Ronald L. Rice (born December 18, 1945) is a former American Democratic Party politician who has served in the

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 Delawa ...

State Senate from 1986 to 2022. He represented the 28th Legislative District. Rice is one of the longest-serving state senators in New Jersey history. His son, Ronald C. Rice, is a former city councilman in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

. Rice left office effective August 31, 2022 due to health issues.

Early life

Rice received an A.S. from

Essex County College Essex County College (ECC) is a public community college in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. History In August 1966, the Essex County Board of Freeholders approved the creation of Essex County College and in September 1968, more tha ...

Police Science Police science is the study and research which deals with police work. Studies and research in criminology, forensic science, psychiatry, psychology, jurisprudence, community policing, criminal justice, correctional administration and penology all c ...

, a B.S. from

John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal art ...

in Administration and Planning, and an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

in Criminal Justice. He has also attended but never graduated from the Rutgers School of Law—Newark. Rice served as a

Sergeant Sergeant ( abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other ...

in the U.S. Marines from 1966 to 1970, in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Before entering politics, Rice was a police officer with the

Newark Police Department Established in April 1857, the Newark Police Department (NPD) is the primary law enforcement agency serving Newark, New Jersey, and the largest municipal law enforcement agency in New Jersey. As of December 2017 the force had 1,146 officers. I ...

for eight years, then a security employee for

PSE&G The Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) is a publicly traded diversified energy company headquartered in Newark, New Jersey and was established in 1985 with a legacy dating back to 1903. The company's largest subsidiary is Public Service Elec ...

. Kelly, Mike
"Ronald Rice's lonely quest to block legal pot"
''

The Record The Record may refer to: Music * ''The Record'' (album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear * The Records, an English power pop band * '' Their Greatest Hits: The Record'', a 2001 greatest-hits album by the pop-music group Bee G ...

'', March 15, 2019. Accessed January 31, 2022.

Newark City Council

Rice served 16 years on the Newark City Council (1982-1998), and he was the

Deputy Mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments. Duties and functions Many elected depu ...

of Newark from 2002 until March 2006. He stepped down as deputy mayor in order to run for mayor. As dual office holding was not banned in New Jersey, he was able to serve on both the city council and in the State Senate at the same time.

New Jersey Senate

Following the death of John P. Caufield in August 1986, Rice was elected in a special election to serve the 28th district and was seated on December 4, 1986. Rice never received less than two thirds of the vote in any of his Senate general elections, though he faced close challenges in the Democratic primaries from Laurence Brown in 1997, Assemblyman Willie B. Brown in 2001, and Freeholder D. Bilal Beasley in 2007. Rice was one of only two Democrats in the Senate to vote no on two bills to legalize same-sex marriage in New Jersey in 2009 and 2012, the other twice-dissenting Democrat was Jeff Van Drew.Staff
"N.J. Senate approves bill legalizing gay marriage"
''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to '' The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of ...

'', February 13, 2012. Accessed June 24, 2012. "Two Democrats, Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Essex) and Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May), voted no." Rice was one of New Jersey's presidential electors in the 2004 presidential election, for Democratic candidate

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

. Rice was a leading opponent of legislation in the

218th New Jersey Legislature The 218th New Jersey Legislature began on January 9, 2018 following the 2017 Elections. The session started in the end of Chris Christie's governorship and continued in the first two years of Phil Murphy's governorship. Background The election ...

to legalize marijuana in New Jersey, arguing that legalization would force urban neighborhoods to "struggle against the spread of 'marijuana bodegas' disguised as dispensaries".Corasaniti, Nick
"Effort to Legalize Marijuana in New Jersey Collapses"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', March 25, 2019. Accessed January 31, 2022. "'The public has not properly been educated on the topic of recreational marijuana,’’ said Senator Ronald L. Rice, a Democrat who represents Newark and emerged as one of the main opponents of legalization. 'People don’t realize, particularly people in urban communities, how it will affect their lives. In urban communities, neighborhoods will struggle against the spread of 'marijuana bodegas' disguised as dispensaries.'"

Committees

Committee assignments for the current session are:Senator Ronald Rice

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

. Accessed January 30, 2022. *Community and Urban Affairs, Vice-Chair *Joint Committee on Housing Affordability *Joint Committee on Economic Justice and Equal Employment Opportunities *Joint Committee on the Public Schools *Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens

District 28

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the

New Jersey Senate 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, ...

and two members in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

. The representatives from the 28th District for the 2022—23 Legislative Session are: * Senator Ronald Rice (D) * Assemblyman Ralph Caputo (D) * Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker (D)

Newark mayoral bids

1998

Rice had run for unsuccessfully for Mayor of Newark in 1998 being defeated by incumbent mayor (and future Senate colleague)

Sharpe James Sharpe James (born February 20, 1936) is an American Democratic politician from New Jersey, who served as State Senator for the 29th Legislative District and was 37th Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. James was the second African American Mayor of ...

, who won with 56% of the vote; Rice was in second, with 28%.

2006

On March 6, 2006, Rice entered the mayoral race again, noting "that Mayor James had encouraged him to run but noted that if the mayor decided to join the race, his candidacy could change." On March 27, 2006, James announced that he would not seek a sixth term, preferring to focus on his seat in the

. On Election Day, May 9, 2006, Newark's

nonpartisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

election took place. Former City Councilman

Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the junior United States senator from New Jersey since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Booker is the first African-American U.S. se ...

won with 72% of the vote, soundly defeating Rice, the runner-up, who received 23%.Elects Cory Booker to Be New Mayor: Newark Elects Cory Booker First New Mayor in Two Decades in Landslide Victory

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...

, May 9, 2006.

References

External links

Senator Rice's legislative web page

*''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms''
2016201520142013201220112010200920082007200620052004
*
“The Writing on the Wall”

New Jersey Network The New Jersey Network (NJN) was a network of public television and radio stations serving the U.S. state of New Jersey. NJN was a member of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) for television and the National Public Radio (NPR) for radio, br ...

, The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia,

American Archive of Public Broadcasting The American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB) is a collaboration between the Library of Congress and WGBH Educational Foundation, founded through the efforts of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The AAPB is a national effort to digital ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Ronald 1945 births Living people African-American state legislators in New Jersey Essex County College alumni John Jay College of Criminal Justice alumni Democratic Party New Jersey state senators Politicians from Richmond, Virginia Rutgers University alumni 2004 United States presidential electors 21st-century American politicians United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War Members of the Municipal Council of Newark African-American city council members in New Jersey 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American politicians