Nicholas Scutari

Nicholas Paul Scutari (born November 18, 1968) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has been serving in the New Jersey State Senate since 2004, where he represents the 22nd Legislative District.

Nicholas Scutari
Member of the New Jersey Senate from the 22nd District
Assumed office
January 13, 2004
Preceded byJoseph Suglia
Deputy Majority Leader of the New Jersey Senate
Assumed office
2018
Preceded byOffice Established
Chair of the New Jersey Senate Committee on Judiciary
Assumed office
January 12, 2010
Personal details
Born
Nicholas Paul Scutari[1]

(1968-11-18) November 18, 1968[2]
Newark, New Jersey[2]
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceLinden, New Jersey
Alma materB.A. Kean University (Psychology)
Ed.M. Rutgers University
J.D. Western Michigan University Cooley Law School
OccupationAttorney
WebsiteLegislative Website

Scutari received a B.A. from Kean University in Psychology, an Ed.M. from Rutgers University in Education and a J.D. from the Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. He is an attorney, Law Offices of Nicholas P. Scutari.[3]

Political career

Before his election the Senate, Scutari was a member of the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, where he became the youngest Freeholder Chairman in county history. He served as Freeholder Chairman in 1999, after serving a year as Freeholder Vice Chairman. Prior to being a freeholder, he served as a member of the Board of Education in Linden.[3]

New Jersey Senate

He was nominated for the Senate after Senator Joseph Suliga announced that he would not seek re-election after a female casino employee in Atlantic City accused him of sexual harassment.[4]

Senator Scutari has served on the State Government Committee (as Chair), the Joint State Leasing and Space Utilization Committee, the Commerce Committee and the Judiciary Committee.[3] Senator Scutari has held the role of Chair of the New Jersey Senate Committee on Judiciary for the longest period in modern history. He is a former Commissioner of the New Jersey Clean Elections Commission. He is also a former Vice Chairman of the Senate Education Committee. He now heads the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senator Scutari was the chief sponsor of New Jersey's Medical Marijuana law that was signed into law in 2009 and has been an advocate for the effort to legalize marijuana for all individuals over the age of 21.[5] After a bill he introduced failed in 2014, Scutari introduced a bill in May 2017 to legalize, regulate and tax recreational marijuana use; while then-Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie was vigorously opposed to the measure, incoming governor Phil Murphy had announced that he would support legalization.[6]

Committees
  • Judiciary
  • Joint State Leasing and Space Utilization Committee
  • Commerce

Linden Municipal prosecutor

Concurrent with his senatorship, Scutari was Municipal Prosecutor for the city of Linden, New Jersey until he was ousted from the position in January 2020 for absence at court hearings. He contested the report which cited that he did not appear more than 50% of the time and is suing the city.[7][8][9]

Family

In Italy, his cousin Donato Scutari, a member of the Italian Communist Party, was elected Deputy and Senator of the Italian Republic. His uncle, Anthony Scutari, was chair of the Union County Improvement Authority.[10]

District 22

Each of the 40 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 15th District for the 2020-2021 Legislative Session are:[11][12]

Electoral history

New Jersey Senate
New Jersey general election, 2017[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Nicholas Scutari (Incumbent) 29,563 67.3 7.8
Republican Joseph A. Bonilla 14,362 32.7 7.8
Total votes '43,925' '100.0'
New Jersey State Senate elections, 2013[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Nicholas Scutari (incumbent 24,899 59.5
Republican Robert M. Sherr 16,933 40.5
Democratic hold
New Jersey State Senate elections, 2011[15]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Nicholas Scutari (Incumbent) 16,104 61.6
Republican Michael W. Class 10,024 38.4
Democratic hold
New Jersey State Senate elections, 2007[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Nicholas Scutari (Incumbent) 14,711 56.9
Republican Rose McConnell 11,139 43.1
Democratic hold
New Jersey State Senate elections, 2003[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Nicholas Scutari 16,658 55.0
Republican Martin Marks 13,609 45.0
Democratic hold

References
  1. "Nicholas Paul Scutari Lawyer Profile on Martindale.com". www.martindale.com.
  2. "Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey: 2004 Edition". Lawyers Diary and Manual, LLC. February 23, 1900 – via Google Books.
  3. Senator Scutari's Legislative Website, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed February 14, 2008.
  4. via Associated Press. "Democrats allowed to substitute candidate -- Union state senator quit after his arrest", The Record (Bergen County), October 4, 2003. Accessed April 11, 2008. "Democratic leaders named Nicholas P. Scutari to replace Sen. Joseph Suliga, D-Union, who dropped out of the 22nd District election race last week to seek treatment for 'an alcohol-related problem.'"
  5. Perez-Pena, Richard. "New Jersey’s Medical Marijuana Law Loses Planned Grower and Dispensers", The New York Times, July 23, 2010. Accessed November 17, 2017. "State Senator Nicholas P. Scutari, a Democrat from Linden who was the other main sponsor, said that Mr. Christie wanted too much control over the program and that the state would have no choice but to approve private growers."
  6. Johnson, Brent. "Bill to legalize recreational marijuana in N.J. set to be unveiled", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, May 14, 2017. Accessed November 17, 2017. "A state lawmaker on Monday is scheduled to unveil the latest piece of legislation that would legalize, regulate, and tax recreational marijuana in New Jersey.... State Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) will formally announce the Democratic-sponsored measure at a noon news conference at the Statehouse in Trenton.... Scutari, who sponsored New Jersey's medical marijuana law, has been lobbying for the state to legalize recreational pot for years. He introduced a bill in 2014 to legalize and tax marijuana in the state, but it did not advance."
  7. NJ.com, Ted Sherman | NJ Advance Media for (October 15, 2019). "Powerful state senator was often a no-show as municipal prosecutor, report charges". nj.
  8. NJ.com, Rebecca Everett | For (February 23, 2020). "N.J. town's court had 'culture of wrongdoing' led by rogue judge and Sen. Scutari, suit says". nj.
  9. NJ.com, Ted Sherman | NJ Advance Media for (October 30, 2019). "State senator seeks $10M, charging slander, libel and defamation after being called a 'no-show' by a political rival". nj.
  10. "Union County Democrat Chairwoman and family are doing very well". March 23, 2006.
  11. Legislative Roster 2020-2021 Session, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed April 17, 2020.
  12. District 22 Legislators, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed April 17, 2020.
  13. "2017-official-general-election-results-state-senate.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  14. "Official List Candidates for State Senate For GENERAL ELECTION 11/05/2015 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. December 4, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2015. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  15. Official List Candidate Returns for State Senate For November 2011 General Election Archived 2012-07-13 at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Department of State, December 14, 2011. Accessed June 22, 2012.
  16. Official List Candidate Returns for State Senate For November 2007 General Election Archived 2012-08-22 at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Department of State, December 3, 2007. Accessed June 22, 2012.
  17. "Official List Candidates Returns for State Senate For November 2003 General Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. December 2, 2003. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
New Jersey Senate
Preceded by
Joseph Suliga		 Member of the New Jersey Senate for the 22nd District
January 13, 2004 – present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Other offices
Preceded by
Daniel Sullivan		 Chairman of the Board of Chosen Freeholders of Union County, New Jersey
1999		 Succeeded by
Daniel Sullivan
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