Eldridge Hawkins, Jr.

Eldridge Hawkins, Jr. (born July 25, 1979) was Mayor of Orange, New Jersey, a city of 33,000 residents in Essex County, New Jersey with an annual $53 million operating budget. As Chair of the Management Reform Committee of the N.J. League of Municipalities, Hawkins was a leader in the campaign to reform the state's civil service and arbitration laws to give cities more power in collective bargaining with public employee unions. His adversarial managing style and combative relations with the workers of Orange received national attention. Hawkins serves as President of the New Jersey United States Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) and is also a law enforcement professional and businessman.

Eldridge Hawkins, Jr. was born in 1979 in Livingston, New Jersey, the son of Eldridge Hawkins, Civil Rights lawyer and former Assemblyman (D-Essex) and Linda Cofer Hawkins, businesswoman and civic leader. He grew up in West Orange, New Jersey attending Seton Hall Preparatory School. He then attended Rider University and received his B.A. in Business Administration in 2001. After college, he pursued dual careers in business and law enforcement. He served as Director of Operations for the Carl Lewis Fund, Inc and as a Licensed Realtor Associate. He also worked as a Private Investigator and in 2002 began his career with the West Orange Police Department. After receiving two commendations, the Essex County P.B.A. Distinguished Service Award and suffering a line of duty or service related injury, he retired as a Police Officer. He moved on to secure an additional undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice from Thomas Edison State College and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) with a Management concentration from Seton Hall University.

Having moved to Orange, he was preparing to run for the City Council in the May 2008 municipal elections when the incumbent mayor, Mims Hackett was indicted for bribery in a federal corruption probe. After Hackett withdrew from his re-election campaign, Hawkins decided to run for mayor instead of city council. Entering a field of candidates with much more experience in politics, municipal government and business than himself, the novice candidate promised to make Orange safer, assure honesty and integrity, and intensify redevelopment. In a city concerned about crime, his law enforcement credentials proved a big plus. Hawkins’ reform campaign won the support of State Senator and former Governor Richard Codey, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Assemblywoman Mila Jasey and two members of the Orange City Council. On May 13, 2008, he was narrowly elected Mayor at the age of 28. The vote totals were: Eldridge Hawkins, Jr.- 1,061, Councilman Donald Page – 942, Councilwoman Tency Eason – 564, Zoning Board Chair Janice Morrell – 417, Community Activist Betty Brown – 285, and Planning Board Chair Dwight Holmes – 212.

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