Ronald Dario

Ronald A. Dario (1937 – June 30, 2004) was a Republican Party politician who represented the 33rd Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1984 to 1986 and served as a Commissioner in Union City, New Jersey.

Ronald Dario
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 33rd district
In office January 10, 1984 – January 14, 1986 Serving with Jose Arango
Preceded by	Nicholas LaRocca Robert Ranieri
Succeeded by	Bernard Kenny Bob Menendez
Personal details
Born	1937
Died	June 30, 2004(2004-06-30) (aged 66–67) Lakewood Township, New Jersey
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Claire Mastropierro
Residence	Union City, New Jersey

Early life and education

Raised in Hoboken, he played prep baseball, basketball and football at A. J. Demarest High School (since renamed as Hoboken High School) and attended Wagner College, where he competed for four seasons on the Wagner Seahawks men's basketball team.^[1]

Political career

After moving to Union City, New Jersey in 1960, he connected with William Musto, who was mayor of Union City and represented the district in the New Jersey Senate. In 1974, Dario ran as part of Musto's successful Your Operation Uplift campaign for Union City Commissioners, together with a slate that included Bob Menendez.^[1] Dario had won two terms on the Union City Commission, but by 1982 he had broken away from Musto after he had been indicted, and ultimately convicted, on corruption charges.^[2] Dario and other former Musto supporters ran as part of an Alliance Civic Association slate that lost the 1982 elections.^[1] After the slate won the 1986 election with support from the Republican Party, Dario had expected to be chosen as mayor but the Menendez was able to obtain the votes from his running mates that he needed to be elected mayor at the July 1 reorganization meeting.^[3] Dario split from Menendez and lost his bid for re-election in 1990.^[1]

In the 1985 general election, representatives of the Thomas Kean campaign for Governor of New Jersey encouraged Dario to run together with Jose Arango as the Republican candidates for the two General Assembly seats in the 33rd Legislative District. In defeating incumbent Robert Ranieri and newcomer Mario R. Hernandez, the two Republican victors were among a group of four who were the first to represent the county in the State Assembly in more than 60 years.^[4][5]

In his single two-year term in the Assembly, Dario was a co-sponsor of legislation that provided aided to struggling cities, that led to the state takeover of the Jersey City Public Schools and that prohibited warehousing of apartments in pending condominium conversions.^[1] Dario was co-sponsor of a bill that would mandate that a majority of tenants in an apartment building that is undergoing a conversion to condominiums, ending a system in which such conversions can be implemented without any say by existing tenants.^[6]

Election results

New Jersey general election, 1985^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Ronald A. Dario	20,422	27.9	10.0
	Republican	Jose O. Arango	19,748	26.9	9.7
	Democratic	Robert A. Ranieri	17,443	23.8	8.9
	Democratic	Mario R. Hernandez	15,671	21.4	10.8
Total votes			'73,284'	'100.0'

Death

A resident of Manchester Township, Dario died on June 30, 2004, at Paul Kimball Hospital (since renamed as Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus) in Lakewood Township, New Jersey.^[1]

References

1. Torres, Agustin C. "Ron Dario, 66; rode political whirlwind Once an ally, fought Menendez for mayoralty", copy of article from The Jersey Journal, July 2, 2004. Accessed January 17, 2022. "Born in 1937, Dario, a Hoboken native, attended Demarest High School, where he was an all-county athlete in football, basketball and baseball. He was set to play football for Arizona State University, but a rule that prevented ballplayers from marrying forced him to transfer to Wagner College in Staten Island, where he was a four-year starter."
2. Laura, Joseph. "A Sense Of Chaos Pervades Union City", The New York Times, February 28, 1982. Accessed January 17, 2022. "Commissioner Ronald Dario, who was twice elected on Mr. Musto's ticket, announced only last fall that he was forming his own organization to oppose Mr. Musto in May. Since then, numerous programs in Mr. Dario's Department of Parks and Public Property have been taken away from his jurisdiction by a vote of the four other commissioners."
3. Wildstein, David. "The Republican screw up that made Menendez Mayor", New Jersey Globe, March 13, 2018. Accessed January 17, 2022. "The GOP ran the campaign and raised most of the money with the understanding that Dario would be mayor if they won. The Kean-backed slate swept the Union City election and the triumphant Republicans headed back to Trenton. Dario showed up to be sworn in as mayor on July 1 to find out that Menendez and Walter had convinced Alcobar to support Menendez for Mayor."
4. Candidates for the Office of General Assembly 1985, New Jersey Department of State. Accessed December 20, 2023.
5. Narvaez, Alfonso A. "Election Day: For G.O.P., Success In Jersey, A Close Race On Staten Island; Republicans In Jersey Win Control Of State Assembly", The New York Times, November 6, 1985. Accessed December 20, 2023. "The most stunning setback for the Democrats came in Hudson County, where the Republicans won four seats. Lee Lichtenberger, the Hudson County Republican chairman, said a Republican Assembly candidate has not won in the county since 1921.... In the 33d District, two Republicans, Jose A. Arango of West New York and Ronald A. Dario of Union City, defeated the Democratic incumbent, Robert A. Ranieri of Hoboken, and the other Democratic candidate, Mario R. Hernandez of West New York."
6. Sennott, Charles M. "Kean says he'll study tenant bill", The Record, June 17, 1987. Accessed January 17, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Governor Kean yesterday promised to take a look at a controversial bill protecting tenants, which is now stalled in the state legislature, after more than 400 tenant activists demonstrated outside a Republican fund-raiser last night.... The proposed legislation would require the approval of more than 50 percent of the tenants of a building for a landlord to convert it to condominiums. Tenants now have no say over conversions but are allowed to remain for three years; senior citizens and disabled persons cannot be evicted for 40 years..... The proposed tenant bill is stalled in the Assembly Urban Policy and Waterfront Development Committee, headed by Union City Republican Assemblyman Ronald Dario, a cosponsor of the bill."