Joe Kyrillos

Kyrillos was first elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1987, together with his incumbent running mate Joann H. Smith, with both candidates receiving more than $25,000 each in campaign funding from the $1.1 million spent by the New Jersey Republican State Committee to support candidates statewide.[9][10] In 1989, he won re-election to a second term.[11] After spending two terms in the Assembly, he retired to run for the seat in the New Jersey Senate in 1991.[12]

Kyrillos strongly opposed Democratic Governor Jim Florio's tax increases, citing his opposition to "the Florio tax plan" repeatedly in his campaign advertising.[13] He also opposed the Abbott districts.

• Assembly Education Committee[14]

In 1991, Kyrillos decided to run for the 13th District seat in the New Jersey Senate. He defeated incumbent appointed Senator James T. Phillips 68%-32%.[15][16] In 1993, after redistricting, he won re-election to a second term with 64% of the vote.[17] In 1997, he won re-election to a third term with 63% of the vote.[18]

After redistricting, the 13th district became more competitive. In 2001, he won re-election to a fourth term (two-year term) with 64% of the vote.[19] He won re-election to a fifth term in 2003 against former State Assemblyman Bill Flynn 54%-41%.[20] In 2007, he won re-election to a sixth term with 61% of the vote.[21] In 2011, he won re-election to a seventh term, defeating Hazlet Mayor Chris Cullen, 60%-37%.[22]

When Republicans held the legislative majority in the Statehouse, Kyrillos served as Majority Conference Leader and chaired standing committees on economic development and coastal resources.[2]

Kyrillos was ranking member of the Economic Growth, Judiciary and Legislative Oversight committees.[23]

On October 25, 2016, Kyrillos told Observer.com that he would not seek a re-election for the 2017 State Senate elections.[24] He was succeeded by Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon in 2018.

• Senate Natural Resources and Tourism Committee (Chairman)[25]
• Senate Economic Growth Committee
• Senate Judiciary Committee
• Senate Oversight Committee[1]

Other positions

• Senate Majority Conference Leader
• New Jersey Republican State Committee (Chairman)[1]

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 Assembly representatives from the 13th District for the 2014–2015 Legislative Session were:[26]

• Assemblywoman Amy Handlin, and
• Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon

In 1992, Kyrillos ran for the United States House of Representatives but was defeated by incumbent Democrat Frank Pallone in a competitive race, falling short by about 10 points.[27]

From 2001 to 2004, Kyrillos served as Chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee and a member of the Republican National Committee, where he worked to elect Republicans who shared his vision. In that role, he facilitated the logistics and implementation of the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City and read the delegate count for President George W. Bush's nomination for re-election on the convention floor.[2]

Kyrillos was the New Jersey Chairman of Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign.[7]

In 2009, Kyrillos served as chairman of Chris Christie's successful gubernatorial campaign and was a member of the Governor's Transition Committee, serving as the liaison to all transition sub-committees.[28]

In June 2011, Kyrillos filed an exploratory committee for a potential race in either 2012 or 2014.[29][30]

On January 19, 2012, Kyrillos officially decided to run for the U.S. Senate, citing unemployment, housing prices and the national debt as issues he would tackle in the Senate.[31][32] Kyrillos won the Republican nomination on June 5, 2012. He opposed Democratic incumbent Bob Menendez in the November 6th general election, in which he was defeated 58.4% to 40%.

Kyrillos has served on the boards of the American Council of Young Political Leaders, National Conference of State Legislatures Foundation, Bayshore Senior Day Center, Count Basie Theatre, Garden State Arts Center Foundation, Monmouth County Historical Association, New Jersey Historical Society, Prevention First, Rainbow Foundation, and the Two River Theatre Company.[8]