Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. (born May 17, 1952), widely known as Joe D., has been the

County Executive A county executive, county manager or county mayor is the head of the executive branch of government in a United States county. The executive may be an elected or an appointed position. When elected, the executive typically functions either as a ...

Essex County, New Jersey Essex County is located in the northeastern part of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 863,728, making it the state's second-most populous county, behind Bergen and Middlesex Counties.

Background and career

DiVincenzo attended

Jersey City State College New Jersey City University (NJCU) is a public university in Jersey City, New Jersey. Originally chartered in 1927, and known as Jersey City State College for 40 years of its history, New Jersey City University consists of the School of Business, ...

. where he played football for the Knights graduating in 1976 with a degree in public health. DiVincenzo was first elected to the Essex County

Board of Chosen Freeholders In New Jersey, a Board of County Commissioners (until 2020 named the Board of Chosen Freeholders) is the elected county-wide government board in each of the state's 21 counties. In the five counties that have an elected county executive, the b ...

in 1990. He served as the board's president for eight terms. Prior to becoming freeholder, DiVincenzo held public jobs in Essex County as a parks supervisor, teacher, and athletics coordinator.

County Executive

DiVincenzo was sworn in to his first term as

of Essex County on January 1, 2003 after being elected in 2002; he was reelected for his fourth term in November 2014. He received the backing of the state's Democratic establishment, including

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Donald Payne Jr. Donald Milford Payne Jr. (born December 17, 1958) is an American politician who has been the U.S. representative for since 2012. A member of the Democratic Party, Payne served as president of the Newark city council from 2010 to 2012. Follow ...

, and

Steve Fulop Steven Michael Fulop (born February 28, 1977) is an American politician serving as the 49th and current Mayor of Jersey City, mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he was formerly the Councilman for Jersey ...

. DiVincenzo announced in December 2017 that he would be running for his fifth term of office. He won the 2018 election with 80% of votes cast against West Orange's Adam Kraemer.

Double dipping

Double dipping A dual mandate is the practice in which elected officials serve in more than one elected or other public position simultaneously. This practice is sometimes known as double jobbing in Britain and ''cumul des mandats'' in France; not to be confused ...

is the practice of simultaneously holding multiple elected positions or to being employed by and collecting retirement benefits from the same public authority at the same time. In 2011, DiVincenzo while still in office began to collect pension as County Executive. He justified the move by claiming that it is legal, as well as a good financial decision for his family.

Statewide influence

DiVincenzo is generally considered to be a

power broker In political science, a power broker is a person who influences people to vote towards a particular client (i.e. elected official or referendum) in exchange for political and financial benefits. Power brokers can also negotiate deals with other p ...

and

political boss In politics, a boss is a person who controls a faction or local branch of a political party. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves; most historical bosses did not, at least during the times of their greatest influence. Numerous off ...

of the Essex County

political machine In the politics of Representative democracy, representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a hig ...

, exerting much influence on county and state politics. In 2011 in

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New Jersey State Senator The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...

Kevin O'Toole (R-Cedar Grove) is quoted as saying that "in terms of Democratic politics, Joe D. is becoming the king of North Jersey." Crossing party lines, he, and many other registered Democrats statewide, endorsed Republican

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in Ne ...

in his successful 2013 re-election bid. In 2021, he endorsed Governor

Phil Murphy Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American financier, diplomat, and politician serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since January 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the United States ambassador to Germa ...

in his successful re-election bid.

Campaign spending violations investigation

In October 2013, questions arose regarding DiVincenzo's campaign spending. The state Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), in its 16-count complaint against DiVincenzo, alleged that he failed to properly report nearly $72,000 in campaign expenditures, and improperly spent more than $16,000. In May 2014, the commission announced it would not hold hearings until after the election, tentatively in January 2015. It is unclear whether the ELEC will hear the case. The four-person board, required by law to include two Democrats and two Republicans, has been without a Democratic member since Governor Christie has not appointed one. One Democrat, Walter Timpone, recused himself without explanation, leading to Divincenzo's lawyers' claims that there must be an official quorum. The case is unlikely to proceed. Governor Christie chose not to replace the Democrat, effectively crippling the ELEC.

Personal life

After residing for 34 years in Nutley, he moved with his wife Donna to Roseland in 2013. He has two children, Kimberly DiVincenzo-Root and Joseph DiVincenzo.

References

External links

Essex County
{{DEFAULTSORT:DiVincenzo, Joseph N. Jr. 1952 births American political bosses from New Jersey Essex County, New Jersey executives Living people New Jersey City University alumni New Jersey Democrats People from Essex County, New Jersey People from Nutley, New Jersey People from Roseland, New Jersey