Assemblyman-elect Clinton Calabrese (D-Cliffside Park) will be sworn in his 36th district seat on February 8.
The scion of a legendary Bergen County political family, Calabrese ran unopposed in a special election convention for State Assembly last week to replace Marlene Caride, who has the Murphy administration.
Calabrese, 31, served on the Cliffside Park Board of Education from 2009 to 2010. He is the grandson of Gerald Calabrese, a former NBA player who served as mayor of Cliffside Park for fifty years until his death in 2015 at age 90. He had also served as Bergen County Democratic Chairman and as a Freeholder, and wielded considerable influence in statewide politics for decades.
Calabrese works in the real estate business. His father is Gerald Calabrese, Jr., the Democratic Municipal Chairman. His uncle is Thomas Calabrese, who served as a councilman for fifteen years before becoming mayor in 2016. Calabrese could provide some competition for Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick’s belief that he’s New Jersey’s funniest assemblyman: Calabrese has some experience in improvisational comedy — and his material might be a little more current.
Caride is currently the Acting Commissioner of Banking and Insurance as she awaits State Senate confirmation.