Kevin J. O'Toole (born October 5, 1964) is an American Republican Party politician, who served in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...

. O'Toole represented the 40th legislative district, which included parts of

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city was the state's 16th-most-populous municipality,Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

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 (state), New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate c ...

to succeed Pat Schuber. The State Senate confirmed his nomination in March 2017, though O'Toole indicated that it would take a few months to wrap up his time in the Senate before he took office as a commissioner. O'Toole resigned from the State Senate on July 1, 2017, to begin his term as Port Authority commissioner. The following month, he was selected as the chairman of the agency's Board of Directors by his fellow commissioners, succeeding John J. Degnan, who had served in that position since July 2014.

Early life and career

O'Toole was born in

Cedar Grove, New Jersey Cedar Grove is a township in north central Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 12,980, an increase of 569 (+4.6%) from the 2010 census count of 12,411, which in tu ...

to an

Irish American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...

father and

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

n mother who met during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. He graduated from Cedar Grove High School and earned 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 ...

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 Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

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

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

ship in the office of the

State Attorney General The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the District of Columbia, federal district, or of any of the Territories of the United States, territories is the chief legal advisor to the State governments of the United States, sta ...

. 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 Committee from 1997 to 2011. He replaced incumbent Chair Jeanne Parke. 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 presby ...

, the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

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 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 ...

. Accessed January 20, 2008. In 2007, O'Toole defeated Democrat John Zunic to win election to the

seat in the 40th District, filling the seat vacated by

Henry McNamara Henry P. McNamara (December 9, 1934 – August 27, 2018) was an American Republican Party politician, who served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1985 to 2008, where he represented the 40th Legislative District. In the Senate, he was Minori ...

, 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 2011, 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 Mammography (also called mastography; DICOM modality: MG) is the process of using low-energy X-rays (usually around 30 kVp) to examine the human breast for diagnosis and screening. The goal of mammography is the early detection of breast cance ...

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 politician serving as the U.S. representative from New Jersey's 7th congressional district since 2023. He represented New Jersey's 21st legislative district in the New Jersey ...

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

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

, 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. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be a ...

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.

Election history

40th District

21st District

References

External links

Senator Kevin O'Toole's Official SiteSenator O'Toole's Legislative Website

*''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms''
201520142013201220112010200920082007200620052004

Senator Kevin John O'Toole

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 ...

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 state legislators in New Jersey Cedar Grove High School (New Jersey) alumni Mayors of places in New Jersey New Jersey city council members Lawyers from Essex County, New Jersey 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 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century mayors of places in New Jersey 21st-century American lawyers Chairmen of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Asian conservatism in the United States 21st-century members of the New Jersey Legislature 20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature