Joe Vitale (politician)

Joseph F. Vitale
Member of the New Jersey Senate
from the 19th district
Assumed office
January 13, 1998
Preceded by Jim McGreevey
Interim Mayor of Woodbridge Township
In office
July 25, 2006 – November 13, 2006
Preceded by Frank Pelzman
Succeeded by John McCormac
Personal details
Born (1954-11-10) November 10, 1954
Elizabeth, New Jersey, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Residence Woodbridge, New Jersey
Occupation President, Vitale Sign Corporation
Website Legislative web page

Joseph F. Vitale (born November 10, 1954) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has been serving in the New Jersey State Senate since 1998, where he represents the 19th Legislative District. He is also the former Mayor of Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, having been elected by the Township Council in July 2006 to fill a temporary vacancy, following the death of Mayor Frank Pelzman. Senator Vitale came to the Senate in 1998 filling a vacancy created when Jim McGreevey stepped down from his seat as part of his ultimately unsuccessful bid for election as Governor of New Jersey in 1997.[1]

Senator Vitale serves on the Board of Directors for the Middlesex County Habitat for Humanity and on the Board of Trustees of the Visiting Nurses Association of Central Jersey.

Vitale attended John F. Kennedy Memorial High School in Woodbridge Township.[2]

Political career

Mayor of Woodbridge

Following Pelzman's death in July 2006, Vitale volunteered to serve as Woodbridge's interim mayor. He was nominated by the township's Democratic Committee and voted in by the Township Council to serve a four-month term as mayor, saying he was taking on the mayor's job in order to continue Pelzman's programs and to provide leadership during the interim period, though the time constraints of dual office holding were making him rule out seeking the remaining 14 months of Pelzman's term during the November 2006 special election for mayor.[3] Vitale endorsed former State Treasurer John McCormac in the special election and served as mayor until November 13, 2006, when McCormac was sworn in.[4]

State Senate

Vitale was elected in the 1997 elections to succeed Jim McGreevey who was running for Governor. As the 19th districts consists of mainly Democrat-friendly towns in Middlesex County, he has been easily reelected in every Senate election never winning by less than 20 points.

From 2004-2009, Vitale was the Deputy Majority Leader in the Senate. Currently, he is Chairman of the Senate on the Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee and the Vice Chairman in the Senate for Economic Growth.[2]

Vitale and William Gormley were the lead sponsors of the 1999 New Jersey Homeless Youth Act, which allows minors to seek homeless shelter without parental approval.[5] He is also the sponsor of bills to allow needle exchange programs for drug users and to prohibit gun ownership by those convicted of domestic violence offenses. Senator Vitale was the prime sponsor of over forty bills that were signed into law, including bills establishing the KidCare and FamilyCare health care coverage programs, as well as a bill which would require nursing aides to undergo certified criminal background checks, a bill which would prohibit the use of mandatory overtime in health care facilities except in emergency situations, and the "New Jersey Health Care Access and Patient Protection Act," which requires the State to compile information on doctors, such as office location and medical malpractice history, in a database available to the public.

As chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, Vitale has blocked a vote in the senate on a measure that has passed twice in the General Assembly under which non-professional bakers would be allowed to legally sell their goods to consumers, leaving New Jersey and Wisconsin as the only states that forbid the practice. Vitale has cited "public safety and public health concerns", along with the impact of home-based competition on local brick-and-mortar businesses, as his reasons for blocking the measure.[6]

Wisconsin has since overturned the ban on face-to-face selling of home-baked goods. New Jersey remains the last state to ban the sale of home-baked goods within the United States of America.[7]

District 19

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 other representatives from the 30th District for the 2018-2019 Legislative Session are:[8][9]

Election history

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
New Jersey State Senate elections, 2013[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joseph F. Vitale (incumbent) 24,126 62.6
Republican Robert Luban 14,439 37.4
Democratic hold
New Jersey State Senate elections, 2011[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joseph F. Vitale (incumbent) 18,623 66.9
Republican Paul Lund, Jr. 9,232 33.1
Democratic hold
New Jersey State Senate elections, 2007[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joseph F. Vitale (incumbent) 18,864 66.4
Republican Donald H. Nelsen, Jr. 9,557 33.6
Democratic hold

References

  1. ↑ Tedeschi, Bruno. "Mcgreevey Rules Out Return To Senate Post", The Record (Bergen County), November 9, 1997. Accessed July 7, 2010.
  2. 1 2 Senator Vitale's legislative webpage, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed October 22, 2013.
  3. ↑ Harrison, Rick. "Vitale unanimous pick for Woodbridge mayor", Home News Tribune, July 26, 2006. Accessed June 22, 2012. "Vitale, D-Middlesex, succeeds Township Council President Patricia Osborne, who served as acting mayor after Mayor Frank G. Pelzman died June 29, less than a month after being diagnosed with skin cancer."
  4. ↑ Racz, Gene. "McCormac now heads Woodbridge", Home News Tribune, November 14, 2006. Accessed June 22, 2012. "McCormac, a 47-year-old business-development consultant and former state treasurer, was the winner of the special mayoral election on Nov. 7 to fill the unexpired term of the late Mayor Frank G. Pelzman, who died in June. "
  5. ↑ SENATE, No. 1789 - STATE OF NEW JERSEY 208th LEGISLATURE INTRODUCED MARCH 22, 1999, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed June 22, 2012.
  6. ↑ via Associated Press. "Home bakers fighting for right to sell goods -- again", NJ.com, March 20, 2016. Accessed January 28, 2018. "New Jersey and Wisconsin are the only two states that effectively ban the sale of home-baked goods. Opponents cite public health concerns and unfair competition against established businesses.... The measure has passed in New Jersey's lower house twice, but Senate health and human services Chairman Sen. Joe Vitale has refused to bring up the measure for a vote."
  7. ↑ via Wisconsin State Legislature
  8. ↑ Legislative Roster 2018-2019 Session, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 28, 2018.
  9. ↑ District 19 Legislators, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 28, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Official List Candidates for State Senate For GENERAL ELECTION 11/05/2015 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. December 4, 2013. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  11. ↑ Official List Candidate Returns for State Senate For November 2011 General Election, New Jersey Department of State, December 14, 2011. Accessed June 22, 2012.
  12. ↑ Official List Candidate Returns for State Senate For November 2007 General Election, New Jersey Department of State, December 3, 2007. Accessed June 22, 2012.
New Jersey Senate
Preceded by
Jim McGreevey		 Member of the New Jersey Senate for the 19th District
January 13, 1998 – present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Frank Pelzman		 Mayor of Woodbridge Township, New Jersey
July 2006 – November 2006		 Succeeded by
John McCormac
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