James Zangari (March 30, 1929 – February 15, 2011) was an American politician who served in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

from the 28th Legislative District from 1980 to 1996. Born and raised in Newark, Zangari served in Japan with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. He won his first political office in 1977, when he won a seat on the Essex County

Board of Chosen Freeholders In New Jersey, a Board of County Commissioners (until 2020 named the Board of Chosen Freeholders) is the elected county-wide government board in each of the state's 21 counties. In the five counties that have an elected county executive, the ...

. Two years later, he was elected into the state Assembly where he served until 1996. He eventually became the deputy speaker and chairperson of the Assembly's Independent and Regional Authorities committee
⁽²⁾
He died of cancer on February 15, 2011, in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

at age 81.

References

1929 births 2011 deaths County commissioners in New Jersey Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Deaths from cancer in New Jersey Politicians from Newark, New Jersey United States Army soldiers 20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature {{NewJersey-politician-stub