Joanne Rajoppi, legendary Union County Clerk, dies at 78

Joanne H. Rajoppi, the highly-regarded Union County Clerk for 30 years, a pioneer for women running for office in New Jersey, an expert on election law and county government, a noted historian, and one of the most popular vote-getters in county history, died today after an illness.  She was 78.

Senate President Nicholas Scutari praised Rajoppi as “one of the finest public servants in the history of the State of New Jersey. ”

“Her track record in keeping our elections transparent, safe, and secure was second to none,” said Scutari.  “In her role as both a Democratic Party leader and an expert in elections, there were no voices I trusted more.  She will be dearly missed, but her incredible legacy will never be forgotten.”

Rajoppi was a staff writer for the Newark Evening News in the late 1960s and early 1970s and led the movement to unionize the newspaper.

She began her political career in 1973, at age 24, when she won a seat on the Springfield Board of Education.  She later became board president.

At age 27, Rajoppi was elected to the Springfield Township Committee in 1975, unseating incumbent Edward Stiso, Jr., an independent, by over 1,000 votes.  Republican Rebecca Seal ran third in that race.  She became deputy mayor in her first year and became mayor in 1977.

In 1977, Rajoppi finished second in the Democratic primary of sixteen candidates for three seats on the Union County Board of Freeholders.    Democrats swept all three seats in the general election; she and her running mates, incumbent Walter Boright and Thomas Dillon, won an 11,000-vote margin against her three Republican opponents: Roselle Councilman Robert Morgan; Herbert Heilman, a former freeholder and assemblyman; and William Ruocco.

She did not seek re-election to a second term for local office in Springfield in 1978.

After State Sen. Peter J. McDonough (R-Plainfield) resigned in early 1979 to spend more time on his business, Rajoppi became the Democratic candidate in a special election for his unexpired term in the highly competitive 22nd district, which included Berkeley Heights, Clark, Fanwood, Kenilworth, Mountainside, Plainfield, Rahway, Scotch Plains, Springfield in Union County, and Chatham Township in Morris County.

The Republican candidate was Assemblyman Donald DiFrancesco (R-Scotch Plains), who edged out his running mate, William Maguire (R-Clark), at a hotly contested Union County GOP convention.  This was before the era of county committee votes to fill vacancies, and McDonough’s seat remained vacant until November.

DiFrancesco defeated Rajoppi, 57%-41%, a margin of 6,917 votes, in a Republican year dominated by poor approval ratings for President Jimmy Carter and Gov. Brendan Byrne, both Democrats.  DiFrancesco later became Senate President and spent nearly a year as governor.

She became freeholder director in 1980 after winning support from the Republican minority to take the post against Dillon, the party’s preferred pick.   She had previously served as deputy director.

In 1981, Byrne appointed Rajoppi to serve as acting assistant secretary of state.  She replaced George Lee, a former Burlington County Democratic chairman who had pled guilty to election law violations.  She left the freeholder board to take the state post, where she worked with another Springfield resident, Secretary of State Donald Lan, then seeking the Democratic nomination for governor.

In that post, Rajoppi was integrally involved in the recount of the closest gubernatorial election in New Jersey history.  Republican Thomas Kean defeated Democrat Jim Florio by 1,797 votes statewide.

In 1982, Rajoppi was named to the Democratic National Committee on Platform Accountability.   Later that year, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy was the guest speaker at a fundraiser for the Joanne Rajoppi Civic Association.

Rajoppi decided to challenge Union County Register of Deeds and Mortgages Richard Hatfield, the Republican incumbent, in 1983.  She unseated him by about 3,000 votes, a margin of 51%-49%.  She coasted to an easy re-election victory against Republican JoAnn Sarno Pieper in 1988 and defeated Republican Darlene Leary in 199 by about 2,000 votes, 51%-49%.

(The 1993 election was considered the Year of Linda, when Republicans Linda DiGiovanni and Linda Lee Kelly and Democrat Linda Stender captured Union County freeholder seats.)

With the GOP-controlled legislature planning to merge the register and county clerk’s offices in 1995, Rajoppi decided to run for Union County Clerk.  The 29-year Republican incumbent. Walter Halpin had resigned; Republicans installed Paul O’Keefe, a former freeholder from Plainfield, as deputy clerk, and then he became acting clerk upon Halpin’s departure.

Rajoppi easily defeated O’Keefe in the general election by over 11,000 votes, a 55%-40% margin.  She won relatively easy re-elections in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2025.  She was the first and only woman county clerk in Union County history.

Her death will trigger a special election for county clerk this fall.    Democrats have until August 27 to pick a candidate to replace her on the ballot.

Union County Manager Ed Oatman said Rajoppi was “an important part of our County family. ”

“She remained deeply involved in the work of her office and brought decades of experience and an extraordinary sense of responsibility to her role.  Her loss will be felt immediately throughout County government,”  he said.  “We will miss her leadership, her strength, and the unmistakable presence she brought to everything she did.”

Rajoppi was born into politics: her father, Raleigh Rajoppi, was a labor leader and head of the Carpenters Millwright Local 715; her mother, Mildred Rajoppi, was active in Democratic politics.  Rajoppi served as secretary-treasurer of Carpenters Local 1107 Apprentice Committee in Kenilworth.

She was a graduate of Case Western Reserve University and received a master’s degree in public administration from Seton Hall University.  She had been an adjunct lecturer at Rutgers and was president of the New Jersey Association of Counties and Constitutional Officers.  Rajoppi was the author of two books, Women in Office: Getting There and Staying There, and New Brunswick and the Civil War: The Brunswick Boys in the Great Rebellion.

Rajoppi was a longtime Democratic State Committeewoman from Union County and a former president of the New Jersey Women’s Political Caucus.

She is survived by her two sons, Peter-Anthony Pappas and Andrew Leigh Pappas, and three grandchildren

Funeral arrangements are pending.