He was born on May 19, 1920, in West Orange, New Jersey, as one of eight children of John Pasquale Renna Sr., a baker. He worked full-time as a bookkeeper and attended Rutgers University at night, earning a degree in accounting. In 1962, Renna sought a seat on the
West Orange, New Jersey Township Council, but was unsuccessful. He also served as Essex County Purchasing Agent and was the longtime West Orange Republican Chairman. ). With the support of Bateman, who was leading in the polls, Renna defeated Assemblyman
Carl Orechio of Nutley. Renna endorsed Kean for the gubernatorial nomination in 1981. Kean was one of five Essex County candidates seeking the GOP nomination, along with State Senator
James Wallwork, Assemblyman
Anthony Imperiale, former Superior Court Judge
Richard McGlynn, and millionaire businessman
Bo Sullivan. Kean won the nomination and the general election, and named Renna to his cabinet as
Commissioner of Community Affairs. In that role, he also sat on the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission, which controlled development in a large area in the state. In 1985, Renna left the cabinet, and he became president of Great American Recreation, Inc. which operated the
Vernon Valley-Great Gorge ski resort and the
Action Park amusement park in Sussex County. In 1986, he was again elected Essex County Republican Chairman. Renna had a few wins by watching the Democratic primary from the sidelines and then figuring out his ticket over the summer. That's what happened in 1986, when Essex County Executive
Peter Shapiro's popularity plummeted—especially among Democrats. Sensing an opportunity, Renna pulled his candidate,
Carl Orechio, off the ticket and replaced him with
Nicholas Amato, who had won three terms as
Essex County Surrogate as a Democrat before Shapiro dumped him from the party line a few months earlier. For Surrogate, Renna ran another party switcher:
Earl Harris, the Newark City Council President. The result was a GOP landslide. In 1988 he convinced
Joe Louis Clark, the principal of
Eastside High School in
Paterson, New Jersey, and the subject of a semi-biographical film,
Lean on Me, to run for Essex County Freeholder as a Republican. In a heavily Democratic district based in
East Orange, Clark lost to
LeRoy Jones. In 1994, Renna helped another Republican,
James Treffinger, win election as
Essex County Executive. But after Trefinger took office, he feuded with Renna and in 1996 engineered a coup to oust him. Renna died on August 21, 1998, four months after his wife, Grace Baldanza Renna. == John P. Renna Jr. House ==