Hirkala was born in Passaic and dropped out of high school to join the United States Navy. He became a clerk for Passaic's tax collector in 1948, and held a multitude of local offices before retiring as city clerk in 1986. He served as chair of the Passaic County Democratic Party from 1972 to 1973.
Hirkala was elected to the state legislature in 1967, and served until his death. He served as assistant minority and majority leader, whip, majority leader, and president pro tempore during his tenure.
Early life and education
Joseph Hirkala was born in Passaic, New Jersey,[1] on November 16, 1923, to Julia and Andrew Hirkala.[2][3] His family were Slovak Americans.[4] He married Josephine Chorazy, with whom he had two children, on February 9, 1952.[5][6]
Hirkala was elected as a Republican Passaic county committeeman from the 4th ward in 1948.[3] He ran for commissioner in 1963 with Leonard Simon as his campaign manager,[9] and placed seventh.[10]
Hirkala was appointed as a clerk in the Passaic tax collector's office on April 26, 1948, and assistant city clerk on November 17, 1951.[11][6] He became assistant city clerk of Clifton, New Jersey, on May 2, 1960, but resigned on June 24, and returned to his post as assistant city clerk of Passaic citing his "sentimental attachment" to Passaic.[12] He was appointed as acting registrar of vital statistics on March 2, 1965.[13] He became acting city manager on March 3, 1971, after Paul McCauley was removed by a city council vote of 5 to 2[14] and served for one day before Albert R. Galik was appointed.[15][16]
Anthony Martini, who served as city clerk of Passaic for 28 years, left office on January 1, 1977, and was replaced by Hirkala.[17][18] He stated in 1984 that he would retire as clerk within the next two years and was succeeded by assistant clerk Sabatina Fiorellino on January 1, 1986.[19][20]
Anthony J. Grossi, chair of the Passaic County Democratic Party since 1959, retired on June 7, 1972, and Hirkala was selected by acclamation to succeed him on June 13.[29][30] He supported removing Thomas Eagleton from the Democratic ticket during the 1972 presidential election due to allegations that Eagleton had been arrested for drunk driving in the past.[31] Hirkala declined to seek reelection as chair in 1973, and Grossi was elected to succeed him on June 12.[32][33]
Legislature
Elections
In 1967, Hirkala ran for a seat in the New Jersey General Assembly from district 14A as the Democratic nominee.[34][35] Simon was his campaign manager.[36] He defeated Republican nominee Mervyn Montgomery.[37] For the 1969 election he was redistricted into the two-member district 14B and was elected alongside Republican nominee Joseph F. Scancarella.[38][39]
Hirkala ran for one of three seats in the New Jersey Senate from the 14th district in the 1971 election.[40] Hirkala, William J. Bate, and Joseph A. Lazzara were the Democratic nominees and all three Democratic nominees won in the general election.[41] He was redistricted into the single-member 34th district and defeated Republican nominee Louise Friedman in the 1973 election.[42][43] He defeated Republican nominee Herman Schmidt in the 1977 election.[44][45] He was redistricted into the 36th district for the 1981 election and defeated Republican nominee Philip Gervato.[46][47] He defeated Republican nominee Joseph Job in the 1983 election[48][49] after he spent $129,176 (equivalent to $432,919 in 2023) compared to Job's $102,086 (equivalent to $342,130 in 2023).[50]
Tenure
During Hirkala's tenure in the general assembly he served on the Labor committee.[51] During his tenure in the state senate he served on the State Government and Federal and Interstate Relations committee,[52] was vice-chair of the Energy and Environment committee,[53] and chaired the Institutions, Health and Welfare committee.[54]
Hirkala was selected as assistant minority leader in 1972 after being nominated by Bate[55] and majority whip in 1973.[56] The Democrats selected three assistant majority leaders in 1975, which Hirkala was selected to serve as alongside Joseph A. Maressa and Joseph McGahn.[57] Majority leader Steven P. Perskie resigned on June 17, 1982, as he was being appointed as a superior court judge and Hirkala was selected to replace him.[58] In 1983, he was selected to replace Matthew Feldman as president pro tempore.[59]
In 1975, Senator John J. Fay Jr. accused Hirkala of improper conduct by delaying a bill that would create a legislative commission to study allegations in the nursing home industry. He stated that two of Hirkala's unpaid advisers were nursing home operators. Hirkala requested an investigation into himself and Matthew Boylan, the director of criminal justice, determined that no improper conduct was discovered.[60]
Hirkala underwent a surgery that removed his kidney in 1978.[61] In 1985, he announced that he would not seek reelection in 1987 due to poor health.[62] He was hospitalized on July 14, 1986, for phlebitis treatment.[63] He announced that he would seek reelection on November 23,[64] but died of a heart attack on January 1, 1987.[65] He was the third state senator, after John P. Caufield and Walter E. Foran, to die in office within the previous year.[66]Gabriel M. Ambrosio won the special election to fill the vacancy created by Hirkala's death.[67]
Hirkala supported an amendment to the state constitution to prohibit an income tax.[75][76] He called for Treasurer Richard Leone to resign on June 25, 1975, stating that he was responsible for New Jersey's poor financial status and supporting an income tax.[77] He voted against raising the sales tax by 1% in 1982.[78] In 1983, he voted in favor of raising the income tax on those earning more than $50,000 a year by 1%.[79] In 1982, he authored legislation that regulated ticket resale, with public facilities requiring licensed ticket sellers.[80]
