Alex Blanco

Alex Blanco (born 1972) is an American politician, who served as mayor of Passaic, New Jersey. A member of the Democratic Party, Blanco was the first elected and second serving Dominican-American mayor in the United States.

Biography Alex Blanco was born in the Dominican Republic in 1972. Blanco's family struggled financially and received foodstamps for a time during Alex's childhood. He won a full four-year term in the May election, defeating city supervisor Vincent Capuana. Blanco admitted in court to accepting $110,000 in bribes from two unnamed housing developers in exchange for directing more than $200,000 in HUD funds to a failed low-income housing development. He faced up to 10 years in federal prison upon sentencing, scheduled for February 2017. He was succeeded by Passaic County Freeholder Hector Lora, in an appointment made by the City Council.

Blanco is the second consecutive elected mayor of Passaic, and the third in two decades (following Joseph Lipari and Sammy Rivera), to be convicted of or plead guilty to official misconduct charges.