Charles "Ken" Zisa (born January 27, 1954) is an American

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 as a member of the

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from 1994 to 2002, where he represented the 37th Legislative District. A lifelong resident of Hackensack, New Jersey and graduate of Hackensack High School, Zisa attended the Bergen County Police Academy. Zisa was elected to the Assembly in 1993, filling the seat that had been occupied by Byron Baer who moved up to the Senate. Zisa gave up his seat in the Assembly to run for Bergen County Sheriff in 2001, losing in the general election to Joel Trella. Effective June 1, 1995, Hackensack City Manager James Lacava named Zisa as Acting Police Chief, following the planned departure of John Aletta from the position as of that date. Zisa took the oath of office as Police Chief in December 1995. , Zisa served as the Hackensack Police Chief until 2010. After the resignation of State Senator Byron Baer, Zisa announced his pursuit of the seat with the support of local party chief Joe Ferriero, facing off against Assemblywoman

Loretta Weinberg Loretta Weinberg (born February 6, 1935) is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as a member of the New Jersey Senate from 2005-2022, where she represented the 37th Legislative District. She also served as Senate Majority Leader. ...

. The Bergen County Democratic Organization caucused on September 15, 2005, with Zisa winning by a 114-110 margin to fill the seat on an interim basis and by a 112-111 margin to be the party's candidate on the November ballot. Weinberg pursued a series of legal challenges, claiming that five excluded votes from County Committee members from Tenafly should be counted. After a ruling in Weinberg's favor, the "Tenafly Five" ballots were opened by Judge Peter Doyne on October 5, 2005, and each ballot was cast for Weinberg, thus giving her the slim margin of victory; With these five votes now counted, Weinberg defeated Zisa by one vote in balloting to fill Baer's vacated seat on an interim basis, 115-114, and won the contest for the Democratic ballot spot in November by a total of 116-112. In 2007, Ferriero endorsed a ticket of Englewood Mayor

Michael Wildes Michael Jay Wildes (born November 27, 1964) is an American immigration lawyer and politician who serves as the 38th and current Mayor of Englewood, New Jersey. He previously served as the 36th Mayor of Englewood from 2004 to 2010. A member of the ...

, and Cid Wilson and Zisa for Assembly, to face off in a primary challenge against incumbents Weinberg, and her Assembly running mates Valerie Huttle and Gordon M. Johnson. In a deal brokered by

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 r ...

Jon Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006 and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran fo ...

, Ferriero backed off the challenge and announced that he and the county party organization would endorse the three incumbents in the primary. In January 2008, Zisa announced that he would seek a primary challenge in the 37th District Assembly in 2009, challenging incumbents Valerie Huttle and Gordon M. Johnson.

Insurance fraud

On April 30, 2010, Zisa was arrested for insurance fraud. Three years after being found guilty, Zisa's conviction was overturned in 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zisa, Charles 1954 births Living people Hackensack High School alumni Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Politicians from Hackensack, New Jersey