is governed under the City form of New Jersey municipal government. The government consists of a mayor and a city council made up of ten members, two representing each of the city's five geographic political subdivisions called wards. The mayor is elected directly by the voters. The ten members of the city council are elected to four-year terms on a staggered basis, with one seat in each ward coming up for election every other year.
James Whyte Kelly Jr., 1958 to 1970. He was an American Democratic Party politician who served as Mayor of East Orange, New Jersey, from 1958 to 1970. In 1965, Kelly, a widower, married Essex County Freeholder Margaret G. Marucci, a widow. Kelly served as President of the Essex County Board of Taxation in the 1950s.
William Stanford Hart, Sr., 1970 to 1978. He was an American Democratic Party politician elected as Mayor of East Orange, New Jersey in 1969 and again in 1973. He became the first African American to win election as mayor of a major New Jersey city when he won in 1969. He served as President of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials.
Thomas Henry Cooke, Jr., 1978 to 1986. He was an American Democratic Party politician elected as Mayor of East Orange, New Jersey in 1977, and again in 1981, after serving as a member of the Essex 'County Board of Freeholders.'
At the age of 39, Lester E. Taylor III became the second youngest mayor in the city's history. Taylor earned his undergraduate degree in political science from Montclair State University and a Juris Doctorate from Howard University School of Law. Both a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association and a Trustee for the New Jersey School Boards Association-North Region Association of School Attorneys, Mayor Taylor is also a partner at Florio Perrucci Steinhardt & Fader. Taylor also launched several new initiatives, the Quality of Life Task Force, the East Orange College and Career Readiness Network, and the Mentor Summit.
Theodore R. "Ted" Green III (2018 to present)
A former aide to New Jersey State Senator Richard J. Codey, Mayor Green is a 1982 graduate of East Orange High School and holds a bachelor's degree in business management from Cheyney University, a master's degree in sociology and human services from Lincoln University and certification as a housing counselor from Rutgers University. Over the past two decades, he has worked in the fields of property maintenance and housing revitalization, serving as Assistant Compliance Officer for the City of East Orange, Assistant Director of Code Enforcement for Irvington Township, Compliance Specialist at Brick City Development Corporation, and most recently, Irvington Township’s Director of Housing and Building Construction. A longtime East Orange resident, Mayor Green has been active in East Orange political and civic affairs for nearly three decades, first as a member of the Third Ward Democratic Municipal County Committee and his wards’ block associations and civic groups, and later as Third Ward Councilman in 2006, a position he held for three terms.
Thomas H. Cooke Jr.
Thomas H. Cooke Jr. was an American Democratic Party politician who served as Mayor of East Orange, New Jersey, from 1978 to 1986. He was elected to the East Orange City Council in 1961, at age 32, and was re-elected in 1969 and 1969. In 1967, Cooke became a candidate for the New Jersey General Assembly, running in Essex County District 11D. Cooke and his running mate, Frank J. Dodd, a future New Jersey Senate President and 1981 Democratic gubernatorial candidate, easily defeated Francis T. Craig in the Democratic primary. In the general election, the two seats were won by Republican Kenneth Wilson and Dodd, with Republican Donald MacArt, a former East Orange Council Chairman and Cooke losing. He was elected to the Essex County Board of Freeholders in 1970, and was re-elected in 1973. He was not a candidate for re-election to a third term in 1976 after losing the backing of the powerful Essex County Democratic Chairman, Harry Lerner. He ran for Mayor in 1977, defeating Lerner's candidate, two term Mayor William Stanford Hart Sr. in the Democratic primary. He won renomination in the 1981 Democratic primary by just 321 votes, and lost the Democratic primary for Essex County Executive to incumbent Peter Shapiro by a 2-1 margin. Cooke made an unsuccessful comeback bid in 1997, challenging incumbent Mayor Robert L. Bowser in the Democratic primary. He finished fifth in that race with just 520 votes. Bowser defeated Sheila Oliver 3,991 to 3,939.
