Michael L. Testa Jr.’s family has deep roots in South Jersey and Cumberland County.
On his father’s side, his great-grandparents emigrated from Italy to secure a better future for their children and themselves.
His grandfather became the first elected Mayor of the City of Vineland and later became a Judge, despite not even speaking English until 1st grade. Michael’s father went on to start and build their family law firm.
On his mother’s side, his grandparents were Polish Jews who met in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II and were rescued by Allied soldiers. After the war, they came to the United States, where the Senator’s mom was born. They settled in Buena and ran a family chicken farm.
Sen. Testa is a graduate of Villanova University School of Law and received his Masters at Temple University Beasley School of Law. He and his wife Julie live in Vineland with their three children, Eva Marie, Sarah, and Tripp.
At age 26, Sen. Testa was named Board Chairman of the Vineland Downtown Improvement District/Main Street Vineland. He is a proud member of the Greater Vineland Chapter of the NAACP, and Past Chair of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cumberland and Salem counties.
As the incredibly proud father of two little girls, Sen. Testa has been the Board President of the Vineland Regional Dance company for several years, and was the 2016 recipient of the South Jersey Cultural Alliance Paul Aiken Encore Award for his dedication to the arts in South Jersey.
As a political candidate, Michael Testa promised to stand up for South Jersey and be a check-and-balance on Governor Phil Murphy’s radical agenda.
In 2019, Sen. Testa was elected to the New Jersey State Senate to represent the First Legislative District and is a member of the Senate Budget and Labor committees.
During the 2020 COVID Pandemic, Sen. Testa dedicated his time to assisting the families of the First Legislative District. With Assemblymen Erik Simonsen and Antwan McClellan, Testa helped nearly 4,000 residents receive the unemployment benefits they deserved.
The Senator strongly opposed Gov. Murphy’s State shutdown and introduced legislation, S-2482, which would limit executive orders issued by the Governor to 14 days unless the Legislature passes a concurrent resolution extending the duration.
As an attorney, Testa represented New Jersey small businesses to allow owners to re-open their stores. Testa fought against Murphy’s State shutdown as the Governor picked “winners and losers” by allowing big box stores to stay open and forcing small businesses, gun stores, and religious institutions to close.
In addition, Sen. Testa rose again to oppose Governor Murphy’s law, which allowed the State to borrow $9.9 billion to balance the state’s budget. Due to Testa’s lawsuit, the New Jersey Supreme Court required the State to borrow only the amount the state lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the State was only able to borrow $4.5 billion to balance the State Budget.
Sen. Testa has been a vocal advocate for Election Integrity. After Governor Phil Murphy issued an executive order that created a full Vote by Mail 2020 General Election, the Senator challenged the executive order in court as the order violated the United States and New Jersey State constitutions.
In addition, the Senator joined a legislative bill package which would:
- Require the attorney general to set up a voter fraud task force (S-3053);
- Suspend automatic voter registration at places like the state Motor Vehicle Commission until standards and procedures to maintain accuracy are established (S-3025);
- Require commissioners of registration to move voters with undeliverable addresses to the inactive rolls under a specific time frame (S-2936); and • Require the secretary of state’s website to provide a place to report vote-by-mail irregularities and set up a vote-by-mail study commission (S 3109).
During his first year as a State Senator, Michael Testa kept his promise and he was a proven leader that placed New Jersey’s residents first and provided a check-and-balance on Governor Phil Murphy and Trenton Democrats.