Nicholas Caputo Archives - New Jersey Globe

Six county clerks draw top ballot position for other party

August 13, 2019 5:42 pmAugust 14, 2019 10:18 am

Most of New Jersey’s elected County Clerks followed the time-honored tradition of giving their party the top slot on the November general election ballot, with Democrats coming out on top in 11 of the state’s 21 counties in drawings held...

The 1978 race for Essex County Executive, Part 1

July 22, 2019 3:42 amJuly 24, 2019 8:30 pm

Essex County politics had an evolutionary transformation in the late 1970s, when voters approved a referendum that switched control of country government from the Board of Freeholders to a single County Executive. A process that took six years culminated in...

Shapiro and Cryan split the ’78 races for Essex freeholder

July 22, 2019 3:41 amJuly 24, 2019 8:39 pm

With four Democrats running for Essex County Executive in the June 1978 primary, there were also contested races for the four Freeholder-At-Large seats and in each of the five freeholder districts – including a race between one of the leaders...

The fall of Harry Lerner

July 22, 2019 3:40 amJuly 24, 2019 8:33 pm

When longtime Essex County Democratic boss Dennis Carey retired for health reasons in 1968, County Treasurer Harry Lerner faced Hugh Addonizio, the two-term Mayor of Newark and a former seven-term congressman, for the post. Lerner, who had lost a race...

The long road to a vote on Essex charter change

July 22, 2019 3:40 amJuly 24, 2019 8:50 pm

The debate over changing Essex County’s form of government runs began in 1972, when Assembly Speaker Thomas Kean (R-Livingston) called for the election of a charter study commission. During Kean’s first year as Speaker, the Legislature passed the Optional County...

The Man with the Golden Arm

August 13, 2018 12:10 amAugust 13, 2018 1:00 pm

Nicholas V. Caputo was the Man with the Golden Arm. As the Essex County Clerk from 1961 to 1991, Caputo was legendary for drawing Line A for the Essex County Democratic organization in every primary and in every general, except...