Michael Patrick Carroll

Michael Patrick Carroll is an American Republican Party politician from New Jersey. He represents the 25th legislative district, first taking office in 1996.^[1]

Carroll was born in [Fayetteville, North Carolina], on April 8, 1958, the son of Maurice C. and Margaret W. Carroll. Although his parents resided in New Jersey, the senior Carroll’s military service carried him to Fort Bragg at the time of his son’s birth. Both of the Assemblyman’s parents are former reporters, his father having written for (among others) New York Herald Tribune, The New York Times, and New York Newsday, and his mother for the Morris County Daily Record. Maurice (Mickey) Carroll presently serves as the director of the Quinnipiac Poll. He is of German and Irish descent.

Moving to New Jersey, the Carrolls moved to Morris Township in 1960. Carroll attended Morris Township Public Schools through grammar school, then Delbarton School, from which he graduated in 1976. He matriculated at The Johns Hopkins University, earning a B.A. in Social and Behavioral Sciences in 1980. He pursued his legal education at Rutgers School of Law—Newark.– Newark, receiving his J.D. in 1983.

While at Johns Hopkins, Carroll served as the Region II Co-Director for the College Republican National Federation and held various offices in the Johns Hopkins Republican Club, including President. In 1978, he interned in the offices of Congressman Jack Kemp. During law school, he served briefly as an aide to State Senator John Dorsey. He also founded the Morris County Young Republicans, serving as the Chairman of that group for four years. He was first elected to the Morris County Republican Committee for Morris Township in 1980. In 1984, after moving to Morristown, he was elected to the Republican County Committee there, serving as Chairman for one term. Returning to Morris Township, he was once again elected to the Republican County Committee, a position he presently holds. He is also a Member of the Knights of Columbus, the Federalist Society, the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick.

Carroll first ran for the Assembly in 1993 using as his campaign slogan “Roll Back Florio’s Taxes” and pledging to work for the complete repeal of Jim Florio’s entire 1990 tax increases. He lost that election by fewer than 400 votes to Assemblyman Arthur Albohn. When Albohn retired in 1995, Carroll and then-Assemblyman Anthony Bucco prevailed in a Republican Primary against Rick Merkt, Chris Christie, and two others, going onto victory in the Fall.

Upon his initial election to the Assembly, Carroll served on the Judiciary and State Government Committees. Over the course of the next seven terms, he also served on the Health, Regulatory Oversight, Human Services, and Law and Public Safety. At present, he sits on the Housing and Local Government and Higher Education Committees. Appointed to the position of Republican Parliamentarian in 2002, he resigned that position in 2006. He also served of the State Human Relations Commission, the Sentencing Review Commission, and presently serves as the Assembly Republican Liaison to the State Historical Commission. In addition, he serves on the NJ Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.

During the term of Governor Christie Whitman, Carroll became one of her most consistent Republican critics, voting against all but one of her budgets. He and fellow conservatives, including Marion Crecco, Scott Garrett, Guy R. Gregg, Rick Merkt and Guy Talarico formed a loose-knit coalition dubbed by the press “The Mountain Men” for their conservative stances. Carroll was among only a handful of Assembly Members Legislators to vote against Governor Whitman’s “Pension Bond” proposal. He and fellow conservatives were early opponents of Governor Whitman’s proposal to raise the gasoline tax and they have, ever since, taken credit for killing that initiative.

Carroll was also among the earliest opponents of HOV lanes along Interstate 287 and Interstate 80 (created as a result of an initiative by Senator Frank Lautenberg). When they were finally abolished, local media proclaimed him one of the “heroes” in the fight against those lanes.

While serving with the Republican majority, Carroll secured passage of a bill which exempted the first $500,000 of profit from the sale of a couple’s home from state income tax. He secured some notoriety by proposing a Bill to mandate the reading, in school each morning, of a section of the Declaration of Independence. Assemblyman Carroll has never voted for a single tax increase.

The April 2003 issue of New Jersey Monthly magazine cited Carroll as the "Most Conservative" member of the New Jersey Legislature. The magazine cited Carroll's "...missionary zeal and his talent for articulating his stances on behalf of individual and property rights, the sanctity of family—including unborn children—and the cult of Reaganism..." in elaborating on their choice. .^[2] Carroll is one of the prime sponsors of a proposal to name a stretch of highway in Morris County after Ronald Reagan.

A long time opponent of what he characterizes as “judicial usurpation of the legislative function”, Carroll introduced proposals to amend the New Jersey Constitution to reverse the affordable housing mandate contained in Mount Laurel, to repeal the school funding decisions of Abbott, and to preclude the judiciary from imposing any requirement that the Legislature raise taxes or spend money. A proponent of Second Amendment rights, Carroll sponsors a proposal to bring New Jersey into line with the vast majority of the rest of the States and permit its residents to carry firearms. He has also sponsored proposals to require that any tax increase be imposed only upon receiving a super-majority of legislative votes, to limit the salaries of state and local officials, and to preclude governmental workers from participation in partisan politics.

For the past several sessions, Carroll has been one of the chief sponsors of a proposal to permit medical use of marijuana. He is also the co-prime sponsor of a bill to exempt from sales tax any highly fuel efficient cars, as well as cars which use exclusively alternative fuels.

Carroll, a prolific writer, the authors a blog and writes the lead Republican column for Politickernj.com. He is a frequent guest of News 12's Power and Politics, has appeared on “Meet the Leaders”, “The Sean Hannity Show”, “Hannity and Colmes”, “The Today Show”, “Your New Jersey Connection”, “Neil Cavuto”, and similar shows. His columns appear on a regular basis in the Morris County Daily Record.

An attorney admitted to the Bar in 1983, Carroll practices in Morristown. A general practitioner with a focus on family law, appellate practice, municipal and land use law, he represents the Mount Olive Board of Adjustment and the Montville Planning Board. He also taught Business Law at County College of Morris for several years as an Adjunct Professor.

Carroll attended the Delbarton School. He graduated with a B.A. in 1980 from Johns Hopkins University in History/Political Science and was awarded a J.D. in 1983 from Rutgers School of Law—Newark.

In 1983, Carroll married Sharon, née Anderson, whom he met when the two of them worked together at McDonald’s. The couple has six children: Sean Michael, James Patrick, Brian Christopher, Jane Eleanor, Benjamin Franklin, and Robert Edward Lee.^[3]

Carroll has often appeared at Junior Statesmen of America conventions in New Jersey, including a conference at Princeton University in October 2008 and another in March 2009.

District 25

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 25th District for the 2008-2009 Legislative Session are:

• Senator Anthony Bucco, and
• Assemblyman Tony Bucco

References

1. ^ The 25th Legislative District is the only district to consist solely of municipalities located only within the County of Morris.
2. ^ Otis, Lauren. "Statehouse Confidential", New Jersey Monthly, April 2006. Accessed August 17, 2007.
3. ^ Michael Patrick Carroll biography. Accessed August 17, 2007.

External links

• Assemblyman Carroll's legislative web page, New Jersey Legislature
• New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms
  • 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
• Assemblyman Carroll's Campaign Website
• Assembly Member Michael Patrick Carroll, Project Vote Smart
• New Jersey Voter Information Website 2003
• Rep. Scott Garrett Biography
• The Federalist Society
• The NJ Mountain Men
• Morris County Republican Committee

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Name	Carroll, Michael Patrick
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Date of birth	1958
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