By Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Former New Jersey Assembly Speaker Garabed “Chuck” Haytaian, one of the leading figures of the Republican wave that took over Trenton in the 1990s and a lawmaker for more than two decades, has died at age 86, state officials said Friday.
A cause of death is unclear, though Haytaian reportedly suffered health issues in recent months, officials said.
A lawmaker from the northwestern corner of the state, Haytaian was often blunt, loyal to his party, and combative with the press — in some ways, a precursor to some modern GOP politicians.
Haytaian — pronounce Hi-TIE-an — assumed the top post of the state Legislature’s lower house in 1992 as Republicans took control of both chambers in a voter revolt over Democratic Gov. Jim Florio’s $2.8 billion in tax increases. Republican Christie Whitman ousted Florio in the next election.
Haytaian later ran for U.S. Senate in 1994, when he unsuccessfully tried to unseat Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg, falling by 3 percentage points. Haytaian was then head of the New Jersey Republican Party from 1995 to 2001.
Related news:
GOP powerhouse nearly unseated Frank Lautenberg in 1994 U.S. Senate race (NJ Globe)
Rest in Peace, Chuck Haytaian, (Insider NJ)
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