Preceded by Henry McNamara Succeeded by Scott Rumana Succeeded by Richard Bagger Party Republican Party | Preceded by Nicholas Felice Preceded by C. Louis Bassano Preceded by Maureen Ogden | |
Education Seton Hall University, Seton Hall University School of Law | ||
Kevin J. O'Toole (born October 5, 1964) is an American Republican Party politician, who serves in the New Jersey Senate. O'Toole represents the 40th legislative district, which consists of parts of Bergen, Essex, Morris, and Passaic counties.
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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 serves 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 appointed him to a six-year term on the Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to succeed Pat Schuber.
Early life and career
O'Toole was born in Cedar Grove, New Jersey to an Irish American father and Korean mother who met during the Korean War. He graduated from Cedar Grove High School and earned a B.A. in Political Science / Public Administration and a J.D. in 1989 from Seton Hall University. He later passed the bar exam in 1989 and served a clerkship in the office of the State Attorney General.
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 1997–2011.
In 1995, O'Toole was elected to the General Assembly, the lower house of the New Jersey State Legislature, 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.
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.
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 other representatives from the 40th district for the 2016-2017 Legislative Session are: