Ralph Caputo

When Eldridge Hawkins, a 31-year-old African American lawyer from East Orange, won the District 11E State Assembly seat in a politically competitive district in 1971, he was widely viewed as a rising star in Essex County Democratic politics.  Hawkins is no seeking a political comeback of sorts: his son, Eldridge Hawkins, Jr., 28, announced this week that he was a candidate for Mayor of Orange.

Legislative redistricting was in constant turmoil in those days, as New Jersey sought to follow the U.S. Supreme Court's one man, one vote decision.  Districts were redrawn in 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1973.

The story of District 11E starts in 1967, when Kenneth Wilson, a 31-year-old Social Studies teacher from West Orange and John Dennis, 34, a businessman from Verona whose family owned the Annin Flag Company, were among a group of seven young Republicans elected to the State Assembly.  (That group included future Governor Thomas Kean, 32, and Ralph Caputo, 27, who returns to the State Assembly tomorrow after a 35 year absence.)

Assemblyman- elect Ralph Caputo last served in the Legislature from 1968 to 1972.Newark and the political arena were a lot different when 27-year-old Ralph Caputo was first elected to the State Assembly in 1967.

The city had just seen its infamous race riots the summer before the election, and Caputo, a Republican from the then Italian-American North Ward, was elected to serve in district 11-C -- made up predominantly of working class whites.

Now, at age 66, Caputo will again be an Assemblyman – this time as a Democrat – returning to Trenton after a 36 year hiatus.

Senate President Richard Codey is seeking an African American woman to replace Mims Hackett in the State Assembly-- a move that could eliminate Black men from the Essex County Assembly delegation, and make State Senator Ronald Rice the only African American man in the Essex delegation.

Assemblyman Craig Stanley will appear in Superior Court on September 11th to contest the results of the June Democratic primary in the 28th district. He lost to Cleopatra Tucker, the widow of the late Assemblyman/Newark City Councilman Donald Tucker, by 127 votes.

"We have identified numerous anamolies," Stanley said.

Assemblyman Craig Stanley will drop his Independent bid for State Senator in the 28th district, leaving incumbent Ronald Rice a clear path to an eight term in the New Jersey State Senate.  Stanley, who lost his bid for renomination to the Assembly in the June Democratic primary, had filed as an independent Senate candidate -- most likely in the event that Rice had lost his own race to challenger Essex County Freeholder Bilal Beasley. 

Expect a recount in the 28th district Democratic primary, where Assembly Education Committee Chairman Craig Stanley trails Cleopatra Tucker by 110 votes, with just one of the 143 voting districts not in the tally.  Stanley, the nephew of Congresman Donald Payne and Assemblyman William Payne, was a casualty of the Essex County Democratic Civil War between the Payne's and Newark Mayor Cory Booker.

Gerardo Catena of South Orange was the reputed head of the Genovese crime family from 1957 to 1972. He died in Florida in 2000 at age 98.One of the classic stories of the New Jersey Legislature in 1968 were allegations that a Newark Assemblyman wanted to cancel a hearing on organized crime under pressure from a "lobbyist" representing Geraldo (Jerry) Catena, one of the state's most powerful mob bosses.

Senate Law and Public Safety Committee Chairman Joseph Woodcock held a news conference in December 1968 to say that his aide was told by Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee Chairman Richard Fiore that he was being pressured by Catena to stop legislative proposals to create the State Commission of Investigation, and to legalize wiretapping, and to permit certain witnesses to receive immunity from prosecution.Claire Curran Johnson, a former New York Mirror crime reporter who worked for Woodcock, told investigators for the state Attorney General's office that Fiore, a 36-year-old substitute teacher and Recreation Director for the Newark Board of Education, claimed he wanted to head the Assembly panel "to stop these kind of things."

"There is a lot of pressure. You just don't know how much pressure. Jerry is unhappy about it," Curran quoted Fiore as telling her.

Assemblyman William Payne is actively seeking support for a State Senate bid in the 29th district. The incumbent, Sharpe James, the former Mayor of Newark, has not yet announced whether he will seek re-election to the Senate seat he has held since 1999.

Democrats close to Newark Mayor Cory Booker say that Payne is not under serious considertion for the Senate seat. City Councilman Luis Quintana has been widely viewed as the front-runner to replace James in the Senate. He is a close ally of Booker.

The 74-year-old Payne, a five term legislator, is the brother of Congressman Donald Payne. His nephew, Craig Stanley, represents the 28th district in the Assembly, and a cousin, Philip Thigpen, is the Essex County Democratic Chairman. Another nephew, Donald Payne, Jr., is an Essex County Freeholder and Newark City Councilman.

There continues to be considerable speculation that Democrats will dump Wilfredo Caraballo, who also represents the 29th in the Assembly. Caraballo angered Essex Democrats last year during a fight over the state budget.

In the 28th district, Essex County Freeholder Bilal Beasley has announced that he will challenge veteran State Senator Ronald Rice in the Democratic primary. Rice, who was defeated by Booker in the '06 mayoral race, says he is running again. Beasley is also an Irvington Councilman.

Democratic insiders suggest that Assemblywoman Oadline Truitt will not seek re-election. Truitt won a Special Election Convention in early 2005 to replace Evelyn Williams, who resigned after just a few weeks following her arrest on shoplifting charges. Williams had replaced the late Donald Tucker.

The leading candidate to replace Truitt on the Democratic line is Ralph Caputo, a two-term Essex County Freeholder. Democratic sources say that Stanley will seek re-election on Beasley's ticket.

If Caputo wins an Assembly seat, he would return to Trenton after a 36-year absence. He was a 29-year-old Republican when he was elected to the State Assembly in 1967 -- running on a countywide ticket that included future Governor Thomas Kean. He served two terms before losing his 1971 re-election bid, and made a political comeback as a Democrat in 2002 when he defeated an incumbent in a race for Freeholder.

Former Newark Board of Education President Evelyn Williams is scheduled to take the oath of office to fill the State Assembly seat of the late Donald Tucker, who passed away in October. Williams won a Special Election Convention last month, easily defeating Essex County Freeholder (and former Assemblyman) Ralph Caputo. The Assembly seat left vacant by the election of Loretta Weinberg to the Senate will remain vacant until the new Legislature takes office in January. Bergen County Democrats were unable to get a quorum at their Special Election Convention in the 37th district, where Valerie Vainieri Huttle was running unopposed. Huttle, a Bergen County Freeholder at odds with the county Democratic leadership, was elected to the Assembly in November and will take office in Janaury.