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Gilbert Wilson
Gilbert L. 'Whip' Wilson (b. March 17, 1947) is a former Democratic member of the New Jersey General Assembly, representing District 5 from 2010 to December 2, 2015. Wilson was forced to resign from the state Assembly because of a 44-year old state law that requires sheriffs to take the oath of office within 30 days of their election. Wilson was elected sheriff of Camden County in the November 2015 general election.[1]
Wilson did not run for re-election to the General Assembly in 2015. He was first appointed to the chamber on January 25, 2010, to fill the seat left vacant by Donald Norcross.[2]
Wilson served on the Camden City Council from 2005-2010 and 1997-2001.
Biography
Wilson earned his A.A.S. in Law/Criminal Justice from Camden County College and his B.A. in Law/Criminal Justice from Rowan University. His professional experience includes working as Officer in the Camden Police Department. Wilson served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force from 1965-69.[3]
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Wilson served on the following committees:
| New Jersey committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Agriculture and Natural Resources, Vice-Chair |
| • Law and Public Safety, Vice-Chair |
| • Military and Veterans' Affairs |
2014 legislative session
In the 2014 legislative session, Wilson served on the following committees:
| New Jersey committee assignments, 2014 |
|---|
| • Agriculture and Natural Resources, Vice-Chair |
| • Law and Public Safety, Vice-Chair |
| • Military and Veterans' Affairs |
2010-2012
In the 2010-2012 legislative session, Wilson served on the following committees:
| New Jersey committee assignments, 2010 |
|---|
| • Agriculture and Natural Resources |
| • Law and Public Safety |
| • Military and Veterans' Affairs |
Campaign themes
2013
On their shared campaign website, Wilson, Angel Fuentes, and Sen. Donald Norcross listed five major themes of their campaign:[4]
- Relieving the tax burden on property owners.
- Cutting wasteful government spending.
- Consolidating government functions through shared services among municipalities, counties and schools boards.
- Adopting reforms that reduce the costs to taxpayers for public employee benefits, including pensions and health care.
- Providing quality public schools, in part by forcing tax money to go toward classrooms and school facilities – not toward excessive salaries and perks for administrators.
2011
In an interview with the Gloucester County Times, Gilbert listed his top priorities:
- "New Jersey’s unemployment rate is 9.4 percent, our residents are paying the highest property taxes in the nation, and throughout our region families are struggling to make ends meet. With that said, my top three priorities are attracting good paying jobs to our region, ensuring that our residents keep more of what they earn, and providing the police and fire services that will keep them safe in their homes and communities."[5]
(For responses from all the candidates, see the full story here.)
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2013
Wilson won re-election in the 2013 election for New Jersey General Assembly District 5. Wilson was bracketed with Angel Fuentes. He was unopposed in the June 4 Democratic primary. He and incumbent Angel Fuentes (D) defeated David Ragonese (R) and George Wagoner (R) in the general election, which took place on November 5, 2013.[6][7][8][9]
| New Jersey General Assembly, District 5 General Election, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Angel Fuentes Incumbent |
29.7% | 25,167 | |
| Democratic | Gilbert Wilson Incumbent |
29.2% | 24,761 | |
| Republican | David Ragonese | 21% | 17,774 | |
| Republican | George Wagoner | 20.1% | 17,037 | |
| Total Votes | 84,739 | |||
2011
Wilson won re-election in 2011. He and incumbent Angel Fuentes ran unopposed in the Democratic Primary on June 7. They then defeated Terrell Ratliff (R) and William Levins (R) in the November 8 general election.[10]
| New Jersey General Assembly District 5 General Election, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Angel Fuentes Incumbent |
28.5% | 17,586 | |
| Democratic | Gilbert Wilson Incumbent |
28.7% | 17,691 | |
| Republican | William Levins | 22% | 13,575 | |
| Republican | Terrell Ratliff | 20.7% | 12,776 | |
| Total Votes | 61,628 | |||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of New Jersey scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2015
In 2015, the 216th New Jersey State Legislature, second annual session, was in session from January 13 through December 31.
- ACLU-NJ: 2014-2015 Scorecard
- Legislators are scored based on their voting record for bills relating to civil liberties.
- Clean Water Action: Legislative Scorecard 2014-2015
- Legislators are scored on environment and conservation issues.
- New Jersey League of Conservation Voters: 2015 Legislative Environmental Scorecard
- Legislators are scored on their votes concerning environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the 216th New Jersey State Legislature, first annual session, was in session from January 14 through January 12, 2015.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
|---|
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In 2013, the 215th New Jersey State Legislature, second annual session, was in session from January 10 to January 13, 2014.
|
2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
|---|
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In 2012, the 215th New Jersey State Legislature, first annual session, was in session from January 10 to January 9, 2013.
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Endorsements
2013
In 2013, Wilson’s endorsements included the following:[11] [12]
- The New Jersey AFL-CIO
- Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Wilson and his wife of more than 30 years, Martha, have six children.
Additional reading
- NJSpotlight, "Candidates: Legislative District 5," November 4, 2011
- NJSpotlight, "Legislative District 5," October 18, 2011
- NJ.com, "NJ's Fifth Legislative District candidates for Senate and Assembly pinpoint pressing state matters," October 11, 2011 (Interview)
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Gilbert + Wilson + New Jersey + Assembly"
See also
- New Jersey General Assembly
- General Assembly Committees
- New Jersey State Legislature
- Joint Committees
- New Jersey state legislative districts
External links
- Profile from Open States
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign contributions: OpenSecrets
Footnotes
- ↑ Nj.com, "N.J. Assemblyman abruptly resigns before Christie gun veto override vote," accessed December 2, 2015
- ↑ Courier Post Online, "Wilson takes oath as N.J. assemblyman," January 26, 2010
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ Official Fuentes/Wilson campaign website, "Issues," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ NJ.com, "NJ's Fifth Legislative District candidates for Senate and Assembly pinpoint pressing state matters," October 11, 2011
- ↑ New Jersey Department of Elections, "Official Primary Election Results," accessed July 26, 2013
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Official general election candidates," September 9, 2013
- ↑ Associated Press, "New Jersey - Summary Vote Results," November 6, 2013
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "2013 Official General Election results," accessed December 6, 2013
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "2011 Official General Assembly Primary Candidate List," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ PolitickerNJ.com, "AFL-CIO endorses candidates for elections," accessed September 4, 2013
- ↑ Planned Parenthood NJ "Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey Announces Endorsements in State Elections," accessed September 5, 2013
