Jeff Van Drew

Jeff Van Drew (born February 23, 1953) is an American Democratic Party politician who has served in the New Jersey Senate since 2008, where he represents the 1st Legislative District. From 2002 to 2008, Van Drew represented the 1st District in the General Assembly.

Political career

On November 6, 2007, Van Drew won his bid for a seat in the New Jersey Senate, defeating Republican incumbent Nicholas Asselta. In November 2011, Van Drew defeated Republican challenger David S. DeWeese by a margin of 24,557-20,857. He was reelected in the 2013 elections defeating Upper Township Republican businesswoman Susan Adelizzi Schmidt by 20 points.

Van Drew serves in the Senate on the Community and Urban Affairs Committee (Chair) and the Budget Committee. In the Assembly, Van Drew was a prime sponsor of the Fair Market Drug Pricing Act to provide reduced prescription drugs to eligible low-income consumers.

He has also sponsored legislation to address New Jersey's nursing shortage. Among his other legislative achievements are prohibiting unwanted telemarketing calls, controlling prescription drug errors, enforcing the ban on self-service gasoline stations, protections against predatory lending and tougher penalties for those who use the Internet to prey on children.