Cleopatra Tucker

Cleopatra G. Tucker (born April 9, 1943) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has served in the New Jersey General Assembly since 2008, where she represents the 28th legislative district.

Tucker serves in the Assembly on the Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee (as Vice-Chair) and on the Human Services Committee.^[1]

Assemblywoman Tucker is the widow of Assemblyman Donald Kofi Tucker, who held the seat until his death in November 2005. Assemblyman Tucker was replaced in a special election convention by Evelyn Williams, who was elected to serve the remaining month of the term and to serve the first year of the full term Assemblyman Tucker won in the 2005 election. Assemblywoman Williams resigned from the Assembly in January 2006, following her arrest for shoplifting, creating a vacant seat. A special election convention elected Democratic Party activist Oadline Truitt to the seat for the remainder of Williams's term, but the convention was invalidated because of lack of notice for the seat and a second convention was called.^{[citation needed]}

Tucker challenged Truitt at the second convention but lost. Truitt then won a November 2006 special election for the remaining 14 months of the term. In the June 2007 primary, Mrs. Tucker unseated Assemblywoman Truitt in the primary election, before winning the 2007 general election for a full two-year term.

In January 2011, Assemblywoman Tucker introduced a bill that would require every bicycle in the state of New Jersey to display a license plate, which would be registered with the government for a small fee.^[2] On January 13, 2011, Assemblywoman Tucker withdrew her proposal.^[3]

Tucker was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. She attended Tennessee State University, majoring in sociology. After moving to Newark, New Jersey, in 1966, she was hired by the Newark Housing Authority in 1976. She retired from the Authority in 2002. She is currently the executive director of a non-profit organization called The Centre, Inc.^[1] The Centre's headquarters was named after her late husband, Donald K. Tucker, in 2006.^[4]

District 28

Each of the forty districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly. The other representatives from the 28th District for the 2008-2009 Legislative Session are:

• Senator Ronald Rice, and
• Assemblyman Ralph R. Caputo

References

External links

• Assemblywoman Tuckers' legislative webpage, New Jersey Legislature
• Assembly Majority Web site
• New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms
  • 2007