Craig Coughlin

Craig J. Coughlin (born January 31, 1958) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has served in the New Jersey General Assembly since 2010, where he represents the 19th Legislative District. He has served as the Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly since 2018.

Craig Coughlin
171st Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly
Assumed office
January 9, 2018
Preceded byVincent Prieto
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly
from the 19th district
Assumed office
January 12, 2010
Serving with Yvonne Lopez
Preceded byJoseph Vas
Personal details
Born (1958-01-31) January 31, 1958
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Latita Coughlin
ChildrenThree
Alma materSt. John's University (BS, JD)
WebsiteLegislative Website

Early life

Coughlin received a B.S. degree from St. John's University and a J.D. degree from St. John's University School of Law. He served on the South Amboy Board of Education from 1983 to 1987. In 1987 he was elected to the South Amboy City Council, serving until 1993.[1][2] He worked as an attorney before serving as a municipal court judge for Edison Township in 2005.

Controversy

In 2016, shortly after attaining the position of Assembly Speaker, Coughlin formed the law firm Rainone Coughlin Minchello. Coughlin's firm includes four other attorneys who worked for Decotiis FitzPatrick & Cole LLP, providing legal services to municipal and county governments totaling $14 million in FY2016. As of 2017, Coughlin's firm secured contracts with dozens of local municipalities totaling over $1 million.[3]

Coughlin's law firm currently provides for-profit legal counsel to the Middlesex County Improvement Authority,[4] and has recently acquired a $150,000 public contract with North Brunswick to fulfill the position of Municipal Attorney.[5]

The Middlesex County Improvement Authority was awarded a $70 million contract by NJ Transit to manage the North Brunswick Train station project. In a statement made to Bloomburg, Coughlin denies any conflicts of interest or "involvement with respect to Middlesex County’s or the improvement authority’s discussions with the state concerning North Brunswick transit village and never had any intention of performing any work in connection with this project."[6]

New Jersey Assembly

He resigned from the court in 2009 to run for the General Assembly seat vacated by Joseph Vas, after the Democratic candidate, South Amboy Mayor John O'Leary, dropped out of the race. On September 8, 2009, a special convention of Middlesex County Democratic Committee members selected Coughlin to appear on the general election ballot along with running mate John Wisniewski.[7] Coughlin won the general election and was sworn into office on January 12, 2010.[8] On November 13, 2017 was selected by the Assembly Democratic Conference to be Speaker of the Assembly starting in January 2018 when the new legislative term begins.[9]

Committees
  • Legislative Services Commission

District 19

Each of the forty districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly. The other representatives from the 19th District for the 218th Legislature are:

New Jersey Assembly
New Jersey general election, 2017[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Craig Coughlin (Incumbent) 25,708 35.6 0.0
Democratic Yvonne Lopez 24,830 34.4 1.9
Republican Deepak Malhotra 10,709 14.8 0.0
Republican Amarjit K. Riar 9,436 13.1 0.2
Quality of Life William Cruz 1,488 2.1 N/A
Total votes '72,171' '100.0'
New Jersey general election, 2015[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic John Wisniewski (Incumbent) 16,159 36.3 2.6
Democratic Craig Coughlin (Incumbent) 15,880 35.6 4.7
Republican Thomas E. Maras 6,597 14.8 3.7
Republican Jesus Varela 5,916 13.3 3.5
Total votes '44,552' '100.0'
New Jersey general election, 2013[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic John Wisniewski (Incumbent) 24,404 33.7 0.3
Democratic Craig Coughlin (Incumbent) 22,393 30.9 1.7
Republican Stephanie Ziemba 13,406 18.5 1.7
Republican Arif Khan 12,151 16.8 0.2
Total votes '72,354' '100.0'
New Jersey general election, 2011[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John Wisniewski (Incumbent) 18,241 34.0
Democratic Craig Coughlin (Incumbent) 17,492 32.6
Republican Angel J. Leon 9,008 16.8
Republican Shane Robinson 8,915 16.6
Total votes 53,656 100.0
New Jersey general election, 2009[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic John Wisniewski (Incumbent) 24,329 28.7 4.6
Democratic Craig Coughlin 22,226 26.3 0.7
Republican Richard W. Piatkowski 17,555 20.7 0.5
Republican Peter Kothari 16,846 19.9 0.3
Total votes '84,633' '100.0'

References
  1. "Assemblyman Craig J. Coughlin (D)". New Jersey Legislature. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  2. "Assemblyman Craig J. Coughlin Bio Page". NJ Assembly Majority Office. Archived from the original on May 4, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  3. https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2017/10/06/coughlins-new-law-firm-does-brisk-business-with-local-governments-114914
  4. https://www.crainsnewyork.com/transportation/nj-transits-first-new-station-years-risks-adding-congestion
  5. https://northbrunswicknj.gov/images/council/council-docs/2020/Agenda_2020_1_1_Meeting.pdf
  6. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-26/nj-transit-s-first-new-station-in-years-risks-adding-congestion
  7. "Coughlin wins vote to run for Assembly". Woodbridge Sentinel. September 9, 2009. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
  8. "Wisniewski and Coughlin take their seats in state Assembly". Woodbridge Sentinel. January 20, 2010. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
  9. "Coughlin Rolls Out Leadership Team, Some Priorities". Observer. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  10. "2017-official-general-election-results-general-assembly.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 21, 2019. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
  11. "2015-official-ge-results-nj-general-assembly.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 30, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
  12. "2013-official-general-election-results-general-assembly.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 7, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
  13. "2011-official-gen-elect-gen-assembly-results-121411.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 14, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
  14. "2009-official-gen-elect-gen-assembly-tallies-120109.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 4, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
New Jersey General Assembly
Preceded by
Joseph Vas		 Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 19th District
January 12, 2010–Present
Served alongside: John Wisniewski, Yvonne Lopez		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Vincent Prieto		 Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly
January 9, 2018–Present		 Incumbent
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