Raul "Rudy" Garcia (born January 20, 1964) 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 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 f ...

from 1993 to 2000, where he represented the 33rd Legislative District. He also served as the mayor of Union City.

Early life

Garcia was born in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, and emigrated to the United States with his mother and brothers when he was four-years old. He grew up in Union City and attended

Union Hill High School Union Hill High School was a public high school serving students in grades 9–12 from Union City in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, operating as one of two high schools of the Union City Board of Education, an Abbott District. The ...

, where he was the captain of the football team, earning all-State honors at both linebacker and running back, as well as winning three state championships. He continued playing football for the

Columbia Lions The Columbia University Lions are the collective athletic teams and their members from Columbia University, an Ivy League institution in New York City, United States. The current director of athletics is Peter Pilling. Ivy League athletics Th ...

football team.Strunsky, Steve
"IN PERSON; A Former Sports Star Finds Politics A Rougher Field"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', October 22, 2000. Accessed June 4, 2010. Garcia earned his undergraduate degree from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

with a major in Economics and received his J.D. degree from

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in N ...

. After finishing law school, he took a position as an associate at the firm of Lord Day & Lord, Barrett Smith.

Career

Garcia later became an attorney with the firm of Nelson, Walrod and Garcia.Assemblyman Raul "Rudy" Garcia
New Jersey Legislature, backed up by the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

as of February 25, 1998. Accessed June 4, 2010. After Bob Menendez was elected as

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

in November 1992, Assemblymember

Bernard Kenny Bernard F. Kenny Jr. (born November 17, 1946, in Jersey City, New Jersey) is an American Democratic Party politician, who represented the 33rd Legislative District in the New Jersey State Senate from 1993 to 2008, after serving in the New Jers ...

was chosen to fill Menendez's vacancy in the New Jersey Senate. In turn, Hudson County, New Jersey Democratic Party boss

Bruce Walter The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has be ...

picked Garcia in January 1993 to fill Kenny's now-vacant spot in the Assembly. Garcia won election for his first full term the Assembly in November 1993, together with his running mate

Louis Romano Louis A. Romano (born August 20, 1930) is an American Democratic Party politician who served four terms in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1992 to 2000, where he represented the 33rd Legislative District. Early life Romano earned his unde ...

. Garcia won re-election together with Romano in 1995 and 1997, and was re-elected with

Albio Sires Albio B. Sires (; born January 26, 1951) is a Cuban-born American businessman and politician who has served as the U.S. representative for since 2006. The district, numbered as the from 2006 to 2013, includes most of northern and eastern Jers ...

in 1999. In the Assembly, Garcia served as Associate Minority Leader starting in 1998, and served on the Banking and Insurance Committee and the Education Committee. Garcia did not run for re-election to the Assembly in November 2000, and his seat was taken by fellow Democrat Rafael Fraguela. After Bruce Walter died in 1998, Garcia was named to fill his vacancy on the Union City Board of Commissioners, and was selected by the members of the board to serve as mayor. At the city's July 2000 reorganization meeting, Garcia was removed from his position as commissioner responsible for public safety and recreation, in the wake of a

recall election A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of of ...

petition that had garnered at least 6,700 signatures. Garcia resigned from his post as mayor in October 2000 and was replaced by

Brian Stack Brian Stack may refer to: * Brian Stack (comedian) (born 1967), American actor, comedian, and writer * Brian P. Stack (born 1966), New Jersey senator * Brian Stack (prison officer) (1935/36–1984), shot by the IRA See also * Brian Stock (born 19 ...

.Strunsky, Steve
"POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT; For Two Young Mayors, It Was A Difficult Week"
''The New York Times'', October 29, 2000. Accessed June 4, 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Rudy 1964 births Living people Columbia Lions football players Cuban emigrants to the United States American politicians of Cuban descent Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in New Jersey Mayors of places in New Jersey Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly New Jersey lawyers New York University School of Law alumni Politicians from Union City, New Jersey Players of American football from New Jersey Sportspeople from Union City, New Jersey Union Hill High School alumni