Stephen A. Mikulak (October 15, 1948 – June 16, 2014) was an American Republican Party politician who served two terms 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 1992 to 1996, where he represented the 19th Legislative District, which covers portions of Middlesex County.

Biography

Born in

East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 69,612, an increase of 5,342 (+8.3%) from the 2010 United States ...

and raised in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, Mikulak graduated from

Vailsburg High School Vailsburg High School was a public high school in Vailsburg, Newark, United States. It was established in 1961 and was part of the Newark Public Schools district. It closed as a high school in 1988; the district has since re-purposed the build ...

in 1966. He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. Mikulak, of

Woodbridge Township, New Jersey Woodbridge Township is a township in northern Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is a regional hub of transportation and commerce for central New Jersey and a major bedroom suburb of New York City, within the New ...

, who is of Ukrainian heritage, ran for the General Assembly in what had traditionally been a solidly Democratic district, as part of a campaign that targeted the Democrats statewide as being responsible for higher taxes. As part of the Republican landslide that year in the New Jersey Legislature in the wake of

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

Jim Florio James Joseph Florio (August 29, 1937 – September 25, 2022) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 49th governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994. He was previously the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional dis ...

's $2.8 billion tax increase package, Mikulak was elected to the Assembly together with running mate Ernest L. Oros and Randy Corman in the Senate, defeating incumbent Democrat

Thomas J. Deverin Thomas J. Deverin (July 7, 1921 – December 23, 2010) was an American Democratic Party politician who served 11 terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, from 1970 to 1992, where he represented District 7C to 1974, the 21st Legislative Distri ...

and his running mate Jay Ziznewski. Mikulak was re-elected to the Assembly in 1993, together with Oros, though Corman lost his seat in the Senate to Democrat

Jim McGreevey James Edward McGreevey (born August 6, 1957) is an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as the 52nd governor of New Jersey from 2002 until his resignation in 2004 amidst a sex scandal. McGreevey served in the New Jersey Genera ...

. A bill proposed by Mikulak in June 1992 would ban the use of photo radar to ticket drivers caught speeding on the state's roadways, arguing that "bureaucracy has found ways of making things happen in the past that they said they weren't going to do" and that the practice of dispensing such tickets had to be prevented before any police agencies attempted to use a photo radar system. In June 1992, Mikulak sponsored legislation in the Assembly that would increase the speed limit on of state highways to from the previous limit, arguing that drivers were not respecting the lower speed limit and the fact that the highways had been constructed to accommodate the faster traffic. On July 28, 1993, Governor of New Jersey

signed a bill sponsored by Mikulak that passed with bipartisan support in both houses of the legislature which would impose the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

on terrorists convicted of killing anyone in New Jersey. Mikulak proposed the bill in March 1993 after visiting a room where four people had been killed in the

1993 World Trade Center bombing The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack carried out by Ramzi Yousef and associates against the United States on February 26, 1993, when a van bomb detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center complex in Manhat ...

. In the 1995 elections, Oros and Mikulak were unseated by

Arline Friscia Arline M. Friscia (November 13, 1934 – October 16, 2019) was an American politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1996 to 2004, where she represented the New Jersey's 19th legislative district, 19th Legislative District. O ...

and John S. Wisniewski, two of the five seats that the Democrats picked up in that cycle. Mikulak ran for 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 ...

in 1997, losing to Democrat Joseph Vitale by a 60.2%-39.8% margin for the open seat vacated by

. He died on June 16, 2014, in

Edison, New Jersey Edison is a Township (New Jersey), township located in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated in Central Jersey, Central New Jersey within the core of the state's Raritan River, Raritan Valley r ...

at age 65.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikulak, Stephen A. 1948 births 2014 deaths American people of Ukrainian descent Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly People from East Orange, New Jersey Politicians from Woodbridge Township, New Jersey Politicians from Newark, New Jersey Rutgers University alumni 20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature