James Beach
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James "Jim" Beach (born October 28, 1946) 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 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 Delaware ...
Senate since 2009, where he represents the 6th legislative district. He has been the Assistant Majority Leader in the Senate since 2016.


Early life

Beach has earned a
B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...
degree in
psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...
from
Midwestern College Midwestern College was a private liberal arts college that operated from 1965 to 1970 in Denison, Iowa. Midwestern was one of several colleges in the upper Midwest established by local civic leaders with the support and encouragement of Parsons ...
and a
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 ...
degree in personnel services from
Rowan University Rowan University is a public research university in Glassboro, New Jersey, with a medical campus in Stratford and medical and academic campuses in Camden. It was founded in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a site donated by 107 residents. ...
. A resident of Voorhees Township, Beach first entered Camden County politics after responding to a 1990 recruitment ad that county Democrats had posted seeking prospective candidates to burnish the party's image and help retain the Democrats' control of county government. Beach showed up at his interview with his tax bill complaining about his taxes, and was described by Freeholder Jeffrey L. Nash as just what the party was seeking in a candidate, "regular people complaining about their taxes". He was 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 ...
in 1991, and was named as freeholder director in 1993. Beach was elected as Camden County Clerk in 1995.


New Jersey Senate

He served as county clerk until 2009 until he was appointed to the Senate seat formerly held by
John Adler John Herbert Adler (August 23, 1959April 4, 2011) was an American lawyer, politician and a member of the Democratic Party who served for one term as the U.S. representative for from 2009 until 2011. He lost his 2010 congressional election to ...
, who had won a seat in the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
.Burton, Cynthia
"Camden County clerk to fill John Adler's term"
''
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 Penns ...
'', December 2, 2008. Accessed March 16, 2009.
With the endorsement of
George Norcross George E. Norcross III (born March 16, 1956) is an American businessman and a Democratic Party organizer and power broker in southern New Jersey. Norcross is executive chairman of Conner Strong & Buckelew, an insurance brokerage firm. He is c ...
, Beach ran unopposed in the convention. Beach won a November 2009 special election in order to remain in the Senate through the end of Adler's four-year term. Beach saw his salary drop from $153,437 annually as county clerk to $49,000 as state senator, and indicated after his selection to fill the Senate seat that he would seek additional employment to supplement his salary, ensuring that there was no conflict with his position as senator. Beach was soon hired by
Camden County College Camden County College (CCC) is a public community college in Camden County, New Jersey. Camden County College has its main campus in the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township, with satellite locations in Camden, Cherry Hill and Sicklerv ...
for a part-time job as an advisor, allowing him to collect an annual salary of $10,400 and remain in New Jersey's Public Employee Retirement System, for which county clerks but not state senators are eligible. After critical editorials in ''
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 ...
'' and the '' Courier-Post'' accused Beach of abusing the public pension system, Beach left the Camden County College job. He has served as Assistant Majority Leader since 2014.


Committees

Committee assignments for the current session are:Senator James Beach
New Jersey Legislature. Accessed March 14, 2022.
*State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation, Chair *Higher Education, Vice-Chair *Joint Committee on the Public Schools


District 6

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate 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 ...
. Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate 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 ...
. Representatives from the 6th District for the 2022—2023 Legislative Session are:Legislative Roster for District 6
New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 11, 2022.
*Senator James Beach (D) *Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D) *Assemblywoman Pamela Rosen Lampitt (D)


Personal life

Beach had worked as an educator and football coach at schools including both St. Joseph's High School and Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden and
Highland Regional High School Highland Regional High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Blackwood, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Gloucester Township in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. The school is part of th ...
in Blackwood, and had been director of vocational education at the
Black Horse Pike Regional School District The Black Horse Pike Regional School District (BHPRSD) is a regional public high school district serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Bellmawr Borough, Gloucester Township and Runnemede Borough in Camden County, New Jersey, U ...
.


Election history


Senate


References


External links


Senator Beach's legislative web page
New Jersey Legislature *''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms''
201020092008

Project Vote Smart - James Beach
profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Beach, James 1946 births Living people Midwestern College alumni County commissioners in New Jersey Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Democratic Party New Jersey state senators County clerks in New Jersey People from Voorhees Township, New Jersey Politicians from Camden County, New Jersey Rowan University alumni 21st-century American politicians