Michael Patrick Carroll (born April 8, 1958) is an American Republican Party politician from New Jersey.  He represented the 25th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1996 to 2020. Carroll did not run for re-election in 2019; instead, he mounted an unsuccessful bid for Morris County Surrogate.

Early life 
Carroll was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on April 8, 1958, the son of Maurice C. and Margaret W. Carroll. Carroll moved with his family to Morris Township, New Jersey in 1960. Carroll graduated from Delbarton School in 1976, earned a B.A. in Social and Behavioral Sciences from Johns Hopkins University in 1980, and received a J.D. from Rutgers School of Law–Newark in 1983.

Carroll founded the Morris County Young Republicans, chairing the group for four years.  He was first elected to the Morris County Republican Committee for Morris Township in 1980.  In 1984, after moving to Morristown, he was elected to the Republican County Committee there, serving as chairman for one term.  Returning to Morris Township, he was once again elected to the Republican County Committee.

New Jersey Assembly 
Carroll first ran for the Assembly in 1993; he lost that election by fewer than 422 votes to incumbent Assemblyman Arthur R. Albohn (then-Assemblyman Rodney Frelinghuysen received the most votes in the primary). In 1995, Carroll and Anthony Bucco, who was appointed to the Assembly after Frelinghuysen's election to Congress, prevailed in a Republican primary against Rick Merkt, Chris Christie, and two others in the 25th Legislative District; Carroll and Bucco went on to victory in the fall. 

Carroll proposed a bill to mandate the reading, in school each morning, of a section of the Declaration of Independence. The April 2003 issue of New Jersey Monthly magazine cited Carroll as the "Most Conservative" member of the New Jersey Legislature. The magazine cited Carroll's "...missionary zeal and his talent for articulating his stances on behalf of individual and property rights, the sanctity of family—including unborn children—and the cult of Reaganism..." in elaborating on their choice. 

Carroll "has long been known in state political circles as one of the most socially conservative, and outspoken, members of the legislature". In 2008, "a comment that Carroll made about slavery" made "national headlines. At the time, the New Jersey legislature was weighing whether the state should issue an official apology for slavery. Carroll opposed the measure, and said that African-Americans should actually be grateful for slavery, because it was the means by which they eventually gained American citizenship".

In November 2010, the "Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights" passed both houses of the state legislature. Carroll was the only legislator to vote "no"; he objected "to the fact that it explicitly mentions categories of students subject to bullying".

Morris County Surrogate 
Carroll did not run for re-election to the Assembly in 2019, choosing instead to run for Morris County Surrogate. He was defeated in the Republican primary for Surrogate by Morris County Freeholder Heather Darling.

Committees 
Higher Education
Judiciary
State and Local Government
Joint Committee on Housing and Affordability

Personal life 
In 1983, Carroll married Sharon, née Anderson, whom he met when the two of them worked together at McDonald's. The couple has six children: Sean Michael, James Patrick, Brian Christopher, Jane Eleanor, Benjamin Franklin, and Robert Edward Lee.

Electoral history

New Jersey Assembly

References

External links 
Assemblyman Carroll's legislative web page, New Jersey Legislature
New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms
2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
Assemblyman Carroll's Campaign Website
Assembly Member Michael Patrick Carroll, Project Vote Smart
New Jersey Voter Information Website 2003
Rep. Scott Garrett Biography
The Federalist Society
The NJ Mountain Men
Morris County Republican Committee

1958 births
Living people
Delbarton School alumni
Johns Hopkins University alumni
Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly
New Jersey lawyers
Politicians from Fayetteville, North Carolina
Politicians from Morris County, New Jersey
People from Morris Township, New Jersey
Rutgers School of Law–Newark alumni
21st-century American politicians