{{short description|American politician (1931–1999)}} {{Use American English|date=October 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Anthony Imperiale | image = | caption = | state_senate = New Jersey | district = 30th | term_start = January 8, 1974 | term_end = January 10, 1978 | predecessor = ''District created'' | successor = Frank E. Rodgers | office1 = Member of the<br>New Jersey General Assembly | constituency1 = District 11-B | term_start1 = January 11, 1972 | term_end1 = January 8, 1974 | alongside1 = Frank Megaro | predecessor1 = Ronald Owens<br>George C. Richardson | successor1 = ''District eliminated'' | constituency2 = 30th district | alongside2 = Michael F. Adubato | term_start2 = January 8, 1980 | term_end2 = January 12, 1982 | predecessor2 = John F. Cali | successor2 = John V. Kelly<br>Buddy Fortunato | spouse = | children = 7 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|4|10}} | birth_place = Newark, New Jersey, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1999|12|27|1931|4|10}} | death_place = Livingston, New Jersey, U.S. | party = Independent (1970–79)<br>Republican (after 1979) | allegiance = {{flag|United States}} | branch = {{flag|United States Marine Corps}} | battles = Korean War }}
'''Anthony M. Imperiale Sr.''' (July 10, 1931 – December 27, 1999) was an American paramedic, activist, vigilante and militant leader, and populist<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |title=Imperial's Senate Race: Challenge to Both Parties; Democrats Hopeful Assembly Election Cited Why He Runs Patriotism a Motif |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1973/11/02/91025026.html |access-date=2025-10-22 |work=The New York Times |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> politician from Newark, New Jersey who represented the city's North Ward on the Municipal Council of Newark from 1968 to 1974 and represented the city in the New Jersey Legislature between 1972 and 1982.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |author=David M. Halbfinger |title=Anthony Imperiale, 68, Dies; Polarizing Force in Newark |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/28/nyregion/anthony-imperiale-68-dies-polarizing-force-in-newark.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 28, 1999 |accessdate=2011-09-19 }}</ref> He was a controversial and polarizing figure who became a symbol of white ethnic backlash to the civil rights movement and civil disorder of the 1960s.<ref name="obit" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite magazine |last=Brooks |first=Thomas R. |date=Winter 1972 |title=Breakdown in Newark |url=https://www.dissentmagazine.org/wp-content/files_mf/1443031001winter72brooks2.pdf |access-date=October 22, 2025 |magazine=Dissent |pages=128{{endash}}37}}</ref> He unsuccessfully sought to become mayor of Newark in 1970 and 1974 and governor of New Jersey in 1977 and 1981.
During the 1967 Newark riots, Imperiale led armed citizen groups in the city's North Ward; he was accused of vigilantism by critics, including Governor Richard J. Hughes. In 1968, he was elected to the Municipal Council of Newark. He ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 1970 and 1974, when he was the runner-up to incumbent Kenneth A. Gibson. While on the council, he opposed Gibson and was highly critical of the black nationalist movement in the city led by Amiri Baraka, successfully blocking Kawaida Towers, a controversial high-rise project sponsored by Baraka.
Running as an independent, Imperiale was elected to represent the 30th district in the New Jersey General Assembly in 1971 and New Jersey Senate in 1973. In 1977, he ran against incumbent governor Brendan Byrne but withdrew from the race. He was elected to a second term in the General Assembly in 1979 and joined the Republican Party. After running unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for governor in 1981, he never held office again, though he made several unsuccessful bids for federal, state, and local offices.
==Early life== Anthony Michael Imperiale Sr. was born on July 10, 1931, in Newark, New Jersey, where he attended, but never graduated from, Barringer High School.<ref>Mumford, Ken. [https://books.google.com/books?id=_NkVCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA179 ''Newark: A History of Race, Rights, and Riots in America''], p. 179, New York University Press, 2008. {{ISBN|9780814795637}}. Accessed October 27, 2025. "Imperiale was born and raised in Newark and attended working-class Barringer High School, but did not graduate."</ref> He later served in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War. In the 1960s, his first foray into local politics was when he opposed forced race-integration busing in Newark.<ref name=obit/> [[File:Newark Riots 1967 (305517077) (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|290x290px|The aftermath of the 1967 Newark riots, which resulted in at least 26 deaths and hundreds of serious injuries.]]
=== 1967 Newark riots === During the 1967 Newark riots, Imperiale advocated armed white self-defense and formed the volunteer North Ward First Aid Squad, ostensibly to escort North Ward residents, most of whom were Italian-American, through racially troubled neighborhoods.<ref name="obit" /> Imperiale likened Newark during the riots to "a town of the old West" and said, "The good guys are prepared to shoot to kill to keep the peace, if Negroes come to burn our homes."<ref name=":2" />
The group was accused of vigilantism, and Governor Richard J. Hughes called Imperiale's followers "brownshirts". At one point during the riots, Imperiale warned that "when the Black Panther comes, the white hunter will be waiting."<ref name="obit" /> At the end of the riots, Imperiale negotiated with Imamu Baraka to bring violence in the city to an end; however, neither sought permanent reconciliation.<ref name=":2" />
In 1969, the group disbanded.<ref name="obit" />
== Political career ==
=== Newark city council === In November 1968, following his involvement in the riots, Imperiale gained national attention by winning a seat on the Municipal Council of Newark. His victory was taken as emblematic of white ethnic backlash against the riots and the civil rights movement. He represented the city at-large, but his political base was the North Ward, an economically diverse region of the city bordering the Passaic River and home to a large white population of mostly Italian American residents, along with substantial African American, Irish American, and Puerto Rican minorities.<ref name=":2" /> In 1968, Imperiale supported the presidential campaign of George Wallace, the former segregationist governor of Alabama; although Wallace was expected to carry 15 to 20 percent of the vote in Newark, he finished with under 10 percent. Hubert Humphrey carried the North Ward with a plurality of the vote.<ref name=":2" />
As a councilor, Imperiale continued to receive criticism from members of the city's moderate establishment. In 1972, Imperiale critic and mayoral aide Don Malafronte said, "Many whites want peace, and Imperiale means trouble."<ref name=":2" />
=== 1970 mayoral campaign === In 1970, Imperiale ran for mayor against the incumbent, Hugh J. Addonizio. He finished third behind Addonizio and Kenneth A. Gibson with 15 percent of the vote, with the majority coming from the North Ward.<ref name=":2" /> Despite much of Imperiale's support going to Addonizio in the run-off election, Gibson would win to become the first black mayor in Newark history and in any major city in the northeastern United States.<ref>{{cite news |date=1970-06-17 |title=Newark Elects Kenneth Gibson, Negro, Mayor |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=F05SAAAAIBAJ&dq=kenneth-gibson&pg=5245%2C5035573 |access-date=2013-09-27 |newspaper=St. Petersburg Times |via=The New York Times Wire Services}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Ronald |date=1970-06-17 |title=Gibson Defeats Addonizio in Newark Mayoral Race; Voter Turnout A Record |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/06/17/archives/gibson-defeats-addonizio-in-newark-mayoral-race-voter-turnout-a.html |access-date=2021-08-12 |page=1}}</ref> Shortly after Gibson's election, the 1970 census showed that Newark had become the second black-majority city in the United States.<ref name=":2" />
Despite his defeat, Imperiale ran well ahead of the field in the North Ward. He parlayed this success into an attempt to supplant Steve Adubato Sr., the ward's Democratic Party chair. However, the effort failed, possibly because Imperiale was known to be a Republican and because Adubato was able to hold together a coalition of Italian Americans and middle-class African Americans.<ref name=":2" />
=== State assemblyman (1972{{En dash}}74) === Imperiale was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1971. Running as an independent on a "For the People" ticket, Imperiale received more votes than any candidate for public office in the district, including candidates for United States Senator. As of 2018, Imperiale was the only independent politician to win election to the New Jersey legislature since 1968.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wildstein |first=David |date=2018-11-01 |title=Imperiale was only independent to win beyond local level |url=https://newjerseyglobe.com/legislature/14103/ |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=New Jersey Globe |language=en-US}}</ref>
Because the 1971 elections gave the Democratic Party a slim 40-39 advantage in the General Assembly, Imperiale's victory threatened to deadlock the chamber.<ref>{{cite web |date=21 January 2019 |title=Trailblazer: Speaker S. Howard Woodson |url=https://newjerseyglobe.com/section-2/trailblazer-speaker-s-howard-woodson/ |accessdate=31 May 2020 |work=New Jersey Globe}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1971-11-05 |title=Assembly Deadlock Looms In Jersey Over Imperiale (Published 1971) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/05/archives/assembly-deadlock-looms-in-jersey-over-imperiale.html |access-date=2025-10-22 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Imperiale and Black Leader in Accord |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/12/10/90705706.html |access-date=2025-10-22 |work=The New York Times |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> As a result, Imperiale's role as an independent was crucial to the legislative organization of the Assembly and passage of any legislation in the upcoming session. On November 4, however, Governor William T. Cahill pledged to block any efforts to invite Imperiale to vote with the Republican Party. On November 5, George C. Richardson of Newark said he would walk out rather than vote for a Democratic majority that included Imperiale, which he believed would be "an insult to every white or black who believes in racial conciliation."<ref name=":1" /> Other black Democratic assemblymembers, S. Howard Woodson and Ronald Owens, welcomed Imperiale's support.<ref name=":1" />
On his arrival in the Assembly in 1972, Imperiale declined to join either major party. He went so far as to plant his seat in the aisle separating the two parties and refused to move out of the way.<ref name="obit" />
==== Kawaida Towers protest ==== As a state legislator, Imperiale continued to focus on local issues. He joined with George C. Richardson in December 1971 to set aside political differences and address a city Chamber of Commerce luncheon, stressing their shared opposition to black nationalism and the need to rebuild the city.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Imperiale and Black Leader in Accord |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/12/10/90705706.html |access-date=2025-10-22 |work=The New York Times |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In late 1972, he led the opposition to the construction of Kawaida Towers, a planned low- and middle-income high-rise public housing project in the North Ward, organizing against Imamu Amiri Baraka, the city's leading black nationalist and sponsor of the project, which he referred to as "the temple Kawaida."<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=1972-11-13 |title=IMPERIALE VOWS TO BLOCK HOUSING (Published 1972) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/11/13/archives/imperiale-vows-to-block-housing-says-he-will-chain-himself-to.html |access-date=2025-10-22 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite news |title=In Imperiale and Baraka, A Sharp Contrast in Styles |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1972/12/06/93423873.html |access-date=2025-10-22 |work=The New York Times |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Opponents of the project denied their opposition was racially motivated and emphasized the single-family homes and small apartment buildings which dominated the character of the neighborhood; councilman Anthony Guiliano cited high rises as "breed[ing] slums" and "crime". Imperiale publicly called for a meeting with Baraka and expressed willingness to support a five-story building or "garden apartments."<ref name=":3" />
During the protests, Imperiale vowed to chain himself to the entrance to the construction site and criticized Baraka (whom he referred to by his birth name, LeRoi Jones) for favoring segregation in Dallas, the Archbishop of Newark for attending a Baraka speech, and Channel 2 News for unfavorable coverage of demonstrators. Construction stopped when workers refused to cross Imperiale's picket line. By the end of the protests, ''The New York Times'' reported that Imperiale was considered the leading white political figure in the city and a probable mayoral contender in 1974.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> The Kawaida Towers project was eventually abandoned in 1976.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1976-07-16 |title=Kawaida Towers Given a Quiet Burial (Published 1976) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/16/archives/kawaida-towers-given-a-quiet-burial-project-foundation-is-being.html |access-date=2025-10-22 |language=en}}</ref>
=== State senator (1974{{En dash}}78), 1974 mayoral campaign ===
==== 1973 Senate election ==== In 1973, although he was expected to win easily by pulling votes from both Republican and Democratic voters Imperiale chose not to run for re-election and instead ran as an independent for the New Jersey Senate, seeking an open seat in the newly created 30th district, which included the North Ward as well as Newark's East Ward and the towns of Belleville, East Newark, Harrison, Kearny, and Secaucus. The district featured a predominantly white ethnic population and the campaign was dominated by concerns regarding crime.<ref name=":0" /> Imperiale declared his campaign an instrument through which "the working people of all races can get real representation in Trenton."<ref name=":0" />
In the election, Imperiale faced Gregory J. Castano, a former assistant Hudson County prosecutor, and C. Richard Fiore, whom he had unseated in the 1971 Assembly election. Though both opponents expected Imperiale to perform as a spoiler candidate, Imperiale argued that his personal identity was stronger than traditional political allegiances.<ref name=":0" /> Both opponents challenged him for absenteeism in the Assembly and his allegedly extremist views.<ref name=":0" /> Fiore said that Newark would be better off if "they put Imperiale and LeRoi Jones in the same bus and ship[ped] them out of town."<ref name=":0" /> Maintaining a populist stance, Imperiale countered that his local activism against Kawaida was more important than attendance in the Assembly and that while he had been on "the firing line," both Castano and Fiore had been "back in their living rooms watching the battle over Kawaida on their television sets."<ref name=":0" /> He said that he sought the Senate seat in order to exercise leverage over the appointment of judges.<ref name=":0" />
During his senate campaign, Imperiale emphasized populist and patriotic themes, claiming that in 1971, "you and I made history when we beat the well-oiled, well-financed political machines" who had "lined their pockets and sold you out to the troublemakers." He argued that the political machines were "antireligion, antiflag, Antichrist."<ref name=":0" /> He aligned himself with the gubernatorial campaign of Charles W. Sandman Jr., a conservative Republican.<ref name=":0" />
Imperiale received 24,756 votes (49%), Castano received 18,286 votes (36%), and Fiore received 7,131 votes (14%).<ref>{{cite web |title=Richard C. Fiore |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=168281 |accessdate=9 December 2013 |publisher=OurCampaigns.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1973-11-02 |title=Imperiale's Senate Race: Challenge to Both Parties (Published 1973) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/02/archives/imperials-senate-race-challenge-to-both-parties-democrats-hopeful-a.html |access-date=2025-10-22 |language=en}}</ref>
In 1975, Imperiale was ranked as the most conservative member of the New Jersey legislature by the organization Americans for Democratic Action. He received 7 percent on the ADA survey, having only voted in favor of one ADA-supported measure, a bill strengthening the state Public Employment Relations Commission.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1975-06-09 |title=IMPERIALE RATED LAST BY THE A.D.A. (Published 1975) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/09/archives/imperiale-rated-last-by-the-ada-scores-7-in-trenton-survey-menza.html#:~:text=Occasionally%20the%20digitization%20process%20introduces,and%20an%20income%20tax%20bill. |access-date=2025-10-22 |language=en}}</ref>
==== 1974 mayoral campaign ==== In 1974, Imperiale ran against incumbent Kenneth Gibson, but lost with 43.7% of the vote.
=== 1977 gubernatorial campaign === Following his second failed mayoral bid, Imperiale briefly ran for governor of New Jersey in 1977 before dropping out of the race. He was defeated for re-election to the state senate in 1977 by Frank E. Rodgers, the mayor of Harrison. He was again elected to the State Assembly in 1979, this time as a Republican. He defeated three-term Democratic Assemblyman John F. Cali.
=== 1981 gubernatorial campaign === He gave up his Assembly seat in 1981 to seek the Republican nomination for Governor of New Jersey, finishing 6th in a field of 8 candidates with 5% of the vote.
Later, Imperiale made unsuccessful bids for Essex County Freeholder, Essex County Sheriff, and U.S. Representative.<ref name=obit/>
== Electoral history == {{Election box begin no change|title=1971 Assembly District 11-B<ref>{{cite web|title=NJ Assembly 11-B |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=741148|publisher=OurCampaigns.com|accessdate=9 December 2013}}</ref>}} {{Election box winning candidate with party link no change |candidate=Anthony Imperiale |party=Independent politician |votes=13,857 |percentage=23.59% }} {{Election box winning candidate with party link no change |candidate=Frank Megaro |party=Democratic Party (United States) |votes=12,436 |percentage=21.17% }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change |candidate=Paul Policastro (incumbent) |party=Democratic Party (United States) |votes=10,825 |percentage=18.43% }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change |candidate=C. Richard Fiore (incumbent) |party=Republican Party (United States) |votes=8,215 |percentage=13.99% }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change |candidate=Ralph D'Ambola |party=Republican Party (United States) |votes=7,351 |percentage=12.52% }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change |candidate=Ronald J. DelMauro |party=Independent politician |votes=3,323 |percentage=5.66% }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change |candidate=Nicholas A. Ciufi III |party=Independent politician |votes=2,729 |percentage=4.65% }} {{Election box total no change|votes=58,736|percentage=100.00%}} {{Election box end}}{{Election box begin no change|title=1981 Republican gubernatorial primary<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/1981-primary-results-governor.pdf |title=Candidates for the Office of Governor - State of New Jersey |publisher=Secretary of State of New Jersey |year=1981 |accessdate=August 17, 2015}}</ref>}} {{Election box winning candidate with party link no change|candidate=Thomas Kean|party=Republican Party (United States)|votes=122,512|percentage=30.75}} {{Election box candidate with party link no change|candidate=Lawrence Francis Kramer|party=Republican Party (United States)|votes=83,565|percentage=20.98}} {{Election box candidate with party link no change|candidate=Bo Sullivan|party=Republican Party (United States)|votes=67,651|percentage=16.98}} {{Election box candidate with party link no change|candidate=James Wallwork|party=Republican Party (United States)|votes=61,816|percentage=15.52}} {{Election box candidate with party link no change|candidate=Barry T. Parker|party=Republican Party (United States)|votes=26,040|percentage=6.54}} {{Election box candidate with party link no change|candidate=Anthony Imperiale|party=Republican Party (United States)|votes=18,452|percentage=4.63}} {{Election box candidate with party link no change|candidate=John K. Rafferty|party=Republican Party (United States)|votes=12,837|percentage=3.22}} {{Election box candidate with party link no change|candidate=Richard McGlynn|party=Republican Party (United States)|votes=5,486|percentage=1.38}} {{Election box total no change|votes=398,359|percentage=100.00}} {{Election box end}}
== Personal life and death == After leaving office, Imperiale founded a volunteer ambulance company in Newark. As a volunteer paramedic, he was praised by his former political rivals and for his generosity, sense of humor, and commitment to equal treatment.<ref name=obit/>
In 1984, Imperiale's son Anthony Jr. was sentenced to nine years in prison for shooting and wounding a minor who was making noise outside his bedroom window.<ref name=obit/> In 1987, Imperiale's son Michael was shot and wounded by an off-duty police officer after the two got in a car accident.<ref name="obit" />
He died on December 26, 1999, at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey of complications related to kidney failure.<ref name=obit/>
== Popular culture == Imperiale is referenced in season 4, episode 7 of The Sopranos<ref>https://www.nydailynews.com/2002/10/30/for-tony-soprano-oh-girl-has-a-great-beat/</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{s-start}} {{s-par|us-nj-hs}} {{s-bef|before=Ronald Owens<br>George C. Richardson}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the New Jersey General Assembly<br>from the 11-B district|years=January 11, 1972–January 8, 1974|alongside=Frank Megaro}} {{s-aft|after=Constituency abolished}} |- {{s-bef|before=John F. Cali}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the New Jersey General Assembly<br>from the 30th district|years=January 8, 1980–January 12, 1982|alongside=Michael F. Adubato}} {{s-aft|after=John V. Kelly<br>Buddy Fortunato}} |- {{s-par|us-nj-sen}} {{s-bef|before=Constituency established}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the New Jersey Senate<br>from the 30th district|years=January 8, 1974–January 10, 1978}} {{s-aft|after=Frank E. Rodgers}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Imperiale, Anthony}} Category:1931 births Category:1999 deaths Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War Category:American people of Italian descent Category:Anti-crime activists Category:Barringer High School alumni Category:New Jersey independents Category:Republican Party New Jersey state senators Category:Members of the Municipal Council of Newark Category:20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature