John Renna

John Pasquale Renna (May 19, 1920 – August 21, 1998) was a builder and Republican Party politician who served two separate tenures as the Essex County, New Jersey Republican Chairman, and as the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

In 1962, Renna sought a seat on the West Orange, New Jersey Township Council, but was unsuccessful.

During the administration of Governor William Cahill, Renna served as Executive Director of the New Jersey Housing Finance Agency (HFA]. He also served as Essex County Purchasing Agent and was the longtime West Orange Republican Chairman.

In 1977, Renna backed Raymond Bateman, a State Senator from Somerset County, for the Republican nomination for Governor. In that race, there were two Essex County candidates: former Assembly Speaker Thomas Kean and former State Senator C. Robert Sarcone. Although Kean carried Essex County, Bateman won the nomination. Renna immediately became a candidate for Essex County Republican Chairman (the incumbent, Frederic Remington, had won a GOP primary for Kean's State Assembly seat ). With the support of Bateman, who was leading in the polls, Renna defeated Assemblyman Carl Orechio of Nutley.

Renna endorsed Kean for the gubernatorial nomination in 1981. Kean was one of five Essex County candidates seeking the GOP nomination, along with State Senator James Wallwork, Assemblyman Anthony Imperiale, former Superior Court Judge Richard McGlynn, and millionaire businessman Bo Sullivan. Kean won the nomination and the general election, and named Renna to his cabinet as Commissioner of Community Affairs.

In 1985, Renna left the cabinet. In 1986, he was again elected Essex County Republican Chairman. Renna had a few wins by watching the Democratic primary from the sidelines and then figuring out his ticket over the summer. That's what happened in 1986, when Essex County Executive Peter Shapiro's popularity plummeted -- especially among Democrats. Sensing an opportunity, Renna pulled his candidate, Carl Orechio, off the ticket and replaced him with Nicholas Amato, who had won three terms as Essex County Surrogate Surrogate as a Democrat before Shapiro dumped him from the party line a few months earlier. For Surrogate, Renna ran another party switcher: Earl Harris, the Newark City Council President. The result was a GOP landslide.

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