Patrick J. Roma

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Patrick J. Roma
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly
from the 38th district
In office
January 12, 1988 – January 10, 1997
Serving with Pat Schuber and Rose Marie Heck
Preceded byLouis F. Kosco
Succeeded byGuy Talarico
Personal details
Born(1949-07-20)July 20, 1949
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedNovember 26, 2017(2017-11-26) (aged 68)
Naples, Florida, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Alma materSeton Hall University
Samford University
New York University School of Law
OccupationLawyer

Patrick Joseph Roma (July 20, 1949 – November 26, 2017) was an American lawyer and Republican Party politician who represented the 38th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1988 to 1997, leaving office to serve as a judge in New Jersey Superior Court until his retirement from the bench in 2014.

Born in New York City and raised in Cliffside Park, New Jersey Roma graduated from Cliffside Park High School. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Seton Hall University, he graduated from Samford University with a degree in law and earned a second law degree from New York University School of Law.[1]

Political career[]

A practicing attorney, Roma was elected to serve on the Borough Council in Palisades Park, New Jersey, serving as council president.[2]

First elected to the Assembly in 1987 with fellow Republican Pat Schuber, Roma and Schuber were re-elected in 1989 before Schuber resigned to take office as the Bergen County Executive and was replaced by Rose Marie Heck. Roma and Heck were re-elected in 1991, 1993 and 1995. Guy Talarico was chosen by Republican county committee members in February 1997 to fill the vacancy created when Roma stepped down from office on January 10, 1997, to take a seat as a judge on the New Jersey Superior Court.[3][4] He was granted tenure as a judge in 2003 and served until 2014 when he retired.[2]

When a New Jersey law banning assault weapons went into effect in June 1991, Roma was the first person in Bergen County to have turned in a weapon as inoperable.[5]

In 1992, Roma ran against five-term Democratic incumbent Robert Torricelli in New Jersey's 9th congressional district, criticizing his opponent as "the poster child for Congressional abuse" which included bouncing 27 checks drawn on the House Bank for more than $11,000 in just over three years and sending $250,000 in mailings at taxpayer expense using his franking privileges.[6]

Death[]

A resident of Naples, Florida, Roma died of a stroke on November 26, 2017.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, Volume 206, p. 271. J.A. Fitzgerald., 1994. Accessed June 27, 2018. "Assemblyman Roma was born in New York City July 20, 1949. He attended Cliffside Park High School and Seton Hall University. He received his law degree at Samford University, Birmingham, Ala., and a post-graduate law degree at NYU."
  2. ^ a b c Levine, Cecilia. "Ex-Bergen Superior Court Judge, NJ Assemblyman Patrick Roma Dies Of Stroke", Hackensack Daily Voice, November 30, 2017. Accessed June 27, 2018. "Retired Bergen County Superior Court judge and former New Jersey State Assemblyman Patrick James Roma died on Nov. 26 following a massive stroke.... Born in New York City, Roma was raised in Cliffside Park, and lived in Palisades Park and Hillsdale. He died in Naples, Fla."
  3. ^ Morley, Hugh R. "3 Vie For GOP Nod To Fill Roma Assembly Seat", The Record (Bergen County), January 31, 1997. Accessed June 13, 2010.
  4. ^ Fitzgerald, Thomas J. "GOP Taps Talarico For Assembly -- Oradell Lawyer Replaces Roma", The Record (Bergen County), February 2, 1997. Accessed June 13, 2010.
  5. ^ King, Wayne. "Few New Jerseyans Act on Gun Law", The New York Times, June 1, 1991. Accessed June 27, 2018. "The first day of the state law banning the possession of 'assault' firearms brought confusion and scant compliance from gun owners.... Assemblyman Patrick J. Roma, Republican of Paramus, turned in the firing mechanism of a .22-caliber rifle in Bergen County. By noon he was the only person to have done so."
  6. ^ King, Wayne. "In Redrawn District, Tone Is Bitter in Congress Race", The New York Times, October 8, 1992. Accessed June 27, 2018. "Patrick J. Roma, a Republican candidate for Congress, held a news conference at his headquarters here on Monday and did what he has done almost every day for the last four months: assail his opponent, Representative Robert G. Torricelli, as the epitome of the 'bloated, out-of-control, out-of-touch Congress.'... Assemblyman Roma, a former Palisades Park Borough Council president who is in his third term in the Legislature, is running as much against the Congress as an institution as against Mr. Torricelli, whom he calls "'the poster child for Congressional abuse.' Mr. Roma and his campaign staff routinely pass out checks made of rubber that are drawn on the 'Bouncy Savings & Loan' to focus attention on Mr. Torricelli's record with the House Bank -- 27 overdrafts totaling $11,608 over 39 months."
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