Stephen Dobbins

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

Stephen Dobbins

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 7, 2023

Education

Associate

Brookdale Community College, 2012

Bachelor's

Rutgers University, 2021

Personal

Profession

Business owner

Contact

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Stephen Dobbins (Democratic Party) ran for election to the New Jersey State Senate to represent District 30. He lost in the general election on November 7, 2023.

Biography

Stephen Dobbins was born in New York. He received an associate degree from Brookdale Community College in 2012 and a bachelor's degree from Rutgers University in 2021. Dobbins' professional experience includes being the owner of Stormin’ Arts Productions.

Elections

2023

See also: New Jersey State Senate elections, 2023

General election

General election for New Jersey State Senate District 30

Incumbent Robert Singer defeated Stephen Dobbins in the general election for New Jersey State Senate District 30 on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Robert Singer (R)	80.6	37,998
		Stephen Dobbins (D)	19.4	9,123

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 47,121
= 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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Jersey State Senate District 30

Stephen Dobbins advanced from the Democratic primary for New Jersey State Senate District 30 on June 6, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Stephen Dobbins	100.0	2,600

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,600
= 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 30

Incumbent Robert Singer advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey State Senate District 30 on June 6, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Robert Singer	100.0	3,908

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,908
= 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

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Dobbins in this election.

2021

See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2021

General election

General election for New Jersey General Assembly District 30 (2 seats)

Incumbent Sean Kean and incumbent Edward Thomson III defeated Stephen Dobbins and Matthew Filosa in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 30 on November 2, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sean Kean (R)	36.8	54,541
✔		Edward Thomson III (R)	35.5	52,678
		Stephen Dobbins (D)	14.0	20,800
		Matthew Filosa (D)	13.7	20,366

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 148,385
= 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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 30 (2 seats)

Matthew Filosa and Stephen Dobbins advanced from the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 30 on June 8, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matthew Filosa	50.2	4,074
✔		Stephen Dobbins	49.8	4,043

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,117
= 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 General Assembly District 30 (2 seats)

Incumbent Sean Kean and incumbent Edward Thomson III defeated Alter Eliezer Richter in the Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 30 on June 8, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sean Kean	46.6	9,555
✔		Edward Thomson III	45.2	9,270
	Submit photo	Alter Eliezer Richter	8.1	1,667

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 20,492
= 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.

Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Stephen Dobbins did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.

2021

Stephen Dobbins completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Dobbins' 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 the owner of a marketing company, Stormin’ Arts, based in Wall, NJ. I started my company out of my home in Howell a few years ago and my client base has continued to grow allowing me to bring on employees and move to my office location in Wall. As a small business owner I understand the impacts that legislation can have on our small business owners. During the pandemic, many of my clients were forced to adapt with very little notice and I believe that is a failure of our elected officials. Transparency and open communication with our community is critical. I can and will change that if elected.

It is very important to me that I give back to my community in every way I can and I have been fortunate enough to be appointed to the Environmental Commission in Howell and I have made numerous videos for community groups to promote the ways they help our community. I am a graduate of Howell High School, Brookdale Community College, and Rutgers University. I feel that I have received the best public education that New Jersey has to offer and that education has helped me succeed. I feel that based on that experience I have an understanding of how we as a state can improve our funding to have a greater impact on preparing our students for the future.

Saying all of that I recognize that our taxes are too high. We must find ways to streamline services to reduce the strain on our residents through bipartisan efforts. I am running to represent all of LD30 regardless of party.

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?

• Bringing jobs back to LD30.
• Reallocating education funding toward vocational training.
• Upgrading our crumbling infrastructure.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Small business and economic growth. Our economy, especially in LD30, is based on the success of our small business community and we need to develop policies that support their economic growth.

Education. Our current education funding is focused on pushing students into a college. Many students will not attend college and may be focused on a career that does not need a college degree. Those students are not receiving the education they need.

Environmental policy. We cannot ignore our need to move forward with protecting the environment. Millions of tourists enjoy our beaches in the summer and we must protect them. We should support renewable energy in this state so we can capitalize on our resources of the coastal wind and solar farms. Our energy is primarily brought in from other states and New Jersey is an energy consumer creating jobs out of state. If we shift to renewable sources we can move toward energy independence and job creation here.

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

Service. Elected officials must remember that they are elected to serve the people. It is an honor and privilege to be elected to serve a community and too many elected officials forget that.

What legacy would you like to leave?

Improving my community for all those that follow.

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

Our Constitution is based on the thinking of some very smart people. It is clear that the intention was and should still be that the three branches are independent from each other. The ideal situation is for the legislature to exercise that independence through legislation that is representive of the needs of the State. The Legislature and the Governor should work together as equals.

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

Our students are not prepared for the jobs of the future. We need to rethink our education system so that students can compete for jobs.

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?

Parents were talking to me about the introduction of iPads into the Howell Township Middle School this year after years of using Chromebooks. The parents and teachers were frustrated with the lack of communication before the decision and how the students were struggling. While iPads are very popular for social and entertainment purposes, very few people use iPads in a work setting, so I can understand the parents frustration. It seems that had the decision been communicated better, proper training could have occurred or the iPads could have been introduced to the lower grades if the goal is to move to Apple products in the future. The lack of communication and community input is troubling.

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

Yes. Partisan thinking hurts our community. Most people do not think in the Democrats versus Republicans in their daily lives. Our elected officials need to focus on their whole community and work with others to do what is right for all of the community, not just their party.

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

What's on the ballot? U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel Union Station

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Personal

Facebook

LinkedIn

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)