By Birgitta Wolfe
BORDENTOWN CITY Longtime legislator and city resident Joseph Malone has called it quits after nearly 20 years in the state Assembly and said he will not run for another term in November.
However, “I’m not evaporating from public life and I will not go into a senior village and eat soft food,” said the 61-year-old former mayor of Bordentown City, who will compete his current term in office.
Mr. Malone, a Republican, said being recently redistricted out of his old 30th Legislative District to the 7th District was not a factor in his decision. Among the towns in the old 30th District are Bordentown City and Township, Chesterfield, Fieldsboro, New Hanover and North Hanover in Burlington County; Robbinsville in Mercer County; and Allentown and Roosevelt in Monmoth County.
”I’ve been mulling this over since the last election.” He said it was one of the reasons he resigned from the Assembly Budget Committee in January.
”I need to know who Joe Malone is (when) out of public office,” he said Tuesday, noting he has held some form of public office since he was 23 years old, “my whole adult life.”
He explained he did not want to wait another election cycle to decide, having gone through 17 or 18 elections. He was unopposed in the June 7 primary election.
”It consumes you. I want to do it the way I want to do it … it’s a what I want to do when I grow up sort of thing,” he said. “I’m not retiring. I want to look at what to do the rest of my life. I’m turning the page on the next chapter of my life and it’s not written yet.”
One thing was certain, he said, and that was that he will remain active in Bordentown City where his family has been since the 1840s. He said he wants to remain active with the city’s Recreation Committee and Sewerage Authority.
Mr. Malone did not rule out running for something else in a couple years, maybe something on the county level.
”I’ll never say never,” he said, but excluded Washington and a run for governor.
In his official statement on his decision to step down, he said:
”After serving for nearly 20 years in the Assembly, I have decided that it is time to conclude my tenure in the Legislature. I am proud to have served my constituents and consider it an honor to make sure their voices were heard in Trenton.
”I especially want to acknowledge Alex DeCroce for the leadership he has demonstrated and I will always value his friendship. I will certainly miss working with the many friends I have made on both sides of the aisle and the spirited debates we’ve had on important public policy issues.
”While my time in the Legislature is concluding, I hope to stay involved in some other form of public service and will consider opportunities as they present themselves. I consider it to have been my distinct privilege and honor to have served in the New Jersey General Assembly.”
It will now be up to the Burlington County Republican Committee to pick a replacement to run on the 7th District ballot in November. That district would include Bordentown City and Township, along with Moorestown and Mount Laurel.

