Joseph Cryan (born September 1, 1961, East Orange, New Jersey) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has served in the New Jersey General Assembly since 2002, where he represents the 20th Legislative District. He is the Majority Leader of the New Jersey General Assembly, taking office on January 12, 2010.
Cryan has served as the Assembly's Deputy Majority Leader since 2006-2010, and was Assistant Majority Leader from 2004 to 2005 . He serves in the Assembly on the Education Committee (as Chair) and the Budget Committee.[1]
Assemblyman Cryan has served on the New Jersey State Democratic Committee since 2002, as Vice Chair. On February 17, 2006, Mr. Cryan was selected to be the head of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee, succeeding Bonnie Watson Coleman.[1] He stepped down after the selection of his successor John S. Wisniewski on January 27, 2010.[2]
In 1996, Cryan was elected as the Township of Union's Democratic Municipal Chairman. He is an Undersheriff with the Union County Sheriff's Office.
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Cryan was born on September 21, 1961, in East Orange, the son of John Cryan, an immigrant to the United States from County Roscommon, Ireland, who would later be elected to the General Assembly and served as Sheriff of Essex County.[3] His father had been charged in Federal court with racketeering and corruption, though the judge in the case dismissed the charges due to prosecutorial mistakes and ended the proceedings against him.[4]
Other relatives involved in public life are his sister, Union Township Municipal Clerk Eileen Birch, his brother-in-law Superior Court judge Joseph Donohue, and his cousin, Morristown Councilman John Cryan.[5]
Cryan graduated with a B.A. in 1983 from Belmont Abbey College in Business Administration.[1] Cryan was born in East Orange, and currently resides in Union Township.[6]
Lobbyist Karen Golding pleaded guilty to stalking Cryan and other members of his family, including making 600 anonymous calls to his family members while she was in a pre-trial intervention program for an earlier series of harassing phone calls.[7]
As Democratic state chairman, in November 2009, Assemblyman Cryan presided over a landslide Democratic gubernatorial party loss by incumbent Jon Corzine to Republican Chris Christie.[8] He was replaced as state chairman in January 2010 by Assemblyman John Wisniewski. .[9]
Each of the forty districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly. The other representatives from the 20th District for the 2010-2011 Legislative Session are:
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bonnie Watson Coleman |
Majority Leader of the New Jersey General Assembly 2010 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Bonnie Watson Coleman |
Chairman of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee 2006 – 2010 |
Succeeded by John S. Wisniewski |
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