Ralph R. Caputo | |
---|---|
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 28th district | |
In office January 8, 2008 –March 22, 2023 Servingwith Cleopatra Tucker | |
Preceded by | Craig A. Stanley Oadline Truitt |
Succeeded by | Jackie Yustein |
Essex County Freeholder from District 5 | |
In office January 1,2003 –December 31,2011 | |
Preceded by | Joseph P. Scarpelli |
Succeeded by | Brendan W. Gill |
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 11-C district | |
In office January 9,1968 –October 4,1971 Servingwith C. Richard Fiore | |
Preceded by | District created |
Succeeded by | Carl Orechio John N. Dennis |
Personal details | |
Born | October 31,1940 |
Nationality | American |
Political party | Democratic (by 1982) |
Other political affiliations | Republican (through 1971) |
Spouse | Celeste |
Children | two |
Residence(s) | Nutley,New Jersey (since 2011) Belleville,New Jersey (before 2011) |
Alma mater | Bloomfield College Newark State College Seton Hall University |
Occupation | Politician |
Website | Assemblyman Caputo's legislative webpage |
Ralph R. Caputo (born October 31,1940) is an American Democratic Party politician,who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2008 to 2023,where he represented the 28th Legislative District. He had previously served on the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 2003 to 2011 and as a Republican in the General Assembly from 1968 until 1972. [1]
In February 2023,Caputo announced that he would leave office once he was nominated and confirmed by the Senate to serve as a director of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. [2] He left office on March 22,2023,a day after his nomination to the position was confirmed by the New Jersey Senate. [3]
Born and raised in Newark,Caputo graduated in 1958 from Barringer High School. Caputo received a B.A. in 1963 from Bloomfield College with a major in history and education,and was awarded a M.A. in 1975 from Seton Hall University in Educational Administration. [1] [4] He also attended Newark State College (now Kean University) and received a graduate certification (Supervisor) in education. After college,he began his career as an elementary school teacher in Newark. [5] Between his stints in elected office,he was an urban education specialist for the State Department of Education,an advisor to the State Commissioner of Education,and a northern area chief for the Title 1 Office. He served as a superintendent for Essex County schools,an assistant superintendent of Essex County Vocational Technical Schools,and an associate superintendent for the Orange Board of Education. Beginning in 1983,he worked as a marketing executive for Atlantic City casinos Trump Castle Hotel and Casino,the Tropicana Casino &Resort Atlantic City,and the Showboat Atlantic City. [5]
A long-time resident of Belleville,he is now a resident of Nutley. He is married to Celeste and has two grown children. [6]
Caputo along with C. Richard Fiore were elected as Republicans to the State Assembly in 1967,defeating Eugene Molinaro and Warren Davis in the Republican primary and Democratic incumbents Armand Lembo and Joseph Biancardi. [7] At the time of his election at age 27,he was the youngest person ever elected to the State Legislature. [6] They represented Essex County's District 11-C,a new district created in 1967 following the elimination of countywide at-large Assembly districts. Caputo and Fiore were re-elected in 1969 against Democrats Carmen Orechio and Joseph Iannuzzi. [8] During his first two terms in the Assembly,Caputo advocated for the construction of a casino in Newark. [9] Caputo lost the backing of the Essex County Republican organization when he ran for a third term in 1971,and lost the GOP primary to Carl Orechio and John N. Dennis. [10] He resigned his seat before his term ended effective October 4,1971. [11]
By 1982,Caputo had become a Democrat. That year,he ran in the Democratic primary for Essex County Executive but was defeated by incumbent Peter Shapiro and East Orange mayor Thomas H. Cooke Jr. [12] In 2002,Caputo mounted a political comeback by running for a seat on the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders from District 5 consisting of Belleville,Bloomfield,Glen Ridge,Montclair,and Nutley. [13] Running as a Democrat,he defeated incumbent Republican Freeholder Joseph P. Scarpelli. [14] During his tenure on the Freeholder board,he reached the position of Vice President of the board. [1] [15] He would be re-elected to two-more three-year terms until he retired from the board in 2011 citing the difficulties of holding two elected offices serving almost two different constituencies. [16]
In December 2005,following the death of 28th District Assemblyman Donald Kofi Tucker,Caputo sought the nomination of being appointed to the vacant seat by the local county Democratic committee. He lost the convention vote 73%-27% to Evelyn Williams. [17] In 2007,Caputo along with Tucker's widow Cleopatra ran in the Democratic primary for the same Assembly seat. With the backing of Newark Mayor Cory Booker,Caputo and Tucker defeated incumbents Craig A. Stanley and Oadline Truitt in the primary. [18] [19] In the run-up to the general election,opponents used old articles from the 1960s and 70s to tie Caputo to controversial Newark activist Anthony Imperiale. Caputo stated that he never supported Imperiale's positions. [20] Upon Caputo's win in the general election,he returned to the Assembly after a 36-year gap,the second-longest gap in the state's history.
From 2008 to 2011,Caputo simultaneously held his seat in the New Jersey General Assembly and as Freeholder. Such dual-office holding,unique to New Jersey,was allowed under a grandfather clause in the state law enacted by the New Jersey Legislature and signed into law by Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine in September 2007 that prohibited future dual-office-holding but allowed for those who had held both positions as of February 1,2008,to remain. [21]
He would be easily re-elected to a fourth two-year term in 2009 but would face an unusual difficulty in 2011. After Belleville was removed from the 28th District in the 2011 legislative redistricting,Caputo moved to Nutley,New Jersey in order to seek reelection in the 28th District. [22] The move led then-incumbent 36th District Assemblyman Kevin J. Ryan to retire from the Assembly as he too was a resident of Nutley. [23]
Caputo draws both a pension for his career in education and another for his many years in the state legislature. At the same time,he also draws a salary as a sitting legislator. This is a legal practice in New Jersey often referred to as "double dipping." [24]
Caputo resigned from office on March 22,2023,after he was confirmed by the Senate to serve on the board of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. Jackie Yustein of Glen Ridge was selected by Democrats to fill the balance of Caputo's term of office and was sworn in on May 25,2023. [25] [26]
Belleville is a township in Essex County,in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census,the township's population was 38,222. an increase of 2,296 (+6.4%) from the 2010 census count of 35,926,
Nutley is a township in Essex County,in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census,the township's population was 30,143,an increase of 1,773 (+6.2%) from the 2010 census count of 28,370,which in turn reflected an increase of 1,008 (+3.7%) from the 27,362 counted in the 2000 census.
Ronald L. Rice was an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1986 to 2022. He represented the 28th Legislative District. Rice is one of the longest-serving state senators in New Jersey history.
Frederick Scalera is an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2003 to 2011,representing the 36th Legislative District. Scalera resides in Nutley,New Jersey and has served as a member of the Board of Education of the Nutley Public Schools.
Craig A. Stanley is an American Democratic Party politician,who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1996 to 2008,where represented the 28th Legislative District. He was succeeded by Ralph R. Caputo and Cleopatra Tucker.
Thomas P. Giblin is an American Democratic Party politician,who serves in the New Jersey General Assembly where he represents the 34th legislative district,having taken office on January 10,2006. He has been the Assembly's Deputy Majority Leader since 2008.
Oadline Truitt is an American Democratic Party politician,who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2006 to 2008,where she represented the 28th legislative district.
Cleopatra Gibson Tucker is an American Democratic Party politician,who has represented the 28th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly since 2008.
Alberto Coutinho is a former American Democratic Party politician,who represented the 29th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly from May 1997 to January 1998 and again from January 8,2008,until his resignation on September 11,2013. He was eventually sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to theft and falsifying records,thus ending his career in New Jersey politics.
Carmen Anthony Orechio was an American politician who served as President of the New Jersey Senate and as Commissioner and Mayor of Nutley,New Jersey.
Kevin J. Ryan was a U.S. Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly representing the 36th legislative district. Ryan was sworn in on January 6,2011,to fill the remainder of the term of Frederick Scalera,who retired from the Assembly to accept a job in the private sector. He did not run in the 2011 election after redistricting moved his hometown of Nutley into the 28th District.
New Jersey's 28th legislative district is one of 40 in the New Jersey Legislature. The district includes the Essex County municipalities of Maplewood,Irvington and South Orange,along with portions of Newark;and the Union County municipality of Hillside.
Carmine Robert Sarcone was an American Republican Party politician. He served in both houses of the New Jersey State Legislature,and sought the Republican nomination for Governor of New Jersey in 1977.
Michael A. Giuliano was an American Republican Party politician who served two terms in the New Jersey Senate.
The County Executive of Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey,is the chief officer of the county's executive branch and oversees the administration of county government. Approved in a 1977 referendum,the office was inaugurated in 1978 at the same time the Board of Chosen Freeholders,which plays a legislative role,was reconfigured to include a mix of at-large and district seats. The executive offices are located at the Essex County Government Complex in the county seat,Newark. When the first executive was elected in 1978,The New York Times described that the position was "considered by many to be second in power only to that of the Governor."
Britnee N. Timberlake is an American Democratic Party elected official,community advocate,nonprofit executive,and humanitarian. She has represented the 34th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate since January 2024,when she became New Jersey's youngest state senator. Before she took office in the senate,Timberlake had represented the 34th District in the New Jersey General Assembly from January 29,2018,when she was sworn in to replace Sheila Oliver,who took office as Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey. Timberlake had served as Freeholder President of the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders,where she was at the time the state's only African-American woman to serve as a freeholder board leader.
Renee Burgess is a Democratic Party politician who was selected in September 2022 to fill the seat in the New Jersey Senate representing New Jersey's 28th legislative district that had been held by Ronald Rice until he left office due to health issues after serving 35 years in office.
Jacqueline S. Yustein is a Democratic Party politician who was designated to represent the 28th legislative district in the New Jersey General Assembly,succeeding Ralph R. Caputo,who left office the previous month. She was sworn into office on May 25,2023.
Carmen Theresa Morales is an American Democratic Party politician serving as a member of the New Jersey General Assembly for the 34th legislative district,having taken office on January 9,2024.
Michael Venezia is an American Democratic Party politician serving as a member of the New Jersey General Assembly for the 34th legislative district,having taken office on January 9,2024.
Two years before the Dumont Commission's report, Republican Assemblyman Ralph Caputo of Essex County sponsored a proposal for casinos in both Atlantic City and Newark, which was struggling to recover from the 1967 riots.
In Essex County, the 30-year-old County Executive, Peter Shapiro, won renomination in a race with Mayor Thomas H. Cooke Jr. of East Orange and Ralph R. Caputo, a former Assemblyman.
Democratic district freeholder candidates include ... Ralph Caputo, a former two-term state assemblyman, who is expected to make a strong challenge to unseat Scarpelli in District 5.