Vinod Gopal (born May 18, 1985) is an American Democratic politician who took office on January 9, 2018 to represent the 11th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate, which covers portions of Monmouth County. Prior to his election to the Senate, Gopal served as Chairman of the Monmouth County Democratic Party.

Early life

Gopal's family is from Southern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. His parents came to the United States in the early 1970s and settled in New Jersey. Gopal was born in Neptune Township and grew up in Freehold Township. He graduated in 2003 from Ranney School in

Tinton Falls, New Jersey Tinton Falls is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 17,892,Pennsylvania State University and a master's degree 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 ...

. He is the founder and president of Direct Development, LLC and owner of the Monmouth County-based ''Community Magazine.'' He grew Direct Development to two locations – in Hazlet and Tinton Falls. He is a resident of Long Branch. While in high school and college, Senator Gopal served as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician and First Responder and Certified First Aid Instructor for the Colts Neck Township and Freehold Township First Aid Squads. Gopal served on the Board of Trustees of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Monmouth County from 2010 to 2012. Gopal previously served on the board of directors of the Northern Monmouth Chamber of Commerce, now called the Monmouth County Chamber of Commerce, from 2009 to 2012. From 2010 to 2013, Gopal served as President of the Hazlet Business Owners Association. Gopal is also President of the Vin Gopal Civic Association, a 501c3 organization, which helps local families and charities in need.

New Jersey General Assembly Campaign

In 2011, Gopal, at the age of 26, ran for the office of Assembly in the 11th Legislative District alongside Red Bank Councilwoman Kathleen Horgan. Gopal and Horgan were defeated by

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 ...

incumbents Caroline Casagrande and Mary Pat Angelini.

Monmouth Democratic Party

The following year, Gopal ran for Chairman of the Monmouth County Democratic Organization. He was elected Chairman with 73% of the vote. As Chairman, Gopal led the 2015 campaign for General Assembly, where he helped oust Republican incumbents Caroline Casagrande and Mary Pat Angelini by newcomers Eric Houghtaling and Joann Downey, in what was widely considered a major upset. As Chairman, Gopal was featured in PolitickerNJ.com's 100 Most Powerful people in New Jersey Politics in 2015 and 2016. In 2017, Gopal resigned the Chairmanship, announcing his intention to run for Senate in the 11th Legislative District against Republican incumbent Jennifer Beck. Gopal ran alongside first-term Democratic incumbents Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling and Assemblywoman Joann Downey.

New Jersey Senate

In November 2017, Gopal was elected to the State Senate. Gopal is the first

Indian-American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

to be elected to New Jersey's State Senate, and his victory was described by

NJ.com NJ.com is a digital news content provider and website in New Jersey owned by Advance Publications. According to a report in ''The New York Times'' in 2012, it was the largest provider of digital news in the state at the time. In 2018, comScore r ...

as "perhaps the biggest upset of the night." Gopal won by 4,158 votes – dramatically outperforming Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate

Phil Murphy Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American financier, diplomat, and politician serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since January 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the United States ambassador to Germa ...

. Gopal won numerous towns which Murphy lost, including Eatontown and Ocean Township. On January 9, 2018, shortly after his swearing-in, Gopal was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee as well as a member of the Economic Growth Committee and Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee. He is currently the youngest member of the New Jersey State Senate. On April 4, 2018, Gopal was named Senate Majority Conference Leader and Chairman of the Bipartisan Legislative Manufacturing Caucus. Gopal took both positions from Senator Robert M. Gordon, who resigned to accept a position with the BPU. On January 1 of 2019, Gopal was appointed Chairman of the Senate Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. In the 2021 elections, Republicans outperformed expectations statewide, with Republican gubernatorial candidate

Jack Ciattarelli Jack M. Ciattarelli ( ; born December 12, 1961) is an American politician and businessman. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2011 to 2018, representing the 16th legislative district. He was also t ...

winning 2,500 more votes than incumbent Governor

in the 11th district and both Houghtaling and Downey losing re-election. Gopal nevertheless was narrowly re-elected as Senator by a margin of approximately 2,600 votes, running more than 5,000 votes ahead of Murphy; he was the only Democratic state legislator to win in a district carried by Ciattarelli. As a result of Houghtaling and Downey's losses, he was also left as the only Democrat representing Monmouth County in the state legislature.

Committees

*Military and Veterans' Affairs *Higher Education *Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens

District 11

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 ...

. The representatives from the 11th District for the 2022—23 Legislative Session are:Legislative Roster for District 11
New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 11, 2022. *Senator Vin Gopal (D) *Assemblywoman Kimberly Eulner (R) *Assemblywoman

Marilyn Piperno Marilyn Piperno (born December 9, 1965) is an American Republican Party politician who was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly from the 11th Legislative District in 2021 to take office on January 11, 2022. Piperno graduated from Pace Un ...

(R)

Electoral history

Senate

Assembly

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gopal, Vin 1985 births American politicians of Indian descent Living people Democratic Party New Jersey state senators Pennsylvania State University alumni People from Freehold Township, New Jersey Politicians from Long Branch, New Jersey People from Neptune Township, New Jersey Ranney School alumni 21st-century American politicians