Bob Schroeder

Robert “Bob” Schroeder is an American Republican Party politician who was elected to serve in the New Jersey General Assembly in 2009. Schroeder, who has spent nearly two decades serving as a Washington Township Councilman, will replace retiring incumbent Assemblyman John E. Rooney, when he is sworn-in on January 12, 2010. He will represent the 39th legislative district.

Schroeder was born and raised in Bergen County, New Jersey. He graduated from Westwood Regional High School in Washington Township in 1978; in 1982, he graduated from Farleigh Dickinson University. Schroeder founded a company called All Points International Distributors, which supports international relief efforts by the United States government, the United Nations, and NATO.

Since 1991, Schroeder has held public office as a Washington Township Councilman. He has served as Council President twice and as Council Vice President three times. He has served as a volunteer firefighter in Washington Township since 1980, and he is currently a trustee of the Leo P. McGuire Public Safety and Education Foundation.

A millionaire businessman, Schroeder spent $2.1 million on a largely self-financed campaign for Governor of New Jersey in 2005. He won the organization line in Ocean County and the endorsement of the Northeastern Republican Organization. However, he finished fifth in a field of seven candidates in the Republican primary, receiving only 5.5% of the vote, well behind victor Doug Forrester who won the race with 36% of the vote.

In 2009, Republican Assemblyman John E. Rooney decided not to run for a fifteenth term. Schroeder and former River Edge Councilman John Felice both sought the endorsement of the Northeastern Republican Organization, which would determine who won the party line in the primary. The NERO overwhelmingly supported Schroeder over Felice, thus giving him the party line in the primary, along with incumbent Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk. Felice did not run in the primary, thus securing the nomination for Schroeder.