John J. Burzichelli (born November 14, 1954) is an American Democratic Party politician from

Paulsboro, New Jersey Paulsboro is a Borough (New Jersey), borough situated on the banks of the Delaware River in Gloucester County, New Jersey, Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the Philadelphia metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United State ...

, who has been the Senator from the state's 3rd Legislative District since January 9, 2024, a seat which he won after defeating incumbent Republican Edward Durr in the 2023 elections. Prior to winning election to the

state Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

, Burzichelli served in

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 ...

for the 3rd District from 2002 to 2022, spending the last sixteen years of his time there as the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly.

New Jersey Assembly

Burzichelli was the Assistant Majority Leader during the 2004-05 session and has been the Assembly's Deputy Speaker since 2006. Burzichelli had been the Mayor of Paulsboro from 1996 until 2011. From 2002 until 2011, he served as both mayor and Assemblyman which was allowed in New Jersey until 2007 when

dual mandate A dual mandate occurs when an official serves in or holds multiple public positions simultaneously. This practice is sometimes known as double jobbing in Britain, double-dipping in the United States, and ''cumul des mandats'' in France. Thus, if ...

s were banned. Burzichelli was grandfathered under the law passed and allowed to continue serve in both posts until he stepped down from the mayoral post in 2011. He was president of Paulsboro Chamber of Commerce and a member of the

New Jersey State League of Municipalities The New Jersey State League of Municipalities is a voluntary association created by a New Jersey statute in 1915 to serve municipalities and local officials in the U.S. state of New Jersey. All 564 of New Jersey's municipalities are members of th ...

Executive Board. In the 2011 apportionment based on the results of the 2010 United States census, Republican Domenick DiCicco was moved from the 4th Legislative District into District 3. Burzichelli (with 25,172 votes) and Celeste Riley (23,960) won re-election, defeating DiCicco (20,268) and his running mate Bob Villare (20,528). DiCicco's loss made his seat the only gain by the Democrats in the Assembly in the 2011 election cycle. In December 2016, Burzichelli was one of several

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

elected officials who supported legislation legalizing

assisted suicide Assisted suicide, sometimes restricted to the context of physician-assisted suicide (PAS), is the process by which a person, with the help of others, takes actions to end their life. Once it is determined that the person's situation qualifie ...

, saying that state residents should be able to make their own decisions on a matter that "is about choice". In 2019 the Assisted Suicide bill passed the legislature. In the 2021 general election, Democratic incumbents Stephen M. Sweeney in the Senate and Burzichelli and Adam Taliaferro in the Assembly lost to their respective Republican challengers, Bethanne McCarthy Patrick and Beth Sawyer in the Assembly and Edward Durr in the Senate. Before the election, the district had been viewed as a "solidly blue" safe district for Democrats.

New Jersey Senate

In the 2023 general election, Burzichelli ran for the Senate seat together with Heather Simmons and

David Bailey David Royston Bailey (born 2 January 1938) is an English photographer and director, most widely known for his fashion photography and portraiture, and role in shaping the image of the Swinging Sixties. Bailey has also directed several televisio ...

in the Assembly, defeating Edward Durr in the Senate, and Republican incumbent Bethanne McCarthy Patrick and newcomer Thomas J. Tedesco, Jr. in the Assembly, taking back the district for the Democrats.

Committee assignments

Committee assignments for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:Senator John J. Burzichelli (D)

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 ...

. Accessed January 21, 2024. *Budget and Appropriations *Legislative Oversight *Transportation

District 3

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is 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 232,225 (2020 figure ...

and two members in the

. Representatives from the 3rd District for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are: *Senator John Burzichelli (D) *Assemblyman

(D) *Assemblywoman Heather Simmons (D)

Personal life

Burzichelli is a long-time resident of Paulsboro. He is of Italian descent. His father, John D. Burzichelli also served as mayor of the borough. He is a 1972 graduate of Paulsboro High School. Burzichelli makes a brief cameo in Kevin Smith's film '' Jersey Girl'', parts of which were filmed in Paulsboro. He is owner / producer / distributor of Hill Studio & Scenic. He is as a former movie producer and wrestling promoter. He owns a number of antique fire engines using them for both business (Hill Studio) and pleasure and is a member of the Glasstown Antique Fire Brigade. He also owns the remnants of the Ward LaFrance a now-defunct fire engine manufacturer. Several of his antique fire engines are Ward LaFrance models of varying years. Burzichelli co-authored the book ''Ward LaFrance Fire Trucks: 1918-1978 Photo Archive''. One of his fire trucks, formerly owned by

Trenton Psychiatric Hospital The Trenton Psychiatric Hospital is a state run mental hospital located in Trenton and Ewing, New Jersey. It previously operated under the name New Jersey State Hospital at Trenton and originally as the New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum. Founde ...

, is displayed on the cover. He is one of the founding members of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Paulsboro and a former President of the Greater Paulsboro Chamber of Commerce. Burzichelli is the co-host of the show ''Eye on Paulsboro'' which has been on cable for over 25 years.Home page
5OnTheWeb.com. Accessed January 16, 2014.

Electoral history

Senate

Assembly

References

External links

Senator Burzichelli's legislative web page
,

*''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms''
201520142013201220112010200920082007200620052004Assembly Member John J. Burzichelli

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American 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 offic ...

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Burzichelli, John 1954 births Living people Catholics from New Jersey Mayors of places in New Jersey Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Paulsboro High School alumni People from Paulsboro, New Jersey Politicians from Gloucester County, New Jersey 20th-century mayors of places in New Jersey 21st-century mayors of places in New Jersey American people of Italian descent 21st-century members of the New Jersey Legislature