Steven M. Petrillo (born May 14, 1958) is an American

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician who served 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 for ...

from 1994 to 1996. Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1958, he grew up in Pennsauken Township and graduated from

Pennsauken High School Pennsauken High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in Pennsauken Township, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the Pennsauken Pu ...

in 1976. He graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of Eng ...

, and

Rutgers Law School Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. pr ...

in Camden and subsequently opened a private practice in his hometown. Petrillo started his political career by being elected to the Pennsauken Township council in 1988 and serving as deputy mayor in 1991. He was also elected to the Camden 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 1992. In 1993, he ran in the Democratic primary for the two General Assembly seats up in the 7th Legislative District. He came in third place behind

Jack Casey John "Jack" Casey (June 1, 1935 - February 24, 2019) was an American Democratic Party politician who served one four-year term in the New Jersey Senate, where he represented the 7th Legislative District from 1994 to 1998. Casey also served in th ...

and George E. Williams. However, after Casey was named to replace the original Democratic primary winner for that district's

state senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

race, Petrillo was chosen to take Casey's place. Ultimately, Petrillo and Williams defeated incumbent Republicans Priscilla B. Anderson and José F. Sosa in the general election. He served one term in the Assembly. In the 1995 elections, Petrillo and newcomer Joseph P. Dugan (after Williams lost Democratic organizational support and subsequently switched his registration to Republican) lost to

Diane Allen Diane B. Allen (born March 8, 1948) is an American politician and television journalist. A member of the Republican Party, she represented the 7th legislative district in the New Jersey Assembly from 1996 to 1998 and New Jersey Senate from 1998 ...

and Carmine DeSopo. Both parties spent a total of $1.1 million, making it the most expensive race that year and the first legislative race in the state to surpass $1 million in spending.Staff
"Assembly Campaign Spending rises, especially in South Jersey. The Most Expensive Race Cost $1.5 million. A watchdog group says '93 Reforms didn't do the job."
''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'', March 14, 1996. Accessed June 22, 2010. "The District 7 race in Burlington and Camden Counties, eventually won by the Republican ticket of Diane Allen and Carmine DeSopo, was the most expensive in the state, totaling $1.5 million, according to Upmeyer's analysis of campaign finance reports."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrillo, Steven M. 1958 births Living people Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly New Jersey lawyers New Jersey city council members County commissioners in New Jersey Pennsauken High School alumni Politicians from Camden County, New Jersey Politicians from Philadelphia People from Pennsauken Township, New Jersey Dartmouth College alumni Rutgers School of Law–Camden alumni 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American legislators 21st-century American lawyers 20th-century New Jersey politicians