Tim Eustace

Timothy James Eustace, commonly known as Tim Eustace (born December 27, 1956) is an American chiropractor and Democratic Party politician from Maywood, New Jersey who served in the New Jersey General Assembly, representing the 38th Legislative District from 2012 to 2018.[1]

Tim Eustace
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly
from the 38th district
In office
January 10, 2012 – April 13, 2018
Preceded byJoan Voss
Succeeded byLisa Swain
Chris Tully
Mayor of Maywood, New Jersey
In office
January 1, 2008 – December 31, 2011
Preceded byLorraine LaPietra
Succeeded byGregg A. Padovano
Personal details
Born
Timothy James Eustace

(1956-12-27) December 27, 1956
Passaic, New Jersey
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Kevin J. Williams
​
​
(m. 2013; died 2015)​
Childrentwo
ResidenceMaywood, New Jersey
Alma materRamapo College (B.S.)
WebsiteLegislative homepage

Early life

Born in Passaic, New Jersey, Eustace attended Blair Academy in Blairstown, New Jersey, graduating in 1974; he later recalled the challenges of taking public transportation from Blair Academy back to Bergen County.[2] In 1978, he earned a bachelor of science degree in psychology from Ramapo College in Mahwah, New Jersey. Attending Pennsylvania College of Chiropractic, Eustace earned a doctorate in 1985 and became a licensed chiropractor. He has also served as president of Maywood's chamber of commerce and the local Rotary Club. Eustace is openly gay; he was together with his partner and later husband Kevin Williams, director of the Maywood Rotary Kenya Project, for 34 years and they raised two children together before Williams' death in June 2015.[3][4]

Eustace and his husband were among the first gay couples to adopt children in New Jersey.[5]

Political career

A Democrat, he served four years as mayor of Maywood (2008–2012), three years as borough council president (2005–2008) and a decade on the borough council (1995–1997 and 2001–2008).

His election in 2011, following the redrawing of the legislative map, made him the first openly gay person elected to the New Jersey Legislature as a non-incumbent. He joined Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, who came out while in office and has subsequently won re-election, in the legislature. Eustace's assembly campaign won the support of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.[6]

Eustace sought re-election in 2013 and the district was a top target for both parties, which together spent $5.8 million on the campaign for the district's three seats, one of the highest spending amounts of any legislative race in state history. Eustace was narrowly re-elected after a recount confirmed that he had beaten Republican Joseph Scarpa by 35 votes in a contest that drew approximately 52,000 voters.[7]

In the Assembly, Eustace serves on the Regulatory Oversight Committee (as Vice-Chair), the Health and Senior Services Committee, and the State and Local Government Committee.[8]

Eustace has emerged as a vocal defender of the environment and public drinking water; in 2017 he received a 114% score from Clean Water Action's environmental scorecard, the highest in the state.[9] In December 2017, he announced that he would introduce a bill to make clean water an inalienable right in the state for all citizens.[10]

District 38

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 38th District for the 2016-2017 Legislative Session are:[11]

References
  1. Susan Joy Clark (November 16, 2011). "Eustace is ready to take on challenge of assembly seat". Herald News.
  2. Scruton, Bruce A. "Lawmaker hears environmental concerns at Sierra Club forum" Archived 2018-10-31 at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Herald, March 22, 2017. Accessed December 11, 2017. "Timothy Eustace isn't a long-tenured, name-recognized veteran of the state Assembly, but he does chair that body's Environmental and Solid Waste Committee.... Asked about public transportation, or the lack of it in Sussex County, he said he remembers when he was a student at Blair Academy in Blairstown and needed to go home to Bergen County."
  3. "Tim Eustace for Assembly - D38". Democratic Committee of Bergen County. Archived from the original on 2012-04-25.
  4. Bonamo, Mark. "R.I.P. Kevin J. Williams, husband of Assemblyman Eustace". Politicker NJ. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  5. Gracey, Lorraine. "Gay Couple's Move to Adopt Children With AIDS Stirs Debate", The New York Times, October 15, 1989. Accessed August 13, 2015.
  6. Dison, Denis. "N.J. adds an openly gay state legislator" Archived 2015-09-29 at the Wayback Machine, Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, November 8, 2011. Accessed August 17, 2015. "Mayor Tim Eustace of Maywood, N.J., has been elected to the New Jersey Assembly tonight, becoming the first openly gay non-incumbent to win a seat in the legislature."
  7. Ensslin, John C.; and Alvarado, Monsy. "Recounts: Eustace re-elected to NJ Assembly, results stand in Englewood Cliffs and Ridgefield", The Record, December 13, 2013. Accessed August 17, 2015. "Final recount results Thursday from a tight race in Legislative District 38 confirmed that Assemblyman Tim Eustace, D-Maywood, has won election to a second term.... The District 38 battle was one of the most competitive and most expensive in the state’s history with a total of $5.8 million being spent by both sides."
  8. "Assemblyman Tim Eustace (D)". New Jersey Legislature. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  9. "Pinkin Named "Environmental Hero" by Clean Water Action".
  10. Johnson, Tom. "Will New Jersey Make a Healthy Environment an Inalienable Right?", NJ Spotlight, December 1, 2017. Accessed December 22, 2017. "Assemblyman Tim Eustace (D-Bergen), the chairman of the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee, yesterday said he plans to introduce a bill that, if passed, would provide the people with a constitutional right to a healthy environment."
  11. District 38 Archived 2021-11-15 at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed August 10, 2015.
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