Christopher "Kip" Bateman (born October 9, 1957) is an American Republican Party politician, who served in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...

from 2008 to 2022, representing the 16th Legislative District. He previously served in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

from 1994 to 2008, also in the 16th district.

Personal life

He was born in

Somerville, New Jersey Somerville is a borough and the county seat of Somerset County, New Jersey, United States.New Jer ...

Raymond Bateman Raymond H. "Ray" Bateman (October 29, 1927 – June 25, 2016) was an American politician who represented Somerset County in the New Jersey Senate in the 1960s and 1970s and was the Republican candidate for Governor of New Jersey in 1977. He was t ...

, who represented the 16th district in the

in the 1960s and 1970s, and was the Republican candidate for

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official re ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...

, losing to incumbent

Brendan Byrne Brendan Thomas Byrne (April 1, 1924 – January 4, 2018) was an American politician, statesman, and prosecutor, serving as the 47th governor of New Jersey from 1974 to 1982. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrne started his career as a privat ...

. Bateman graduated from Somerville High School, and received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...

in 1980 from

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and ...

in Political Science and History and was awarded a

J.D. JD or jd may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''JD'' (film), a 2016 Bollywood film * J.D. (''Scrubs''), nickname of Dr. John Dorian, fictional protagonist of the comedy-drama ''Scrubs'' * JD Fenix, a character from the ''Gears of War'' vi ...

in 1987 from the

Seton Hall University School of Law Seton Hall University School of Law is the law school of Seton Hall University, and is located in downtown Newark, New Jersey. Seton Hall Law is the only private law school in New Jersey, and, according to the ''U.S. News & World Report'' rankin ...

. He lives in the Neshanic Station section of Branchburg Township, and is married with four children: Chris, Joe, Stephanie, and Katie.

Political career

Somerset County politics

Bateman served on the Branchburg Township Committee from 1983 to 1988 and was its Mayor in 1986. He then served on the Somerset County

Board of Chosen Freeholders In New Jersey, a Board of County Commissioners (until 2020 named the Board of Chosen Freeholders) is the elected county-wide government board in each of the state's 21 counties. In the five counties that have an elected county executive, the ...

from 1988 to 1994 and was its Director in 1992. After being elected to the

, Bateman was appointed to the Task Force to Study Homeowner Associations from 1996 to 1997 and the Delaware and Raritan Transportation Safety Study Commission from 1995 to 1996.

New Jersey State Assembly

Bateman served in the

from 1994 to 2008, where he was the Assembly's Assistant Republican Leader from 2004 to 2005, was the Assistant Republican Whip from 2002 to 2003, the Majority Whip in 1996 and was the Assistant Majority Whip from 1994 to 1995. Bateman served in the Assembly on the Commerce and Economic Development Committee, the Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee and the Legislative Services Commission.Senator Bateman's legislative web page

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and th ...

. Accessed April 23, 2008.

New Jersey State Senate

In the 2007 legislative elections, Bateman won the State Senate seat of retiring Senator

Walter J. Kavanaugh Walter J. Kavanaugh (June 30, 1933 – January 9, 2008) was an American Republican Party politician, who served in the New Jersey Legislature for 32 years, representing the 16th Legislative District. He died just two days after leaving the ...

. Prior to the 2011 redistricting, the 16th district consisted of most of Somerset County. Following the 2011 redistricting, towns in northern and eastern parts of Somerset (including

Bridgewater Bridgewater or Bridgwater may refer to: Companies * Bridgewater Associates, global investment manager * Bridgewater Systems, Canadian software company Education * Bridgewater College, Virginia, United States * Bridgewater High School (disambi ...

) were removed, and were replaced by a portion of

Hunterdon County Hunterdon County is a County (United States), county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 128,947, making it the state's 18th-most po ...

, and the Democratic towns of South Brunswick and

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

. This made the 16th district a

swing district A marginal seat or swing seat is a constituency held with a small majority in a legislative election, generally one conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada, they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat. The ...

. He fended off a challenge by Democrat Maureen Vella by defeating her by 9 points in 2011. His 2013 election winning margin was larger as he defeated Christian Mastondrea by 20 points. During the 2019 budget fight, Democrats defied Governor

Phil Murphy Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American financier, diplomat, and politician serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since January 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the United States ambassador to German ...

and passed a budget without his proposed millionaire's tax. Bateman was one of six Republicans to vote for the budget. On January 27, 2021, Bateman announced that he would be retiring and not run for re-election to the State Senate in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

. Bateman is a

moderate Republican Moderate Republicans may refer to: * Within the United States Republican Party: ** Moderate Republicans (Reconstruction era), active from 1854 to 1877 ** Moderate Republicans (United States, 1930s–1970s) or Rockefeller Republicans ** Moderate Rep ...

. He has been known to break with his party and vote with Democrats on environmental issues, as he is a believer in

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. In addition, in each of his elections to the state legislature, Bateman received the endorsement of New Jersey environmental activist and New Jersey

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, w ...

director

Jeff Tittel Jeff Tittel is an American environmentalist. He has been the director of the New Jersey Sierra Club for 23 years. He is one of the most prominent environmental activists in the state. Tittel worked on the New Jersey Highlands Act, the New Jersey ...

, one of few Republicans that he has endorsed. Tittel and the Sierra Club awarded Bateman their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.

Committees

* Environment and Energy * Judiciary

Electoral history

Senate

Assembly

References

External links

Senator Christoper 'Kip' Bateman's Official SiteSenator Bateman's legislative web page

*''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms''
201520142013201220112010200920082007200620052004
!-- NOTE: typo in name is "correct" link to form, as of August 10, 2007-->
Senator Christopher 'Kip' Bateman

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in si ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bateman, Christopher 1957 births Living people Ithaca College alumni Mayors of places in New Jersey County commissioners in New Jersey Republican Party New Jersey state senators Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly People from Branchburg, New Jersey Politicians from Somerville, New Jersey Seton Hall University School of Law alumni Somerville High School (New Jersey) alumni 21st-century American politicians