Cruz-Perez was sixth Hispanic to serve in Legislature
By Wally EdgeOne minor error on Assemblywoman Nilsa Cruz-Perez's press release announcing her retirement from the State Assembly: she was not the first Hispanic to serve in the State Assembly. That was Jorge Rod, a Republican from Ocean who was elected in 1981. The second was Jose Arango, a Republican from Hudson County who was elected in 1985. The first Hispanic Democrat to serve in the Assembly was Robert Menendez, who won in 1987. Jose Sosa was elected in 1991, and Rudy Garcia was elected in 1993. Cruz-Perez was the first woman when she was elected in 1995.
The first Hispanic to serve in the Senate was Menendez, who won a special election convention following the death of Christopher Jackman in 1991. After Menendez went to Congress in 1992, the Senate was without a Hispanic member until Teresa Ruiz won a Senate seat fifteen years later. She is the first Hispanic woman to serve in the Senate.
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