Joseph Vitale

Who is Joseph Vitale?

Joseph F. Vitale 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.

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.

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. 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.