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State Assemblyman Thomas Giblin has announced that he will not seek re-election this year, ending his 18-year tenure in Trenton and his 50-year political career. Giblin, who has also served as an influential Essex County official and Chairman of New Jersey’s Democratic Party, cited increased responsibilities with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 68 in West Caldwell, where he has been a labor leader for almost three decades, as one of the reasons he is retiring from politics. The news comes after his longtime chief of staff, Lolita Cruz, announced plans to file a workplace suit against Giblin, alleging that she has been subject to a “hostile work environment” and harassment for years.
Giblin has denied the allegations and stated that the legal claim did not “color my decision” to step down from the state legislature. He also revealed that he plans to pay more attention to his family, saying that politics has been an “integral part” of his life since childhood. Giblin had initially announced intentions to seek a tenth two-year term before declaring his retirement.
As of Giblin’s announcement, 19 lawmakers have publicly stated that they will not seek another term in Trenton in the upcoming elections, with all 120 seats in the Democrat-controlled Legislature on the ballot, albeit with rejiggered districts. Republicans are seeking to gain control of at least one branch of the Legislature for the first time in two decades.
Giblin was raised in Newark as the son of John Giblin, a powerful labor leader and state lawmaker who also ran the International Union of Operating Engineers union and served as an Essex County freeholder and member of the state Senate. The younger Giblin lost his first bid for the Assembly to future Gov. Tom Kean in 1973 before serving two separate stints as an Essex County freeholder and then being elected as Essex County surrogate in 1990. He led the state Democratic Party from 1997 to 2001 and was elected to the Assembly in 2005, representing Essex County’s 34th legislative district. Giblin’s career has also seen him lose bids for Essex County executive three times.
Giblin was planning to run for re-election in the 27th legislative district alongside the district’s incumbent Democrats, state Sen. Richard Codey and Assemblyman John McKeon. Following his retirement announcement, Alixon Collazos is expected to run in his place. Collazos is an executive at the public affairs firm BGIll Group, run by her husband, Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, and is a former aide to then-U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman.
