Marion Crecco

Marion Crecco (January 25, 1930 – November 28, 2015) was an American Republican Party politician, who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1986 to 2002, where she represented the 30th Legislative District (1986–1992) and then the 34th Legislative District (1992–2002) following redistricting in the wake of the 1990 United States Census.

Marion Crecco
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 34th District
In office January 14, 1992 – January 8, 2002 Serving with Gerald H. Zecker
Preceded by	Joseph A. Mecca
Succeeded by	Peter C. Eagler Willis Edwards
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 30th District
In office January 13, 1986 – January 14, 1992 Serving with John V. Kelly
Preceded by	Steve Adubato Buddy Fortunato
Succeeded by	Robert Singer Melvin Cottrell
Personal details
Born	(1930-01-25)January 25, 1930
Died	November 28, 2015(2015-11-28) (aged 85)
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	John I. Crecco
Children	two
Residence	Bloomfield, New Jersey
Alma mater	Seton Hall University Montclair State College

Biography

Crecco was born on January 25, 1930, to Joan and Jasper LaBruzzo of Newark.[1][2] She attended Newark Arts High School, Art Students League of New York, Seton Hall University majoring in Marketing and Montclair State College where she majored in Liberal Arts.[1][2][3] She worked professionally as president and accounting executive of Marion Crecco Associates, an advertising agency in her residence of Bloomfield. At the agency, she became the first woman to represent the Thomas Publishing Company as an agent and later as sales manager.[2] Crecco was married to John Crecco, a chemist who also served as a Bloomfield councilman and mayor.[4]

Crecco had two daughters in addition to four grandchildren. Later in life, she and John moved to Verona. Crecco died on November 28, 2015.[2]

Political career

Crecco was a long-time chair of the Bloomfield Republican Party Committee.[2] She served as an alternate delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1984, and as a delegate to the 1988 and 1996 Republican National Conventions.[3]

Crecco was first elected to the General Assembly from the 30th District with running mate John V. Kelly in the Kean landslide election of 1985 defeating both Democratic Party incumbents Steve Adubato and Buddy Fortunato.[5] She and Kelly were easily re-elected in 1987 and 1989 in the district consisting of northern Essex County municipalities.[6][7] After redistricting following the 1990 Census, Crecco won five elections in the 34th Legislative District in 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1999, serving together with Republican Gerald H. Zecker for all five terms in the Essex and Passaic county-based district.[6][8]

While in the Assembly, Crecco served in the Republican leadership as Assistant Republican Whip from 1986 to 1989 and Assistant Majority Leader from 1992 to 1995.[3] She was chair of the Law and Public Safety Committee and the Task Force on Catastrophic and Long-Term Health Care Committee while the Republicans held the chamber in the 1990s. She was also a co-chair of the Republican Task Force on Government Accountability and Efficiency, State Government and Independent Authorities Committees, the Advisory Council on Women and Children, and the Safe and Secure Communities Selection Panel. In addition, she served on the Assembly Budget, Consumer Affairs, and Transportation Committees and was the New Jersey State Director of the National Order of Women Legislators.[2]

In 1988, Crecco proposed legislation in the Assembly to require schools to teach abstinence as the only reliable means of preventing the spread of AIDS, stating that without this approach "we are allowing our children to play Russian roulette".[9] Building on an experience in which she was unable to connect with her niece following her sister's death, Crecco introduced legislation in September 1996 that would grant aunts and uncles visitation rights, in addition to the grandparents and siblings already covered for unsupervised visitations under previous law passed in 1993.[10]

Following the 2001 apportionment which moved her residence of Bloomfield to the western Newark-centered 28th Legislative District, she ran for the New Jersey Senate in 2001 against incumbent Democrat Ronald Rice. A lawsuit filed by then-34th District Senator Norman M. Robertson alleged that the commission charged with drawing the Legislative districts worked to protect incumbent racial minority members of the New Jersey Legislature; the suit cited Crecco's hometown shift to the 28th District whose Senate seat was held by Rice, an African American.[11][12] Ultimately, Crecco lost to Rice by a 69.4%-29.6% margin with an independent candidate taking 1.0% of the vote.[6] Following her loss, she became the chair of the John I. Crecco Foundation, a non-profit organization named for her husband, which raises money for various local hospitals.[13]

References

1. Jersey, State of New (1986). Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey. p. 271. Retrieved December 1, 2015. Assemblywoman Crecco was born in Brooklyn on Jan. 25, 1990. A graduate of Arts High School, Newark, she also attended Montclair State College.
2. Pizarro, Max (December 1, 2015). "Former Assemblywoman Marion Crecco has Died". Politicker NJ. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
3. Assemblywoman Marion Crecco, New Jersey Legislature, backed up by the Internet Archive as of February 25, 1998. Accessed June 2, 2010.
4. Frankel, Jeff (September 13, 2012). "Bloomfield archway to honor former mayor". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
5. Edge, Wally (January 11, 2008). "The power of Nutley and the old Orechio machine". Politicker NJ. Retrieved December 1, 2015. Kelly mounted a comeback bid in 1985, and with Governor Thomas Kean heading the ticket, he won easily. Kelly and Marion Crecco, unseated Adubato and four-term incumbent Buddy Fortunato.
6. "NJ Election Information and Results Archive". Secretary of State of New Jersey. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
7. "New Jersey Legislative Districts" (PDF). 1981. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
8. "1991 Legislative Districts" (PDF). 1991. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
9. Sullivan, Joseph F. "Teaching of Sexual Abstinence Urged", The New York Times, November 20, 1988. Accessed June 2, 2010.
10. DeMasters, Karen. "A Loss in the Family Led to a Bill on Visiting", The New York Times, September 22, 1996. Accessed June 2, 2010.
11. "NORMAN M. ROBERTSON, et als., Appellants, v. LARRY BARTELS, et als., Appellees" (PDF) (No. 01-721, 2001 U.S. Briefs 721 ed.). September 24, 2001. p. 48. Retrieved December 1, 2015. [*107a] 40. In furtherance of his goal of protecting only minority incumbents, defendant BARTELS and the other commissioner defendants created "safe" districts for minority incumbents. In the proposed Districts 28 and 34, these safe seats come at the expense of current District 34 incumbents, Plaintiff-Senator NORMAN M. ROBERTSON, Assemblywoman Marion Crecco and Assemblyman Gerald Zecker. All three current District 34 incumbents are Caucasian.
12. Osborne, James (October 25, 2012). "New Jersey's candidate-residency rule is again the subject of a legal fight". Philadelphia Inquirer. The original lawsuit was filed in 2001 by former Passaic County Republican State Sen. Norman Robertson, who argued that his civil rights were violated when his residence was placed in a Democratic-held district.
13. "John I. Crecco Foundation". 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2015. Honorable Marion Crecco: Chairman

New Jersey General Assembly
Preceded by Steve Adubato Buddy Fortunato	Member of the New Jersey General Assembly for the 30th District January 13, 1986 – January 14, 1992 With: John V. Kelly	Succeeded by Robert Singer Melvin Cottrell
Preceded by Joseph A. Mecca	Member of the New Jersey General Assembly for the 34th District January 14, 1992 – January 8, 2002 With: Gerald H. Zecker	Succeeded by Peter C. Eagler Willis Edwards