Alex DeCroce, a top New Jersey assemblyman, dies in the Statehouse

Alex DeCroce, a longtime New Jersey assemblyman and the leading Republican of the state’s lower house, was found dead in a bathroom at the Statehouse late Monday night, The New Jersey Star-Ledger reported. He was 75. 

Assemblyman DeCroce was pronounced dead inside a men’s restroom at the Statehouse in Trenton, New Jersey around 11 p.m. after a marathon day of meetings and votes. Lawmakers told the Star-Ledger that the Legislature’s only doctor, Assemblyman Herb Conaway, was the one who attended to DeCroce.

DeCroce had been an Assemblyman since 1989, when he was selected to fill a vacancy and sworn in, and served as the Republican minority leader since 2003. Prior to his career as a legislator, he was a realtor for ERA Gallo & DeCroce, according to his legislative biography. He represented Morris County, where Governor Chris Christie started his political career, for 23 years. 

Governor Christie arrived at the Statehouse around midnight on Monday, wearing a suit jacket over a Notre Dame T-shirt, no socks and loafers, and hugged lawmakers before holding a meeting, The Star-Ledger reported. 

“I have known Alex for nearly twenty years,” Christie said in a statement to reporters, according to the New York Times. “He helped to give me my start in elective politics in Morris County in 1993. He was one of the most kind, considerate and trustworthy people I have ever had the pleasure to know. He was an enormously accomplished legislator and a tremendous servant to the people of New Jersey. This is an enormous loss for our state and for me personally.”

Governor Christie has postponed his State of the State address, which was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, the Times reported. 

DeCroce was the state's longest serving member of the Assembly. 

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