Louis A. Romano (August 20, 1930 - November 29, 2000) was an American Democratic Party politician who served four terms 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 1992 to 2000, where he represented the 33rd Legislative District.

Early life

Born in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, Romano was raised in

West New York, New Jersey West New York is a Town (New Jersey), town in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated upon the New Jersey Palisades. As of the 2020 United States census ...

, where he attended Memorial High School.Leir, Ronald
"Lou Romano WNY educator served 8 years in Assembly"
''

The Jersey Journal ''The Jersey Journal'' was a daily newspaper, published from Monday through Saturday, covering news and events throughout Hudson County, New Jersey. ''The Journal'' is a sister paper to ''The Star-Ledger'' of Newark, ''The Times'' of Trenton a ...

'', December 1, 2000. Accessed July 6, 2023, via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...

. "Born in Jersey City Romano spent virtually all his life in West New York attending School 4 and Memorial High School and eventually completing a doctoral degree in education at New York University Romano began teaching industrial arts at Memorial in 1960 and continued there through 1975 when he was named assistant to the superintendent." Romano earned his undergraduate degree from

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

, with a major in Social Studies, earned a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

from

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

in Professional Education and was awarded a

Doctor of Education Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded ...

from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. He served in 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 ...

from 1951 to 1953, attaining the rank of corporal. A lifelong resident of West New York, Romano was employed by the West New York School District and taught at Memorial High School, his alma mater.

Assemblyman

Romano was first elected to the General Assembly in 1991, together with Bernard Kenny of

Jersey City Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, defeating Republican candidates Antonio Miguelez and A. Lazaro Guas. Romano won re-election to the Assembly three times with Rudy Garcia of Union City as his running mate, soundly defeating Republicans Mary C. Gaspa and Armando C. Hernandez in 1993, Raphael S. Alvarez and Joseph Liuzzi in 1995, and Michael Alvarez and Freddy Gomez in 1997. He served in the Assembly on the Appropriations Committee and the Joint Budget Oversight Committee. In the June 1999 primaries, the

Hudson County Hudson County is a List of counties in New Jersey, county in the U.S. state of New Jersey, its smallest and most densely populated. Lying in the northeast of the state and on the west bank of the North River (Hudson River), Hudson River, the No ...

Democratic Party organization was looking for "new blood" and chose to give its official support to West New York mayor

Albio Sires Albio B. Sires ( ; born January 26, 1951) is a Cuban-born American businessman and politician serving as the mayor of West New York, New Jersey, since 2023 and previously from 1995 to 2006. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Sires represen ...

, as well as Romano's fellow Assemblymember Rudy Garcia. Despite losing the endorsement, Romano ran in the Democratic primary and lost, making him the only one of the 80 incumbents in the Assembly to lose their primary bid. NJ General Assembly 33 - D Primary
OurCampaigns.com. Accessed July 6, 2023.

Personal life

Romano died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

at the age of 70 on November 29, 2000, at

Hackensack University Medical Center Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC) is a 950-bed non-profit, research and teaching hospital providing tertiary and healthcare needs located west of New York City, in Hackensack, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of 2019, it r ...

. He had married Patricia DeFino days before his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romano, Louis A. 1930 births 2000 deaths Deaths from lung cancer in New Jersey Fordham University alumni Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Memorial High School (West New York, New Jersey) alumni People from West New York, New Jersey Politicians from Jersey City, New Jersey Politicians from Hudson County, New Jersey Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development alumni Seton Hall University alumni United States Army soldiers 20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature