Donald J. Albanese (born June 26, 1937) is an American

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

politician who served 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 ...

from 1976 to 1982.

Biography

Born in Belvidere, he attended public schools there and later graduated from

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 ...

in 1960. He also attended classes at

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epis ...

Graduate School of Business, and

New York Institute of Finance The New York Institute of Finance (NYIF) is an American Education Company that was founded by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 1922. The institute provides continuing education to professionals in the finance Industry and corporations worldw ...

. Albanese served in the

Office of Naval Intelligence The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is the military intelligence agency of the United States Navy. Established in 1882 primarily to advance the Navy's modernization efforts, it is the oldest member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and serves ...

from 1955 to 1957. A

certified public accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Sta ...

by trade, Albanese lived in Lopatcong Township near Phillipsburg where he maintained an accountant's office.''Fitzgerald's Legislative Manual, 1979''
p. 232. Accessed October 15, 2018. "Donald J. Albanese. Rep. Phillipsburg - Assemblyman Albanese was born in Belvidere June 26, 1937." Albanese later moved to

Bangor, Pennsylvania Bangor is a borough located in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located north of Allentown. It had a population of 5,187 as of the 2020 census. Bangor is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of ...

. He was married to the former Rosemarie Falcone, a businesswoman who also served on various women's Republican committees, a vice-chair of the

Warren County Warren County is the name of fourteen counties in the USA. Some are named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War: * Warren County, Georgia * Warren County, Illinois * Warren County ...

Republican Committee, and was an unsuccessful Democratic nominee for the General Assembly in the 23rd District in 1991. She died in 2017.

Political career

From 1963 to 1969, he served as the president of the Board of Education of the

Belvidere School District The Belvidere School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Belvidere in Warren County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020–21 school year, the d ...

. He also served as the chair of the Belvidere Republican Committee in 1968, and the Lopatcong Township Republican Committee in 1974. He first ran for the General Assembly in 1967 in the new 15th Legislative District stretching through Hunterdon,

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...

, and

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

counties. However, he was defeated for one of two seats in the Republican primary. In 1975, Albanese made a second attempt for the Assembly in the Republican Primary in the 15th District (this time encompassing Warren and Sussex counties and northern

Passaic County Passaic County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the population of Passaic County was enumerated at 524,118, an increase of 22,892 (4.6%) from t ...

). He was again defeated (coming in third place) but one of two winners, Clifton E. Lawrence, died between the primary and general election. Albanese was ultimately placed on the Republican ticket and won the election alongside incumbent Robert Littell. He was subsequently reelected in 1977 and 1979. While in the legislature, he served on the Assembly taxation committee and was vice chairman on the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee. Albanese compiled a conservative voting record, voting against implementing the state income tax and public financing of gubernatorial elections. He was an early supporter of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

's presidential bid and earned a 100-percent rating from the

American Conservative Union The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for conservative policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the Conservative Political Action Conference. Founded on ...

(ACU). He was also a member of the ACU and the

American Legislative Exchange Council The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share model legislation for distribution among state governments in the United State ...

. In 1980, he was a delegate to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

and was later appointed by Reagan following his election to the presidency to the National Steering Committee on Business and the Citizens for America Committee. He first considered a run for

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. Later, he dropped out of the Republican gubernatorial primary and instead challenged incumbent

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

Wayne Dumont Wayne Dumont, Jr. (June 25, 1914 – March 19, 1992) was an American Republican Party politician from New Jersey. He represented Warren County in the New Jersey Senate from 1952 to 1966 and northwestern New Jersey more broadly from 1968 unt ...

in the Republican primary in the redistricted 24th district. Dumont defeated Albanese 60%–40%. Following his move to Pennsylvania, he ran for the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

in District 137's 2010 Republican primary. Albanese was defeated by eventual general election winner

Joe Emrick Joseph Emrick is a politician from the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albanese, Donald J. 1937 births Living people American accountants George Washington University alumni Lehigh University alumni Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Pennsylvania Republicans People from Belvidere, New Jersey People from Lopatcong Township, New Jersey People of the Office of Naval Intelligence Politicians from Northampton County, Pennsylvania Politicians from Warren County, New Jersey Rider University alumni 20th-century American legislators 20th-century New Jersey politicians