About Senator Girgenti
Senator John A. Girgenti was born in Paterson, New Jersey on August 8, 1947. He attended Hawthorne High School and received his B.A. in political science, cum laude, from Seton Hall University in 1969. At St. John’s University he studied government, specializing in public administration, and received his M.A. in 1972.
Senator Girgenti was elected to the Assembly in 1977 and was re-elected 6 times. In the Assembly, he served as the Municipal Government Committee Chair and Deputy Majority Leader. In March, 1990, he was chosen by district Democrats to fill the Senate seat left vacant by the death of Frank X. Graves, Jr. Senator Girgenti was sworn into the Senate on April 5. He was elected to his first full-term in the Senate on November 5, 1991 and has been re-elected four times.
As an Assemblyman, he sponsored legislation that created the Victims of Crime Compensation Board and successfully imposed the first ‘tax on crime.’
Since joining the Senate, he has sponsored many important pieces of legislation that have become law, including a measure that requires a monitoring for life of certain convicted sexual offenders who have a high potential for recidivism.
More recently, Senator Girgenti championed the law to crack down on organized retail theft by creating tougher penalties for the leader of the theft ring. He sponsored the law that created the “Sex Crime Victim Treatment Fund,” which imposes additional penalties on sex offenders in order to provide counseling and treatment to sex crime victims and their families. Senator Girgenti has also formed a task force to address the growing problem of gang violence throughout New Jersey.
Senator Girgenti was one of the first Senators to call for enhanced fingerprinting requirements for state employees involved with domestic security, following the 9/11 terror attacks and has fought hard to update and modernize New Jersey’s background check laws so that towns and communities can identify potential threats and prevent them from obtaining jobs where they could harm residents.
The Senator’s record for sponsoring timely and advantageous public safety legislation has not gone unnoticed. Mr. Girgenti is the recipient of both the 2003 Paterson PBA Award and the 2003 Passaic Prosecutors PBA ‘Man of the Year’ Award. Additionally, Senator Girgenti was named the 2003 Senate Legislator of the Year by the New Jersey Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Senator Girgenti is currently the Chairman of the Law, Public Safety & Veterans Affairs Committee, where he works tirelessly to improve the safety and quality of life for New Jersey’s residents by sponsoring several anti-gang legislation. He is also Vice Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Senator is a former director of the Passaic County Mental Health Department. He was appointed to the County Mental Health Board in February, 1976 and became board president four months later.
He is the Hawthorne Democratic leader. He served as president of the Passaic County Young Democrats for four years ending in June, 1978. He was the state president of the Young Democrats in 1975 and since that year, has served as an executive member of the Passaic County Democratic Committee.
Senator Girgenti served on the Hawthorne Board of Education from 1973 to 1976 and was the board’s vice president from 1974 to 1976. He was in the National Guard from 1970 to 1976. He is a member of the board of directors of the Boys’ Club of Paterson, a member of the Paterson Elks Lodge, and a member of the Hawthorne Lions Club.
Senator Girgenti married the former Rose Nagle in 1982.
The Senator represents the 35th Legislative District, which includes Glen Rock, Haledon, Hawthorne, North Haledon, Paterson, Prospect Park and Totowa.