Anthony E. Russo

Anthony Ernest Russo (born August 8, 1926) is an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey Senate and as the mayor of Union Township, New Jersey. Since 1972, he has also served as the Union County adjuster, handling documents for the institutional commitment of psychiatric and developmentally disabled patients. As of August 2026, he is the oldest county official in New Jersey and the oldest living former New Jersey legislator.

Early life and education Anthony Ernest Russo was born in Phillipsburg, New Jersey on August 8, 1926. He first became involved in politics when Robert B. Meyner, the state senator for Warren County and a friend of the Russo family, ran successfully for governor in 1953.

Union Township committee (196268, 197079) Russo entered politics on his own behalf in 1960, when he challenged Republican incumbent Kolomon Kiss for a seat on the Union Township committee. He was narrowly defeated. In 1961, he ran for committee again, and he and his running mate James Conlon won, narrowing the Republican majority on the committee to 32. They won despite the fact that Republican gubernatorial nominee James P. Mitchell, from neighboring Elizabeth, easily carried the township. During the 1973 campaign, the Democratic nominee for New Jersey General Assembly withdrew from the race following an indictment for corruption; Russo declined an offer to run in his place. Russo was elevated to mayor upon the inauguration of the Democratic majority in 1974; he served for one year before rotating the position to Conlon and winning re-election to his committee seat in 1975. In 1976, Republicans regained their majority on the committee.