Lucille Lo Sapio

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Lucille Lo Sapio

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 7, 2023

Education

Bachelor's

Rutgers University, 1975

Personal

Birthplace

Newark, N.J.

Profession

Account executive

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Lucille Lo Sapio (Democratic Party) ran for election to the New Jersey State Senate to represent District 13. She lost in the general election on November 7, 2023.

Lo Sapio completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Lucille Lo Sapio was born in Newark, New Jersey. She earned a bachelor's degree from Rutgers University in 1975. Her career experience includes working as an account executive. She has been affiliated with Planned Parenthood.

Elections

2023

See also: New Jersey State Senate elections, 2023

General election

General election for New Jersey State Senate District 13

Incumbent Declan O'Scanlon Jr. defeated Lucille Lo Sapio in the general election for New Jersey State Senate District 13 on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Declan O'Scanlon Jr. (R)	58.8	31,750
		Lucille Lo Sapio (D)	41.2	22,236

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 53,986
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Jersey State Senate District 13

Lucille Lo Sapio advanced from the Democratic primary for New Jersey State Senate District 13 on June 6, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lucille Lo Sapio	100.0	5,354

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,354
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Jersey State Senate District 13

Incumbent Declan O'Scanlon Jr. advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey State Senate District 13 on June 6, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Declan O'Scanlon Jr.	100.0	6,453

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,453
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Lo Sapio received the following endorsements.

• SEIU New Jersey

Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Lucille Lo Sapio completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Lo Sapio's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a strong advocate for social justice, voter access, corruption, reform, and responding to the needs of constituents. Although I am a strong supporter of the Democratic Party, I feel it’s necessary to listen to both sides, and come up with compromise solutions.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Reproductive rights: women should have the right to control their own bodies. Period.
• Annual property tax reassessments: Monmouth County residents are reassessed every year, while the rest of the state is reassessed every five years. This is unfair to the residents of LD 13.
• Gun violence: New Jersey is one of the safest states in the country because of our common sense gun safety laws. We need to continue on the same path and make sure that we protect our students, our homes, and all of our citizens from unnecessary gun violence.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

My entire adult life, I have been an advocate for women’s reproductive rights. We are currently facing a termination of those rights on a state by state basis since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. We cannot let this happen in New Jersey. But it’s not just abortion; it’s also the right to contraception, which will be seriously impaired if our legislature is controlled by the republican party.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to all of the women who preceded me in politics, especially Barbara Jordan &, Nancy Pelosi, I also look up to our esteemed female supreme court justices

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty, compassion, intelligence, responsiveness and a willingness to meet and talk with constituents.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I’m outspoken, honest, diligent and persuasive

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Understand the issues, try to develop a workable solution and pass appropriate legislation

What legacy would you like to leave?

She got things done

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The most significant historical memory, I have is the election of JFK

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked at Fort Monmouth as a summer intern, in the division of Maintenance Engineering. In that job, I was awarded an Official Army Commendation.
I returned the following summer to the same position.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Handmaid’s Tale. It’s chilling and far too familiar.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Wonder Woman. Who wouldn’t want to right wrongs?

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

I Can’t Go For That

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

I am a breast cancer survivor

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

The legislature needs to be a check on the governor, but also needs to be supportive when necessary

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

New Jersey is a very expensive state to live in. We are certainly challenged with trying to continue our incredible economic growth but be affordable.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

I don’t think previous experience is necessarily beneficial. Like in corporate America, people often rise to their level of incompetence. I think we need to look at the individual and what they bring to the table.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

It’s certainly helpful if you can work with legislators across the aisle. However, in today’s polarized culture, that’s pretty difficult.

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Barbara Jordan

Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?

No. I just want to get the job done as a state senator.

Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

The impact of the opioid crisis has had a real effect on me. I lost a nephew, to opioid addiction, and the challenges that my family faced dealing with it were insurmountable. We need to address this from a position of empathy.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Yes, compromise is necessary. But it should be done as a means not an end.

What is the first bill you would introduce if elected?

I would absolutely introduce a bill to overturn the annual property reassessments, the Assessment Demonstration Program in Monmouth County

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

HPAE

Parenthood.of_NJ
Monmouth county democratic women’s caucus.

The SEIU NJ State Council

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2023 Elections

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Candidate

New Jersey State Senate District 13

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Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the New Jersey State Senate

Leadership

Senate President:Nicholas Scutari

Majority Leader:Teresa Ruiz

Minority Leader:Anthony Bucco

Senators

District 1

Mike Testa (R)

District 2

Vincent Polistina (R)

District 3

John Burzichelli (D)

District 4

Paul Moriarty (D)

District 5

Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D)

District 6

James Beach (D)

District 7

Troy Singleton (D)

District 8

Latham Tiver (R)

District 9

Carmen Amato (R)

District 10

James Holzapfel (R)

District 11

Vin Gopal (D)

District 12

Owen Henry (R)

District 13

Declan O'Scanlon (R)

District 14

Linda Greenstein (D)

District 15

Shirley Turner (D)

District 16

Andrew Zwicker (D)

District 17

Bob Smith (D)

District 18

Patrick Diegnan (D)

District 19

Joseph Vitale (D)

District 20

Joseph Cryan (D)

District 21

Jon Bramnick (R)

District 22

Nicholas Scutari (D)

District 23

Doug Steinhardt (R)

District 24

Parker Space (R)

District 25

Anthony Bucco (R)

District 26

Joseph Pennacchio (R)

District 27

John McKeon (D)

District 28

Renee Burgess (D)

District 29

Teresa Ruiz (D)

District 30

Robert Singer (R)

District 31

Angela McKnight (D)

District 32

Raj Mukherji (D)

District 33

Brian Stack (D)

District 34

Britnee Timberlake (D)

District 35

Benjie Wimberly (D)

District 36

Paul Sarlo (D)

District 37

Gordon Johnson (D)

District 38

Joseph Lagana (D)

District 39

Holly Schepisi (R)

District 40

Kristin Corrado (R)

Democratic Party (25)

Republican Party (15)