientation of the party.

Houghton achieved national notoriety a number of times in his career, most recently when he was listed as the only government official to be a member of the men-only, ultra-exclusive golf club, Augusta National. The most common response from the Houghton camp came from his spokesman, Bob Van Wicklin: "No comment."

He was succeeded by John R. "Randy" Kuhl, a former State Senator and Bath lawyer.