Essex Archives

Union leader indicted on health care fraud charges

July 24, 2021 10:46 am

Carmine A. Mattia, Jr., a union leader and former Belleville council candidate, was indicted on Friday for his role in a scheme to defraud a telecommunications company by billing them for expensive compounded prescriptions that were medically unnecessary. Acting U.S....

Marie Villani, Newark city councilwoman for 20 years, dies at 100

July 17, 2021 10:26 pmJuly 19, 2021 9:39 am

HMarie L. Villani, a six-term Newark City Councilwoman and the first woman to win a citywide election in the state’s largest city, died on July 13. She turned 100 on July 4. Villani was appointed to fill an at-large city...

Pat Sebold re-elected Livingston Democratic chair, post she’s held since 1976

June 14, 2021 11:18 pmJune 14, 2021 11:44 pm

Pat Sebold, who may be the longest-serving Democratic municipal chair in the state, was re-elected on Monday for a three-year term for the post she first won in 1976. She has led Livingston Democrats since John B. Duff resigned to...

Candy Straight, leading voice for the election of women to public office, dies at 73

June 13, 2021 1:12 pmJune 14, 2021 4:05 pm

Candace L. Straight, a savvy investment banker and film producer, zealous advocate for the election of women candidates for state and local office across the nation, and a popular Republican fundraiser, died on June 13 at Hackensack University Medical Center...

Never, ever cross Frank Hague

June 12, 2021 12:01 amJune 12, 2021 12:10 am

Fights among Democrats are part of New Jersey political history. In 1916, a young rising star in Jersey City politics named Frank Hague traveled to St. Louis to watch Woodrow Wilson get renominated at the Democratic National Convention. The Democratic...

Groups want probe into late-arriving voting machines in Newark

June 11, 2021 12:41 pmJune 11, 2021 12:48 pm

The failure to deliver 33 voting machines in predominately Black wards of Newark before the polls opened on Tuesday have led 20 voting rights advocacy groups and grass roots organizations to call for a thorough investigation into a delay. The...

Barlas allies re-elected to State Committee in Essex

June 8, 2021 10:46 pmJune 8, 2021 10:48 pm

Two incumbents backed by the Essex County Republican organization were re-elected to the New Jersey Republican State Committee on Tuesday, fending off a challenge from allies of GOP gubernatorial candidate Hirsh Singh. Peter Tanella and Janet Treamont defeated Michael Byrne...