Glenn Dale Cunningham (September 16, 1943 – May 25, 2004) was an American Democratic Party

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

, who was the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

Mayor of Jersey City The Mayor of the City of Jersey City is the head of the executive branch of the government of Jersey City, New Jersey, United States. The mayor has the duty to enforce the municipal charter and ordinances; prepare the annual budget; appoint depu ...

, the state's second-largest city, winning the 2001 Jersey City mayoral election. Cunningham also served in the New Jersey Senate. After Cunningham's death, L. Harvey Smith became the acting mayor of Jersey City. In a November 2004 special election, Judge Jerramiah T. Healy was elected to complete the remainder of Cunningham's term.

Joseph Doria Joseph V. Doria Jr. (born June 28, 1946) is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs in the cabinet of Governor Jon Corzine from 2007 until his resignation in July 20 ...

was selected to fill Cunningham's Senate vacancy on an interim basis, and won a special election to fill the balance of the term.

Biography

Raised in Jersey City, Cunningham attended Henry Snyder High School, and was inducted into the school's first hall of fame class in 2018. Before his election as mayor, Cunningham, a former Marine and member of the Jersey City Police Department for 25 years, had been appointed by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

as head of New Jersey's

United States Marshals Service The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforc ...

Office. He also served on the

Hudson County Hudson County is the most densely populated county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It lies west of the lower Hudson River, which was named for Henry Hudson, the sea captain who explored the area in 1609. Part of New Jersey's Gateway Region in ...

Board of Chosen Freeholders In New Jersey, a Board of County Commissioners (until 2020 named the Board of Chosen Freeholders) is the elected county-wide government board in each of the state's 21 counties. In the five counties that have an elected county executive, the ...

, as Jersey City Council President, and as public safety director of Hudson County. Cunningham died at Greenville Hospital in Jersey City of a heart attack on May 23, 2004, aged 60. He was a Master Mason and full member of the Most Worshipful Oriental Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons in Newark and was buried with Masonic honors in a funerary procession. Cunningham's widow,

Sandra Bolden Cunningham Sandra Bolden Cunningham (born September 4, 1950) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has been serving in the New Jersey State Senate since 2007, where she represents the 31st Legislative District. She was sworn into office on Nov ...

, has become a political leader in Jersey City in her own right. She reportedly considered a bid for her husband's State Senate seat in the 2004 special electionThree candidates expected to seek Cunningham Senate seat; Manzo says he'll run for Mayor
, PoliticsNJ.com, June 2, 2004 and a bid for the State Assembly in 2005. In March 2006 signs appeared around Jersey City touting Mrs. Cunningham as a candidate for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

either in a Democratic Party primary versus her husband's political rival, Sen. Bob Menendez or in the general election against Menendez and Republican State Sen. Thomas Kean Jr. Mrs. Cunningham defeated Assemblyman

Louis Manzo Louis Manzo (born February 28, 1955, in Jersey City, New Jersey) is an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2004 to 2008, where he represented the 31st legislative district, and who ran unsuc ...

in the June 2007 Democratic primary for State Senate and was elected to the Senate in November 2007.

References

External links

Glenn Cunningham laid to rest in Jersey City; Dems to meet next Wednesday to pick new Senator
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Glenn (New Jersey) 1943 births 2004 deaths Henry Snyder High School alumni Mayors of Jersey City, New Jersey County commissioners in New Jersey Democratic Party New Jersey state senators Burials at Bayview – New York Bay Cemetery New Jersey city council members African-American mayors in New Jersey African-American state legislators in New Jersey United States Marshals United States Marines 20th-century American politicians 20th-century African-American politicians African-American men in politics 21st-century African-American people