Joe Vitale
Vitale speaking in 2026
Member of theNew Jersey Senate from the19th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 13, 1998
Preceded by	Jim McGreevey
Chair of theNew Jersey Senate Committee on Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens
Incumbent
Assumed office January 10, 2012[1]
Deputy Majority Leader of theNew Jersey State Senate
In office 2004–2010
Preceded by	Position Established[2]
Succeeded by	Position Abolished
InterimMayor of Woodbridge Township, New Jersey
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 (age 71) Elizabeth, New Jersey, U.S.
Party	Democratic
Residence	Woodbridge Township, New Jersey
Website	Legislative Webpage

Joseph F. Vitale (born November 10, 1954) is an AmericanDemocratic Party politician, who has been serving in theNew JerseyState Senate since 1998, where he represents the19th Legislative District. He is also the formerMayor of Woodbridge Township, having been elected by the Township Council in July 2006 to fill a temporary vacancy, following the death of MayorFrank Pelzman. Senator Vitale came to theSenate in 1998 filling a vacancy created whenJim McGreevey stepped down from his seat as part of his ultimately unsuccessful bid for election asGovernor of New Jersey in 1997.^[3] Vitale attendedJohn F. Kennedy Memorial High School in Woodbridge Township.^[4]

Following Pelzman's death in June 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.^[5] Vitale endorsed former State TreasurerJohn McCormac in the special election and served as mayor until November 13, 2006, when McCormac was sworn in.^[6]

Vitale was elected in the 1997 elections to succeed Jim McGreevey who wasrunning for Governor. As the 19th districts consists of mainly Democrat-friendly towns inMiddlesex County, he has been easily reelected in every Senate election never winning by less than 20 points. From 2004 to 2009, Vitale was the DeputyMajority 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.^[4] Vitale andWilliam Gormley were the lead sponsors of the 1999 New Jersey Homeless Youth Act, which allows minors to seek homeless shelter without parental approval.^[7] 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 andWisconsin 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.^[8]

Committee assignments for the2024—2025 Legislative Session are:^[4]

• Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens (as chair)

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in theNew Jersey Senate and two members in theNew Jersey General Assembly.^[9] The representatives from the 19th District for the2024—2025 Legislative Session are:^[10]

• Senator Joe F. Vitale(D)
• AssemblymanCraig Coughlin(D)
• AssemblywomanYvonne Lopez(D)

New Jersey general election, 2017^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Joseph F. Vitale (Incumbent)	27,681	100.0	37.4
Total votes			27,68	100.0

New Jersey general election, 2003^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Joseph F. Vitale (Incumbent)	22,643	65.5	11.9
	Republican	Paul "Daniels" Danielczyk	11,949	34.5	11.9
Total votes			34,592	100.0

New Jersey general election, 1997^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Joseph F. Vitale	32,454	60.2	12.6
	Republican	Stephen A. Mikulak	21,445	39.8	5.3
Total votes			53,899	100.0

• Senator Vitale's Website
• Senator Vitale's legislative webpage,New Jersey Legislature
• New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms -20161201520142013201220112010200920082007200620052004

• Living people
• 1954 births
• American people of Italian descent
• Democratic Party New Jersey state senators
• John F. Kennedy Memorial High School (New Jersey) alumni
• Mayors of Woodbridge Township, New Jersey
• Politicians from Middlesex County, New Jersey
• 21st-century mayors of places in New Jersey
• 21st-century members of the New Jersey Legislature
• 20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use American English from January 2022
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from January 2022
• Template:Succession box: 'after' parameter includes the word 'incumbent'
• S-aft: 'after' parameter includes the word 'incumbent'