Vincent Polistina

Vincent Polistina
New Jersey General Assembly District 2
Former member
In office
2008 - 2012
Party	Republican
Elections and appointments
Term limits	N/A
Education
High school	Absegami High School
Bachelor's	Rutgers University
Personal
Profession	Owner, Polistina and Associates, L.L.C., Municipal Engineer
Websites
Campaign website

Vincent Polistina is a former Republican member of the New Jersey General Assembly, representing the 2nd District. He served in that position from 2008 until 2012. Polistina served as Deputy Minority Leader. Polistina announced his decision to run for the District 2 State Senate seat on February 2, 2011.

Polistina also serves as a member of the Atlantic County Republican Campaign Committee and as Chair of the Atlantic County Republican Finance Committee. He is the owner of Polistina and Associates, an engineering firm founded by Vince in 2003. The firm is located in Egg Harbor Township and and has 12 employees. Throughout his career, Polistina has been responsible for professional engineering and planning services on behalf of Atlantic County, Longport, and the Atlantic City, Northfield, and Egg Harbor City Boards of Education.

Polistina graduated with a B.S. in Bioenvironmental Engineering from Rutgers University in 1993. He is a 1989 graduate of Absegami High School.

Committee assignments

• Health and Senior Services Committee, New Jersey General Assembly
• Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee

Elections

2011

See also: New Jersey State Senate elections, 2011

Polistina ran in the 2011 election for New Jersey Senate District 2. He ran unopposed in the primary on June 7, 2011. He is opposed by incumbent Jim Whelan (D) in the general election took place on November 8, 2011. Lorenzo Langford (I) was a candidate for the seat but withdrew on September 20.

New Jersey State Senate District 2 General Election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jim Whelan Incumbent	53.4%	24,075
	Republican	Vincent Polistina	46.6%	20,997
Total Votes				45,072

Speculation

Asbury Park Press

District 2 is one of only three districts that the Asbury Park Press identified as competitive in 2011. The other two are Districts 14 and 38. Districts 2 and 38 may lean more Republican after 2011 redistricting, and District 14 may still favor Democrats. As evidence, they cite a drop in registered Democrats in Districts 2 and 38, and only a small decrease in registered Democrats in District 14. History has shown, argues APP, that districts where Democrats hold less than a 10,000 registered voter advantage typically favor the GOP. The Democratic registration advantage in District 2 is roughly 9,200 (down from 11,000).

NJ Spotlight

With assembly incumbent Polistina (R) choosing to run for the State Senate, NJ Spotlight has identified the District 2 as a potential place for the GOP to lose a seat in the Assembly. Following redistricting, the District 2 gained Democratic communities, losing Republican Galloway Township and picking up Democratic Somers Point, Buena and Buena Vista.

Courier Post

On June 7, Lorenzo Langford made the decision to run in the 2011 Senate race as an Independent. In the past, Langford has identified with the Democratic Party, defeating then incumbent mayor Jim Whelan (D) in 2001, Langford's third attempt at unseating him. It is speculated that if Lorenzo remains in the race, Whelan will likely lose. Langford claims that he is a serious candidate stating his extreme dissatisfaction with Senator Whelan's vote on S11 (Atlantic City Tourism District).

Others view Langford as a "spoiler" candidate. Whelan's campaign manager, Justin Myers, claims that Polistina recruited Langford to help split the Democratic vote. Both Langford and Polistina have denied working together to adversely affect the election. Langford has said that if he were to drop out of the race, he would likely throw his support behind Polistina.

Langford ultimately decided to withdraw from the race on September 20, 2011. Langford declined to make a formal endorsement but stated his intention to vote for Vincent Polistina (R). Langford also stated his intention to "list the many instances that speak to Jim Whelan’s ineptness as mayor, as well as those occasions when he betrayed Atlantic City residents and sold us out."

2009

See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2009

Running for re-election in the November 3, 2009 general election, Polistina received 30,563 votes (30%), defeating challengers Reginald Floyd and Jimmy Martinez. He was bracketed with John Amodeo.

New Jersey General Assembly General Election, 2009
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	John F. Amodeo Incumbent	30.3%	33,787
	Republican	Vincent J. Pollstina Incumbent	29.6%	32,981
	Democratic	Jimmy Martinez	20.1%	22,430
	Democratic	Reginald Floyd	20%	22,316
Total Votes				111,514

Campaign donors

Vincent Polistina at AFP-NJ Taxpayer Rally, 2008

2011

District 2 tops fundraising

As of October 25, candidates for District 2 have raised $3,762,118--according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. This makes District 2 number one in fundraising for the year. Candidates for the district have spent $3,161,517 of their campaign funds.

2009

Below are Polistina's top 5 campaign contributors in the 2009 election:

Contributor	2009 total
Electrical Workers Local 351	$8,200
Election Fund Of Alex Decroce	$5,500
Biondi, Peter J	$5,000
New Jersey Education Association	$3,600
Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 9	$2,500

Issues

Assemblyman Polistina discusses A3148

Campaign themes

Polistina and John Amodeo list these issues on their campaign page:

• Eliminate wasteful spending and cut taxes - "John and Vince will continue to work to eliminate wasteful spending, end the state’s reliance on debt and stop all of the one-year budget gimmicks so that real tax relief can be provided to our families."
• Protect current jobs and create new ones - "The casinos are the economic engine that drives our region. We need to protect those jobs while using casino tax revenue to reinvest in our local economy. We must give businesses the incentive to locate here and bring new jobs to Atlantic County."
• Lead the fight for reform - "Two years ago, John and Vince campaigned against business as usual in Trenton. And now they are leading by example. They haven’t accepted taxpayer-financed health care for their part-time Assembly positions and have voluntarily cut their own office budgets and staff—saving taxpayers over a quarter of a million dollars!"

Sponsored legislation

• A2014 Establishes Vacancy Review Board in the Department of Personnel to review continued need for positions in Executive Branch that become vacant.
• A3780 Reduces compensation afforded members of Legislature by 20%.
• ACR223 Proposes amendment to State Constitution to limit General Assembly members to five successive terms and Senate members to three successive terms.

2nd District debate

On September 15, the District 2 Senate candidates took part in a debate sponsored by the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy and The Press of Atlantic City.

• The full, hour-long debate can be found here.
• The Assembly candidates' debate can be found here.

Endorsements

State leaders pick sides in District 2

Several powerful state leaders have expressed support for their chosen candidates in District 2. Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono (D) and Chairman of the state Democratic Committee John Wisniewski (D) have personally endorsed the Democratic ticket in District 2, attending a rally in support of the candidates. The Republican candidates have garnered the support of Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno (R), who attended an event for GOP campaign staff in District 2. The visits further highlight the importance of the district in November's election.

Additional reading

• NJSpotlight, "Candidates: Legislative District 2," November 1, 2011

External links

Suggest a link

• "The Team for Change" campaign website
• New Jersey General Assembly House page
• Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
• Biography from Project Vote Smart
• NJ Assembly Republicans - Vincent Polistina
• Polistina, Amodeo & Brown on Facebook
• Vincent Polistina on Facebook
• pressofAtlanticCity.com, Assemblyman Vincent Polistina announces candidacy for state Senate seat, 3 Feb. 2011
• State Surge - Legislative and voting track record

Contributions:2009, 2007

References

Political offices
Preceded by -	New Jersey General Assembly District 2 2008–2012	Succeeded by NA