Paul J. Contillo (born July 8, 1929) is an American
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
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New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
State Legislature
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* The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...
during three separate tenures.
Career
Contillo served as a Councilman in Paramus, New Jersey from 1971 to 1973. He was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1973, entering the race after the Democratic nominee, Paramus Councilman Alphonso DeFilippo dropped out of the race after the primary. Riding the Watergate Democratic landslide, Contillo and his running mate, incumbent Assemblyman Edward Hynes defeated Republican Assemblyman Charles Reid and attorney Ralph W. Chandless Jr. Contillo was the top votegetter and won by more than 8,000 votes.
He sought re-election to a second term in 1975, running with Hasbrouck Heights Councilman Robert Burns after Hynes chose not to run. He defeated former Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce President
Richard Fritzky
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...
in the Democratic primary by just 797 votes. In the general election, Contillo beat Chandless and former Mayor of Hackensack and Bergen County FreeholderFrank A. Buono Jr. by less than 2,000 votes.
Contillo was viewed as especially vulnerable in 1977 after voting for Governor
Brendan Byrne
Brendan Thomas Byrne (April 1, 1924 – January 4, 2018) was an American politician, statesman, and prosecutor, serving as the 47th governor of New Jersey from 1974 to 1982.
A member of the Democratic Party, Byrne started his career as a privat ...
's unpopular state income tax. Fritzky challenged him again in the Democratic primary but lost by more than 1,600 votes. But as Byrne rebounded in his re-election campaign, so did Contillo and Burns. They defeated Paramus Councilman
Louis Kosco
Louis F. Kosco (born June 5, 1932) is an American Republican Party politician who served in both the New Jersey General Assembly and the New Jersey Senate.
Biography
Born in Hackensack, Kosco grew up in Ridgefield Park, where he attended Lincol ...
and Lodi Mayor
James Cuccio
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
by more than 3,000 votes. He sought re-election to a fourth term in 1979, but lost by 374 votes to Kosco and his running mate, attorney
John Paolella
John B. Paolella (born February 14, 1949) is an American Republican Party politician who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature from the 38th district– one term in the New Jersey General Assembly and one term in the New Jersey Sen ...
.
In 1983, Contillo ran for State Senator against Paolella, who had ousted two-term Democrat
John Skevin
John M. Skevin (June 14, 1927 – October 18, 1993) was an American Democratic Party politician who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature.
Early life and education
Born in West New York, New Jersey, Skevin attended Memorial High Sc ...
two years earlier. In a competitive Democratic primary, Contillo beat Skevin by 849 votes, and unseated Paolella in the general election by 595 votes. He was re-elected to a second term in the Senate in 1987, defeating Assemblyman Kosco by 2,368 votes.
In the Senate, Contillo served as Assistant Majority Leader and drafted New Jersey's local government ethics laws.
After supporting Governor
Jim Florio
James Joseph Florio (August 29, 1937 – September 25, 2022) was an American politician who served as the 49th governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994. He was previously the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional district from 19 ...
's controversial tax increases, Contillo was defeated for a third term in the Senate in 1991. In a rematch with Kosco, he lost by a landslide 7,168 votes.
Contillo sought a comeback in 1993, but lost the Democratic Senate primary to Garfield Councilman
James Krone
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
by 851 votes.
In 2013, at age 84 and after 22 years out of office, Contillo was again elected to the State Assembly. The incumbent,
Connie Wagner
Concetta "Connie" Wagner (born July 7, 1948) is an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician, who had served in the New Jersey New Jersey General Assembly, General Assembly since January 8, 2008, where she had represe ...
, dropped her re-election bid in June and resigned her seat on October 1 to move to Florida. Democrats replaced Wagner on the ballot with
Joseph Lagana
Joseph A. Lagana (born December 15, 1978) is an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician who has represented the New Jersey's 38th legislative district, 38th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate since 2018. ...
, but in a Special Election Convention held on October 20, elected Contillo to fill the remaining three months of Wagner's term. He took office on November 18, 2013, and served until January 14, 2014. He was assigned to the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee, and the Assembly Higher Education Committee.
Before retiring, he was the President and Founder of a New York City printing company, Allied Reproductions, Inc.