Kevin J. O'Toole

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 and Passaic counties.

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 State Government Committee. He also serves as the Senate Minority Whip.

Early life and career

O'Toole is a graduate of Cedar Grove High School, in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. He 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 twenty five, O'Toole began is political career by serving on the Cedar Grove Township Council from 1989-1996. He then was elected as its Mayor from 1990-1991, 1993-1994 and from 1995-1996. O'Toole was later elected as as Chairman of the Essex County Republican Committee from 1997-present.

In 1995, O'Toole was elected into the General Assembly, the lower house of the New Jersey State Legislature. He was appointed as the Assembly's Deputy Republican Leader from 2004-2008 and was the Assistant Majority Leader from 1998-2001.

O'Toole was elected to the Senate in 2008 (and also from 1996-2001). On Election Day, November 6, 2007, O'Toole defeated Democrat John Zunic to win election to the New Jersey Senate seat in the 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.

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.

The Senator has also sponsored legislation for continued funding of full-day kindergarten in the state's 31 Abbott Districts and a law that allows citizens to express their concerns at local council meetings. O'Toole also sponsored a pre-paid college education expense program 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 2008-2009 Legislative Session are:

• Assemblyman David C. Russo, and
• Assemblyman Scott T. Rumana

References

External links

• Senator Kevin O'Toole's Official Site
• Senator O'Toole's Legislative Website, New Jersey Legislature
• New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms
• 2007 2006 2005 2004
• Senator Kevin John O'Toole, Project Vote Smart
• New Jersey Voter Information Website 2003