Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. (born May 17, 1952), widely known as Joe D., has been the
County Executive of
Essex County, New Jersey
Essex County is located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey, and is one of the centrally located counties in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the county was the state's second-most populous county,< ...
since 2003.
Background and career
DiVincenzo attended
Jersey City State College. where he played football for the Knights graduating in 1976 with a degree in public health.
DiVincenzo was first elected to the Essex 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 ...
in 1990. He served as the board's president for eight terms. Prior to becoming freeholder, DiVincenzo held public jobs in Essex County as a parks supervisor, teacher, and athletics coordinator.
County Executive
DiVincenzo was sworn in to his first term as
County Executive of
Essex County on January 1, 2003
after being elected in 2002; he was reelected for his fourth term in November 2014. He received the backing of the state's Democratic establishment, including
Bob Menendez
Robert Menendez (; born January 1, 1954) is an American former politician and lawyer who represented New Jersey in the United States Senate from 2006 until his resignation in 2024. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...
,
Cory Booker
Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New Jersey, a seat he has held since 2013. A member of the Democ ...
,
Stephen Sweeney,
Vincent Prieto
Vincent Prieto (born September 11, 1960) is an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician. He served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2004 to 2018, where he represented the New Jersey's 32nd legislative district, ...
,
Donald Payne Jr., and
Steve Fulop.
DiVincenzo announced in December 2017 that he would be running for his fifth term of office. He won the 2018 election with 80% of votes cast against
West Orange's Adam Kraemer.
Double dipping
Double dipping is the practice of simultaneously holding multiple elected positions or to being employed by and collecting retirement benefits from the same public authority at the same time.
In 2011, DiVincenzo while still in office began to collect pension as County Executive. He justified the move by claiming that it is legal, as well as a good financial decision for his family.
[
]
Statewide influence
DiVincenzo is generally considered to be a power broker and political boss
In the politics of the United States of America, a boss is a person who controls a faction or local branch of a political party. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves; most historical bosses did not, at least during the times of th ...
of the Essex County political machine
In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership c ...
, exerting much influence on county and state politics. In 2011 in The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
, New Jersey State Senator Kevin O'Toole (R-Cedar Grove) is quoted as saying that "in terms of Democratic politics, Joe D. is becoming the king of North Jersey."
Crossing party lines, he, and many other registered Democrats statewide, endorsed Republican Governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Chris Christie
Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...
in his successful 2013 re-election bid.
In 2021, he endorsed Governor Phil Murphy
Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American politician, diplomat, and financier serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since 2018. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected governor i ...
in his successful re-election bid.
Campaign spending violations investigation
In October 2013, questions arose regarding DiVincenzo's campaign spending. The state Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), in its 16-count complaint against DiVincenzo, alleged that he failed to properly report nearly $72,000 in campaign expenditures, and improperly spent more than $16,000. In May 2014, the commission announced it would not hold hearings until after the election, tentatively in January 2015. It is unclear whether the ELEC will hear the case. The four-person board, required by law to include two Democrats and two Republicans, has been without a Democratic member since Governor Christie has not appointed one. One Democrat, Walter Timpone, recused himself without explanation, leading to Divincenzo's lawyers' claims that there must be an official quorum. The case is unlikely to proceed. Governor Christie chose not to replace the Democrat, effectively crippling the ELEC.
Personal life
After residing for 34 years in Nutley, he moved with his wife Donna to Roseland in 2013. He has two children, Kimberly DiVincenzo-Root and Joseph DiVincenzo.[
]
References
External links
Essex County
{{DEFAULTSORT:DiVincenzo, Joseph N. Jr.
1952 births
American political bosses from New Jersey
Essex County, New Jersey executives
Living people
New Jersey City University alumni
New Jersey Democrats
People from Essex County, New Jersey
People from Nutley, New Jersey
People from Roseland, New Jersey