Peter Shapiro (politician)

Peter Shapiro (born April 18, 1952) is a financial services executive, member of the Board of Directors of New Israel Fund and former politician from New Jersey. He was the youngest person ever elected to the New Jersey General Assembly and went on to serve as Essex County executive and as the Democratic nominee for Governor of New Jersey in 1985 against incumbent Thomas Kean.

Shapiro was born in 1952 in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Myron and Henrietta Shapiro, immigrants from Canada. He grew up in Orange and then South Orange, attending Columbia High School in Maplewood. During high school he was suspended for leading a protest against the Vietnam War but was reinstated after the New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union intervened. He then attended Harvard College, where he was managing editor of The Harvard Crimson, and received his A.B. degree in economics and history in 1974.

After college, Shapiro returned to Essex County and quickly launched his political career after working for New Jersey Commissioner of Transportation Alan Sagner in Brendan Byrne's administration. He decided to run for the New Jersey General Assembly in 1975. A young unknown, he ran a methodical door-to-door campaign in targeted election districts and had Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a friend from college, accompany him on election eve. He defeated the Democratic organization candidate, Rocco Neri, by a margin of 183 votes out of 8,530 cast. At 23, he was the youngest person ever elected to the Assembly. He was in the Assembly for two terms, from 1976 to 1979, serving as chairman of the Housing Committee and vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee.

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