Kevin D. Walsh

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Kevin D. Walsh is an American attorney. He is the acting New Jersey State Comptroller.

Contents

Early life and education

Walsh grew up in Pennsauken Township, New Jersey, and graduated from Camden Catholic High School. [1] His parents were Irish immigrants who ran a landscaping business. [2] He has a Bachelor of Arts from the Catholic University of America and a Juris Doctor from the Rutgers School of Law–Camden. [3]

Career

After graduating from law school, Walsh was a leader in the movement to abolish New Jersey's death penalty, which was abolished in 2007. He then started working for the Fair Share Housing Center. [2]

In 2020, Walsh was nominated by New Jersey governor Phil Murphy to be comptroller. He used the office to pursue cases of waste, fraud, and abuse in approximately 2,000 government-related entities. [2] [4]

In December 2025, Democratic lawmakers advanced a bill that would take away powers of the Office of the State Comptroller, removing its power to subpoena and make it rely on the State Commission of Investigation. The bills lead proponent was Nicholas Scutari, the Democratic Senate president. [5] After an uproar over the bill, it was abandoned less than two weeks later, which Walsh credited to the support of those who "showed up to fight for government oversight, transparency and accountability!". [6]

References

  1. "Milestones", Courier-Post , July 8, 1983. Accessed December 13, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "Kevin Walsh of Pennsauken, has been elected to the Undergraduate Student Government's executive board at The Catholic University of America.... He is the son of Margaret Walsh, a graduate of Camden Catholic High School and a member of St. Peter's parish."
  2. 1 2 3 "'He's taken on everybody in New Jersey' — and angered the political class". POLITICO. October 12, 2024.
  3. "Gov. Murphy Nominates Kevin D. Walsh as New Jersey State Comptroller".
  4. DiFilippo, Dana (August 7, 2023). "A state watchdog forges ahead, in an era of endangered oversight • New Jersey Monitor".
  5. "Democrats in New Jersey Ram Through Bill to Defang a Corruption Watchdog". The New York Times. December 2, 2025.
  6. "Democrats Abandon Effort to Defang a Corruption Watchdog in New Jersey". The New York Times. December 10, 2025.