Timothy J. Carroll, who earned a reputation as one of the best political reporters in the state prior to going to the communications side of the game, is leaving the office of U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-9) for a positon in the Murphy Administration.

He will serve as communications director at the State Department.

A native of North Philadelphia and proud pater familias, Carroll cut his teeth as a hard-nosed local reporter covering the 2009 Hoboken Mayor’s race. In 2010, he took the street smarts he developed there into a statewide politics beat at PolitickerNJ, focusing on Hudson and Bergen. He fast developed a reputation as a fearless reporter, with a sparkling prose style. From there, he went to Trenton as a policy chops savvy chief reporter for State Street Wire.

Following a stint with former Governor Dick Codey, Carroll worked for Pascrell as the veteran congressman’s communications director, taking over for Tom Pietrykoski in the Paterson office when the latter went to work for newly elected U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) post 2013.