Senator Joe Kyrillos

Joe Kyrillos has enjoyed a distinguished career in both the public and private sectors. Senator Kyrillos ended a thirty year tenure in the New Jersey Legislature in January 2018.

Early Background

Joe’s late father emigrated from Beirut in 1954 and practiced pediatrics for 60 years becoming a beloved community doctor and father of four. His mother, the daughter of Lebanese immigrants whose father worked as a tool and die maker in Thomas Edison’s factory, grew up in NJ, was a school volunteer, managed the medical practice, and attended college as an adult graduating from Columbia University at age 50.

Elected Office

First elected at age 27, Joe served two terms in the General Assembly and eight terms in the state Senate. During a visible and productive career representing Monmouth and Middlesex counties, Joe emerged as a statewide leader in job creation, economic growth, shore protection, and good government. A former Senate Majority Conference Leader and committee chairman, he voted more than 140 times to reduce taxes and fees, and developed a reputation for practical, reform minded politics while working with both sides of the aisle.

He was the original sponsor of the landmark Business Employment Incentive Program, a prime sponsor of the job creating NJ GROW economic incentive program, the two-percent cap on local property taxes, as well as a co-sponsor of essential pension program reform legislation. Earlier in his career, he was the prime sponsor of the School Report Card bill to hold schools and teachers accountable, lead the early fight for clean ocean and beach legislation and pushed green acres and open space efforts. He created the first stable funding for shore protection, and sponsored the Environmental Infrastructure Trust, and the NJ CulturalTrust.

Current Projects

A respected voice in New Jersey’s business community, Joe started the consulting firm SK Partners , and is employed with Newport Capital Group, Red Bank, a financial services firm. He is a senior managing director of Newmark, a global real estate services firm and is affiliated with Woodmont Properties, a regional real estate development company.

Kyrillos also serves on the Boards of Directors of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ, and Miami International Holdings MIAX Emerald, and is chairman of the advisory board of OceanFirst Bank and a director of its foundation. In addition, he has been on numerous national and local non-profit boards, and is currently a trustee of the Parker Health Center, Red Bank, an immediate past trustee of the Monmouth Conservation Foundation, and Monmouth Historic Association, and sits on advisory boards for Lunch Break, and the Count Basie Center for the Arts.

Past Assignments

From 2001 to 2004, Senator Kyrillos served as Chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee and as a member of the Republican National Committee.  In 2008, Joe was NJ chairman of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign and the following year was chairman of Chris Christie’s successful gubernatorial campaign and subsequently a member of his transition team. Joe was a leading supporter of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush in the 2016 presidential primary.

In his twenties before his first election, Joe worked with the Vice Presidential Liaison team at the Reagan-Bush ‘84 headquarters, and went on to serve in the Reagan Administration as a special assistant in the office of the Secretary of the Interior Donald Hodel.

U.S. Senate Nominee & Historical Distinctions

In 2012, Kyrillos won the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. Senator Kyrillos is the second youngest person elected to the state Senate since the 1947 Constitutional Convention, and the tenth youngest since 1844. He served as only the 29th Republican state chairman in recorded history of the party since 1880, and one of four to serve simultaneously in the Legislature. When he ran for the U.S. Senate in 2012, Joe joined a small group of 135 individuals who, since the founding of New Jersey, earned the privilege to be nominated for Governor or U.S. Senator by the major political parties.

And…

Active and accessible at home and around the State, Joe has appeared on CNN, FOX, MSNBC, New York network affiliates, and local New Jersey outlets. He was the 2018-2019 Public Servant-In-Residence at Monmouth University.
 
In June, 2018, the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders designated the West Front Street bridge spanning the Navesink River and connecting the towns of Middletown and Red Bank, the Senator Joseph M. Kyrillos Bridge. There was a dedication ceremony the next month. 
 
Senator Kyrillos, 60, graduated from Hobart College and earned a Master’s degree at Boston University. He attended Middletown public schools, the Rumson Country Day School, and the Lawrenceville School. Joe and his wife Susan celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in September 2020, live in Middletown, and are the proud parents of college-age Max and Georgia. They are members of Tower Hill Presbyterian Church in Red Bank.