Kyrillos Announces Decision Not to Seek Re-election To NJ State Senate

701

MIDDLETOWN, NJ –After 28 years in the state Legislature serving Monmouth County and the state of New Jersey, state Senator Joe Kyrillos (R-13) announced Tuesday that he will not seek re-election in 2017.
First elected when he was 27 years old, Kyrillos served two terms in the General Assembly and was sworn in to his first term in the Senate in 1992 where he was re-elected to serve eight terms. He said he leaves public service proud to have been a statewide leader in job creation, economic growth, shore protection, and good government.
“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve the people of my district and the state of New Jersey in the Legislature,” said Kyrillos in a statement to The Two River Times. “Ever since I was a kid growing up in Monmouth County, I’ve always believed that public service is an important and noble profession. I am truly fortunate to have had the ability to serve for so many years in the state Senate, and I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished on behalf of the people of New Jersey. And, of course, the frustrations of serving in the Minority and the current political process are obvious.”
According to his office, Senator Kyrillos is the second youngest person elected to the senate since the 1947 Constitutional Convention and the tenth youngest since 1844. He served as only the 29th Republican state chairman in the recorded history of the party since 1880 and one of only four to serve simultaneously in the legislature. When he unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2012, Kyrillos’ office said he joined a small group of 135 individuals in the history of New Jersey who earned the privilege to have been nominated for Governor or U.S. Senator by the two major political parties.
“When I leave the Senate in January 2018, I will have spent more than half my lifetime serving in public life,” Kyrillos said. “It’s time for some new challenges and opportunities and its also time to give others an opportunity to serve.”
He added, “Susan and I will be active in our community and around the state, and I’ll continue to play a role in public affairs in New Jersey and nationally. While I won’t be on the ballot for any office in 2017, I don’t close the door on running for elected office or on another public role someday.”
During his legislative tenure, Senator Kyrillos has led his caucus on issues ranging from economic development to shore and environmental protection. In a press release, he pointed to his legislative accomplishments, which include:
· Economic Growth
When Republicans held the legislative majority in the Statehouse, Kyrillos served as Majority Conference Leader and chaired standing committees on economic development and natural resources. A ranking member of the Economic Growth, Judiciary and Legislative Oversight committees, he was the original sponsor of the state’s landmark Business Employment Incentive Program (BEIP), which has resulted in the creation of hundreds of thousands of New Jersey jobs. Senator Kyrillos also sponsored the “Grow New Jersey” bill, which is the state’s current business incentive program. He voted more than 140 times to reduce taxes and fees.
· Environmental and Shore Protection
A lifelong Monmouth County resident, Senator Kyrillos worked to protect New Jersey’s coastline and help the shore region rebuild in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. He helped establish the state’s Shore Protection Fund in 1993, which provided the first stable source of funding for protecting New Jersey’s beaches. He also sponsored legislation to keep our oceans clean and close the CAFRA loophole to protect the shoreline from overdevelopment and decay. Kyrillos led the early fight for green acres and open space efforts and sponsored the state’s Environmental Infrastructure Trust.
· Education
Senator Kyrillos, an advocate for improving education, was the prime sponsor of the School Report Card legislation to hold public schools and teachers accountable. He also sponsored the current teacher tenure reform bill and has advocated for reforms to the state’s inequitable school funding formula.
· Government Reform
Working with legislators on both sides of the aisle, Kyrillos championed several bi-partisan reform measures to lower property taxes and fix systemic problems with the state budget. He was a prime sponsor of the two-percent cap on property taxes that is helping to control excessive local spending. He worked with the Governor and Legislative Leaders to begin to fix the state’s broken pension system. Recently, he helped forge the coalition to renew the Transportation Trust Fund, eliminate the estate tax and the income tax for most retirees. Along the way, he sponsored initiatives that created the NJ Cultural Trust, the NJ BEST vehicle for higher education savings, and the bill that created today’s NJTV.
A  leader in the state and national Republican Party, Senator Kyrillos served as New Jersey Republican State Chairman and member of the Republican National Committee from 2001 to 2004. Kyrillos was the New Jersey Chairman of Mitt Romney’s campaign in 2008, and in 2009, he served as the Chairman of Governor Christie’s successful campaign and as a member of the transition team. He was the Republican nominee for the United States Senate in 2012 and served as a close advisor to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush in the 2016 Republican presidential primary.
Kyrillos, 56, attended Middletown Public Schools, the Rumson Country Day School and the Lawrenceville School. He graduated from Hobart College and earned a Master’s degree at Boston University. He first began his career in public service in 1984, working for Vice President George H. W. Bush on the Reagan-Bush campaign. Before running for the state Legislature, Joe worked as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Interior.
Senator Kyrillos and his wife Susan live in Middletown with their children, Max and Georgia, and are members at Tower Hill Presbyterian Church in Red Bank.