Robert Torricelli

Robert Guy Torricelli (born August 27, 1951), nicknamed "the Torch," is an American politician from the U.S. state of New Jersey. Torricelli, a Democrat, served 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives before being elected to the U.S. Senate. He served a single term in the Senate and decided not to run for reelection after a campaign finance scandal involving contributions by David Chang, an imprisoned Korean businessman.

Education and personal life

After graduation from Storm King School in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, Torricelli attended Rutgers University both for undergraduate and law school, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1974 and his law degree in 1977. He was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1978 and later attended Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, earning a Master of Public Administration in 1980.

Torricelli was married to Susan Holloway, from whom he is now divorced. He reportedly has since dated Mick Jagger's former wife Bianca Jagger, conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham, and U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell.

Torricelli is Italian American on his father's side.^[1] He was raised as a Methodist.^[2]

Early political career

Torricelli was an assistant to the Governor of New Jersey Brendan Byrne from 1975 to 1977. In 1978 he served on the Staff of Vice President Walter Mondale, and managed the Carter-Mondale campaign in the Illinois primary, at the age of 28. At the 1980 Democratic National Convention, he served the Carter-Mondale campaign on the Rules Committee. In 1982, Torricelli leveraged his political contacts into a run for US Congress, defeating incumbent Republican Harold Hollenbeck 53% to 46%.

Torricelli served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 1996 representing the New Jersey's 9th Congressional District, and then as a U.S. Senator from 1997 to 2003.

Senate career

He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996, defeating Republican Congressman Dick Zimmer to obtain the seat vacated by the retirement of Democratic Senator Bill Bradley.

In 2000, he headed the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and helped the Democrats gain four Senate seats.

Late in an increasingly competitive race against Republican Doug Forrester, Torricelli suddenly withdrew after disclosure of undeniably illegal contributions to his campaign by David Chang, a businessman connected to North Korea.^[3] Torricelli had previously denied this and a number of other charges, and in his withdrawal speech stated that despite his leaving public office in a different way than he planned, he was proud of his service. Shortly thereafter, the New Jersey Supreme Court tossed out the longstanding State election law and unanimously ruled that the Democratic Party could legally replace Torricelli's name on the ballot with that of former U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg,^[4] ironically a longtime Torricelli nemesis, with whom he had often publicly feuded. New Jersey Republicans had contested the Torricelli-Lautenberg swap on the grounds that the deadline for ballot changes had long passed. It seemed apparent to many that Torricelli had only made his decision after local polls showed, for the first time, that the scandal had damaged Torricelli's re-election chances beyond repair.^[5]

Post-Senate career

He is now a lobbyist and a partner in Panepinto Properties, a Jersey City real estate developer. He was again the subject of controversy in 2007 when it was revealed that he was spending some of the $2.9 million left over from his senate campaign on donations to political candidates with ties to his business interests.^[6]

References

External links

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• CNN report on Torricelli dropping out of Senate race.