Angelo Joseph Fortunato (born March 19, 1946), also known as Buddy Fortunato, is an American newspaper publisher and

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

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 for ...

Biography

Fortunato was born in

Orange, New Jersey The City of Orange is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 30,134, reflecting a decline of 2,734 (−8.3%) from the 32,868 counted in 2000. Orange was original ...

in 1946. He graduated from Montclair High School where he received all-state high school honors in baseball and football. He then attended

Rider College Rider University is a private university in Lawrence Township, New Jersey. It consists of four academic units: the Norm Brodsky College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Human Services, and West ...

where he graduated in 1968. Since 1971, he has been executive of ''The Italian Tribune'', a

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

-based publication focused primarily on

Italian American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

culture. In 1977, Fortunato, a resident of Glen Ridge, was elected to the General Assembly from the 27th district encompassing the northern suburbs of Essex County. He came in second place behind incumbent

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Carl Orechio Carl A. Orechio (September 12, 1914 – December 28, 1991) was an American Republican Party politician, who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1972 to 1982. Career Orechio was elected to the State Assembly in 1971, running in Essex ...

. In the next election in 1979, Fortunato placed first in the election ahead of Orechio. After redistricting in 1981, the northern Essex district was slightly reconfigured and renumbered the 30th district. Fortunato came in first in the 1981 election ahead of Republican John V. Kelly. He again was reelected in 1983 but for the first time his Democratic running mate,

Steve Adubato Jr. Steve Adubato (born October 7, 1957) is an American television broadcaster, author and university lecturer. In the mid 1980s he was New Jersey's youngest state legislator in the New Jersey General Assembly at age 26. Adubato holds a doctorate ...

, was also elected. During the 1984–1985 Assembly session, he was chairman of the Committee on Independent Authorities and Commissions and vice chair of the Transportation and Communications Committee. In April 1985, he was indicted on allegedly accepting a bribe of $2,000 in exchange for getting the sons of

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

resident Vito Maglione jobs at the

New Jersey Turnpike Authority The New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) is a state agency responsible for maintaining the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, which are two toll roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The agency is headquartered in Woodbridge Towns ...

. The indictment plus the strong coat tails of Republican

Thomas Kean Thomas Howard Kean ( ; born April 21, 1935) is an American businessman, academic administrator and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Kean served as the 48th governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. Following his tenure as governor, ...

in the

gubernatorial election A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

led to the defeat of Fortunato and Adubato by Republicans Kelly and Marion Crecco. Fortunato was later acquitted of the bribery charges in 1987 and attempted to stage a comeback to the Assembly in 1989. However, he was narrowly defeated in the general election by Kelly and Crecco.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortunato, Angelo Joseph 1946 births Living people Rider University alumni People from Glen Ridge, New Jersey Politicians from Orange, New Jersey American newspaper publishers (people) American people of Italian descent Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly