Eric Munoz (October 14, 1947 – March 30, 2009) was an American Republican Party

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, 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 f ...

from May 2001, where he represented the 21st legislative district, until his death on March 30, 2009. Munoz had served as the Deputy Conference Leader since 2006.

Early life

Munoz was born on October 14, 1947, in the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. His father, William Munoz, was a manager of a Freehold Borough waste water treatment plant and a

general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

in Colts Neck Township. He grew up in Colts Neck first attending Atlantic Elementary School there and the

Peddie School The Peddie School is a non-denominational, coeducational college preparatory school located on a campus in Hightstown, Mercer County, New Jersey, USA that serves boarding and day students in the ninth through twelfth grades, as well as po ...

Hightstown Hightstown is a borough in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Nestled within the Raritan Valley region, Hightstown is an historic, commercial, and cultural hub of Central New Jersey, along with being a diverse outer-ring commuter ...

Medical career

Munoz graduated with a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

degree from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

in Pre-Med and received an

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

degree from the

Albert Einstein College of Medicine The Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a Private university, private medical school in New York City. Founded in 1953, Einstein is an independent degree-granting institution within the Montefiore Einstein Health System. Einstein hosts Doc ...

. He did his general surgery training at

Yale-New Haven Hospital Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) is a 1,541-bed hospital located in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the second-largest hospital in the United States and one of the List of hospitals by capacity, largest in the world. It is the primary teaching hospi ...

, and was also awarded his

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

in Finance degree from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

.Munoz's Curriculum Vitae
accessed April 30, 2007. Munoz was a practicing trauma surgeon and administrator at the

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) was a state-run health sciences institution with six locations in New Jersey. It was founded as the Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry in 1954, and by the 1980s was both a ...

. He served on the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

Committee since 2002. From 1990 to 2001, he served as Chairman of the New Jersey Medical Practitioner Review Panel, where he was first appointed by

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The ...

James Florio James Joseph Florio (August 29, 1937 – September 25, 2022) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 49th governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994. He was previously the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional dist ...

in 1990 and reappointed by Governor

Christine Todd Whitman Christine Temple Whitman (; born September 26, 1946) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 and as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush ...

in 1995.

Political career

A longtime resident of

Summit, New Jersey Summit is the northernmost City (New Jersey), city of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located within the New York metropolitan area. Situated on a ridge in north Jersey, northern–central Jersey, centra ...

, Munoz served on the Summit Common Council from 1996 until 2001. He was a former Republican Municipal Chairman in Summit. He was elected to an unexpired term as Assemblyman in the old 21st Legislative District in 2001 to succeed Kevin J. O'Toole who became a

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

. He was elected in 2001, and reelected in 2003, 2005 and 2007, to represent the new 21st District consisting of municipalities in Union,

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, Man ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

and

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

counties. He served as Deputy Leader of the Republican Conference for the 2006–2008 term. Munoz was the second legislator in the country to introduce the "Jessica Lunsford Act" - this bill requires a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 Years to life for "Aggravated Sexual Assault Against Children Under 13 Years of Age" The bill was signed into law in New Jersey, on May 15, 2014, with Assemblywoman Nancy F. Munoz as the sponsor. Munoz served in the Assembly on the Health and Senior Services Committee and the Human Services Committee.

Personal life

In 1984, he married Nancy Ann Foster at his parents' house in Freehold. Together, they had five children. Munoz died from complications from a ruptured aortic aneurysm following heart surgery on March 30, 2009, at the age of 61. On April 27, 2009, a special convention was held by Republican county committee members to fill the vacancy caused by Munoz's death. His widow defeated two opponents, Long Hill Mayor George Vitureira and Long Hill School Board member Bruce Meringolo. The final tally was Munoz 174, Meringolo 34, Vitureira 16. Both Meringolo and Vitureira filed petitions to appear on the June 2009 Republican primary ballot. Nancy Munoz filled the seat for the remainder of the term in January 2010 and has been elected in her own right since then.

References

External links

Assemblyman Munoz's legislative web page
,

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 ...

*''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms'':
2007

2006

2005
*
2004

Assembly Member Eric Munoz

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American 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 offic ...

District 21 Candidates Website Kean (Senate), Bramnick & Munoz (Assembly)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munoz, Eric 1947 births 2009 deaths American traumatologists American politicians of Puerto Rican descent Columbia Business School alumni Peddie School alumni New Jersey city council members Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly People from Colts Neck Township, New Jersey Politicians from Summit, New Jersey Politicians from the Bronx University of Virginia alumni Albert Einstein College of Medicine alumni University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Deaths from aortic aneurysm Puerto Rican people in New Jersey politics 20th-century American legislators Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in New Jersey 20th-century New Jersey politicians 21st-century members of the New Jersey Legislature