Kevin J. O'Toole (born October 5, 1964) is an American Republican Party politician, who served in the New Jersey Senate. O'Toole represented the 40th legislative district, which included parts of

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...

, and

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...

counties from 2008 to 2017. O'Toole was elected to the Assembly in 1995 and re-elected five times. He served in the Senate from May 2001 to January 2002, and was elected to the Senate again on November 6, 2007. O'Toole serves in the Senate on the Budget and Appropriations Committee and on the Senate Judiciary Government Committee. He also served as the Senate Minority Whip. In January 2016, O'Toole announced that he would not seek re-election in 2017. In February 2017, Governor

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 N ...

nominated him to a six-year term on the Board of Commissioners of the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...

to succeed

Pat Schuber William "Pat" Schuber (born April 15, 1947) is an American Republican Party politician who served as Mayor of Bogota, represented the 38th legislative district in the New Jersey General Assembly and served 12 years as the Bergen County Executiv ...

. The State Senate confirmed his nomination in March 2017, though O'Toole has indicated that it may take a few months to wrap up his time in the Senate before he takes office as a commissioner. O'Toole resigned from the State Senate on July 1, 2017 after being confirmed to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Early life and career

O'Toole was born in

Cedar Grove, New Jersey Cedar Grove is a township in north central Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 12,411, reflecting an increase of 111 (+0.9%) from the 12,300 counted in the 2000 Census, w ...

to an Irish American father and

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

n mother who met during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. He graduated from Cedar Grove High School and earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in Political Science / Public Administration and a J.D. in 1989 from

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the ...

. He later passed the bar exam in 1989 and served a

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

ship in the office of the

State Attorney General The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the federal district, or of any of the territories is the chief legal advisor to the state government and the state's chief law enforcement officer. In some states, the attorney gener ...

. At the age of 25, O'Toole began his political career by serving on the Cedar Grove Township Council from 1989 to 1996. He was elected as its Mayor from 1990 to 1991, 1993 to 1994 and from 1995 to 1996. O'Toole was later elected as Chairman of the Essex County

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Committee from 1997 to 2011. In 1995, O'Toole was elected to the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...

, the lower house of the

New Jersey State 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 ...

, representing the 21st Legislative District. He was appointed as the Assembly's Deputy Republican Leader from 2004 to 2008 and was the Assistant Majority Leader from 1998 to 2001. O'Toole was briefly appointed to the State Senate in 2001, where he served for eight months before redistricting forced him into a different legislative district.O'Toole's Legislative Website
New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 20, 2008. In 2007, O'Toole defeated Democrat John Zunic to win election to the New Jersey Senate seat in the 40th District, filling the seat vacated by Henry McNamara, a fellow Republican who had represented the district since 1985. O'Toole's running mates David C. Russo and Scott Rumana also won election. After his brother's death in 2001, O'Toole retired from his position as Chairman of the Essex County Republican Committee and recommended that County Party Executive Director Al Barlas from Bloomfield succeed him. Barlas serves as O'Toole's Chief of Staff. By profession, O'Toole is an attorney with the firm of O'Toole Fernandez Weiner Vanlieu LLC. Senator O'Toole and his wife, Bethany, have two children, Kevin Jr. and Ryan Marie.

State legislator

O'Toole has sponsored laws to reform welfare, strengthen domestic violence statutes, increase penalties on businesses and individuals who engage in discrimination, mandate insurance coverage for mammography and for treatment of breast and cervical cancer, preserve the state's drinking water supply through the preservation of Sterling Forest, and create more government transparency. In the state legislature, O'Toole has been a proponent of ethics reform in New Jersey government. He was the original sponsor of legislation creating pension reform in New Jersey. He has sponsored legislation to streamline government, promote education, protect the environment, and lower property taxes. O'Toole was one of the primary sponsors of pre-paid college education expense program ( 529 college savings plan) and legislation that would prohibit campaign contributions from vendors who have government contracts.Senator Kevin O'Toole
New Jersey Senate Republicans. Accessed November 23, 2016. In 2013, O'Toole challenged

Thomas Kean Jr. Thomas Howard Kean Jr. ( ; born September 5, 1968) is an American Republican Party (United States), Republican politician and the U.S. representative-elect from New Jersey's 7th congressional district. From 2001 until 2003, he was a New Jersey Ge ...

for the leadership of Republicans in the Senate. O'Toole was backed by Governor

, reportedly because of disagreements with Kean in regards to strategy during the elections that year, where no gains occurred during the Senate elections despite Christie winning

re-election The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...

with over 60% of the vote. Kean held on to his position of Senate Minority Leader in a 10–6 caucus vote. In the following session, Kean removed O'Toole from his position as Minority Whip.

District 40

Each of the forty 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 ...

. The other representatives from the 40th district for the 2016-2017 Legislative Session are:Legislative Roster 2016-2017 Session
, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed November 23, 2016 *Assemblyman David C. Russo *Assemblyman Kevin J. Rooney

Election history

40th District

21st District

References

External links

Senator Kevin O'Toole's Official SiteSenator O'Toole's Legislative Website
New Jersey Legislature *''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms''
201520142013201220112010200920082007200620052004Senator Kevin John O'Toole

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...

Profile
at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Kevin J. O'Toole at Ballotpedia
profile , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Otoole, Kevin J. 1964 births Living people American mayors of Korean descent American people of Irish descent American politicians of Korean descent Asian-American people in New Jersey politics Mayors of places in New Jersey New Jersey city council members New Jersey lawyers Politicians from Essex County, New Jersey Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Republican Party New Jersey state senators People from Cedar Grove, New Jersey Seton Hall University School of Law alumni 21st-century American politicians Chairmen of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Asian conservatism in the United States