Tom D’Alessio, former Essex County Executive, dies at 88

Thomas J. D’Alessio, a former Essex County Executive, died today.  He was 88.

He was the third person to serve as county executive after the county changed its form of government in 1978, and is the first former county executive to die.

D’Alessio served as Sheriff and Essex County Democratic chairman before a conviction on federal extortion charges ended his political career in 1994.

In 1982, D’Alessio, a lieutenant in the sheriff’s department, decided to challenge his boss, Charles Cummings, a Republican who had been elected in 1979.   He received the endorsement of Essex County Democratic Chairman Raymond Durkin and the Democratic organization line.

He faced a primary challenge from Newark Police Chief Charles Zizza; D’Alessio was running with County Executive Peter Shapiro, while Zizza had teamed up with Shapiro’s primary challenger, East Orange Mayor Thomas Cooke.

The primary went to a recount with D’Alessio edging out Zizza by 922 votes, 38%-37%, in a field of seven candidates.    Shapiro defeated Cooke in a landslide, 57%-28%, with former Assemblyman Ralph Caputo (D-Newark) finishing third with 15%.

D’Alessio won the general election by a massive 28,000-vote margin against Cummings, 64%-35%.   He ran about 10,000 votes behind Shapiro and received a nearly identical tally in Essex as the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Frank Lautenberg.

Zizza sought a rematch against D’Alessio in the 1985 Democratic primary.  This time, D’Alessio won decisively, defeating Zizza by over 17,000 votes, 59%- 27%, in a four-candidate field.

Despite a Republican tide at the top of the ticket – Gov. Thomas Kean carried Essex by a 2-1 margin against Shapiro – D’Alessio was re-elected to a second term against Republican Bob Cottle, the former Newark NAACP president and retired Newark police officer, by roughly 16,000 votes, 55%-45%.

He won a primary challenge against E.T. Gaines by a 5-1 margin in 1988, and coasted to an easy victory in November against Republican Charles Cefalu, a Newark police captain.

In 1990, D’Alessio became a candidate for county executive in an open seat race; Nicholas Amato, who switched parties and ousted Shapiro in 1986 and then became a Democrat again, opted not to run again.   D’Alessio was unopposed in the primary and easily defeated Republican Michael Vernotico, a Millburn township committeeman, in the general election.

Armando Fontoura, who was re-elected to an 11th term in 2021, succeeded D’Alessio as sheriff.

He was elected county chairman in 1991, and indicted in 1992.  County Administrator Donald Biase replaced D’Alessio on an interim basis in 1994; the general election was won by Republican James Treffinger.