Giblin was born on January 15, 1947, to
John J. (1909–1975) and Theresa E. (née Moran) Giblin in
East Orange. His father, a labor leader, served as a New Jersey state senator from 1966 to 1968 and as an Essex County commissioner after moving from
County Roscommon,
Ireland. Giblin was raised in
Newark and attended
Seton Hall Preparatory School. He served in the
New Jersey Air National Guard from 1966 to 1972, achieving the rank of
Staff Sergeant. He served as a member of the
Essex County Board of County Commissioners from 1977 to 1978 and again from 1982 to 1990. Giblin served on the New Jersey Real Estate Commission from 1979 to 1982. from 1990 to 1993. He served as the county surrogate until resigning in 1993 to run for Essex County Executive. In the June
primary election following the resignation of
Thomas J. D'Alessio who was eventually convicted of bribery and extortion, Giblin and
East Orange mayor
Cardell Cooper battled to a tie of 22,907 votes each. A judge decided in August that Cooper would be the Democratic nominee (he would lose to Republican
James W. Treffinger in the general election). In 2002, he again ran for County Executive facing Commission President
Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. in the primary. Giblin accused DiVincenzo of being the focus of a federal inquiry; DiVincenzo got then-
U.S. Attorney Chris Christie to specifically state that he was not the focus of any probe. Both campaigns spent a total of $4.2 million (in 2015
dollars) in what is the 13th most-expensive local race in the state's history; ultimately DiVincenzo defeated Giblin and won the general election. He was a longtime chairman of the Essex County Democratic Committee serving from 1993 to 2003. In 1997, Giblin gave then-
Woodbridge Township mayor
Jim McGreevey the county organization line in that year's
gubernatorial primary election. As the Democratic nominee traditionally chooses the next chairman of the
New Jersey Democratic State Committee, McGreevey nominated Giblin to serve as the head of the state party that year. Giblin served as such from 1997 to 2001. In December 1996, Giblin was a member of the New Jersey State
Electoral College, one of 15 electors casting their votes for the
Clinton/
Gore ticket following the
1996 presidential election. He was a member of the 2001
New Jersey Apportionment Commission, the group charged with
redrawing the lines of the state's legislative districts following the
2000 Census. Giblin is the business manager of the
International Union of Operating Engineers,
AFL–CIO, Local 68 based in West Caldwell. He is married, has five children and five grandchildren, and is a resident of
Montclair. ==Assembly career==