Gary Schaer

Democratic Party

New Jersey General Assembly District 36

Tenure

2006 - Present

Term ends

2028

Years in position

20

Prior offices:

Acting Mayor City of Passaic

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Report an officeholder change

Compensation

Base salary

$49,000/year

Per diem

No per diem is paid.

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 4, 2025

Education

Bachelor's

American University

Personal

Religion

Orthodox Judaism

Profession

Investment Consultant and Vice President, Private Client Group

Contact

Official website

Official Facebook

Official X

Official Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

Gary Schaer (Democratic Party) is a member of theNew Jersey General Assembly, representingDistrict 36. He assumed office in 2006. His current term ends on January 11, 2028.

Schaer (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to theNew Jersey General Assembly to representDistrict 36. He won in the general election onNovember 4, 2025.

Schaer has served asdeputy speaker of the Assembly.

Biography

Schaer earned his B.A. in political science from American University. His professional experience includes working as vice-president and investment consultant for a private client group.^[1]

Committee assignments

2023-2024

Schaer was assigned to the following committees:

• Appropriations Committee
• Budget Committee
• Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee,Vice Chair

2020-2021

Schaer was assigned to the following committees:

• Appropriations Committee,Vice-chair
• Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee
• Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee

2019-2020

Schaer was assigned to the following committees:

• Appropriations Committee,Vice-Chair
• Education Committee
• Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee

2016 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2016 legislative session, Schaer served on the following committees:

2015 legislative session

In the 2015 legislative session, Schaer served on the following committees:

2014 legislative session

In the 2014 legislative session, Schaer served on the following committees:

2010-2012

In the 2010-2012 legislative session, Schaer served on the following committees:

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according toBillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2025

See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2025

General election

General election for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 (2 seats)

IncumbentGary Schaer and incumbentClinton Calabrese defeatedChristopher Musto andDiane DeBiase in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 on November 4, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gary Schaer (D)	30.8	34,434
✔		Clinton Calabrese (D)	30.3	33,959
		Christopher Musto (R)	19.9	22,328
		Diane DeBiase (R)	18.9	21,205

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 111,926
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 (2 seats)

IncumbentGary Schaer and incumbentClinton Calabrese advanced from the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 on June 10, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gary Schaer	50.3	10,557
✔		Clinton Calabrese	49.7	10,449

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 21,006
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 (2 seats)

Christopher Musto andDiane DeBiase defeatedChris Auriemma andCraig Auriemma in the Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 on June 10, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Christopher Musto	32.9	3,090
✔		Diane DeBiase	30.5	2,863
		Chris Auriemma	20.3	1,901
	Submit photo	Craig Auriemma	16.3	1,526

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 9,380
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

2023

See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2023

General election

General election for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 (2 seats)

IncumbentClinton Calabrese and incumbentGary Schaer defeatedCraig Auriemma andJoseph Viso in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Clinton Calabrese (D)	30.6	18,228
✔		Gary Schaer (D)	30.3	18,072
	Submit photo	Craig Auriemma (R)	19.7	11,761
	Submit photo	Joseph Viso (R)	19.4	11,546

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 59,607
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 (2 seats)

IncumbentClinton Calabrese and incumbentGary Schaer advanced from the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 on June 6, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Clinton Calabrese	50.3	4,328
✔		Gary Schaer	49.7	4,272

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,600
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 (2 seats)

Craig Auriemma andJoseph Viso advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 on June 6, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Craig Auriemma	50.3	2,234
✔	Submit photo	Joseph Viso	49.7	2,209

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,443
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

2021

See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2021

General election

General election for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 (2 seats)

IncumbentGary Schaer and incumbentClinton Calabrese defeatedJoseph Viso andCraig Auriemma in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 on November 2, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gary Schaer (D)	28.4	24,654
✔		Clinton Calabrese (D)	27.8	24,137
	Submit photo	Joseph Viso (R)	21.9	19,025
	Submit photo	Craig Auriemma (R)	21.9	19,008

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 86,824
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 (2 seats)

IncumbentGary Schaer and incumbentClinton Calabrese advanced from the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 on June 8, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gary Schaer	50.5	4,502
✔		Clinton Calabrese	49.5	4,407

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,909
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 (2 seats)

Craig Auriemma andJoseph Viso advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 on June 8, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Craig Auriemma (Write-in)	50.2	113
✔	Submit photo	Joseph Viso (Write-in)	49.8	112

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 225
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Ana Castillo (R)

2019

See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2019

General election

General election for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 (2 seats)

IncumbentGary Schaer and incumbentClinton Calabrese defeatedFoster Lowe andKhaldoun Androwis in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 on November 5, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gary Schaer (D)	30.8	16,747
✔		Clinton Calabrese (D)	30.5	16,622
		Foster Lowe (R)	19.4	10,561
		Khaldoun Androwis (R)	19.3	10,496

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 54,426
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 (2 seats)

IncumbentClinton Calabrese and incumbentGary Schaer defeatedEdward Tolga Gonca in the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 on June 4, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Clinton Calabrese	47.3	3,879
✔		Gary Schaer	47.3	3,878
		Edward Tolga Gonca	5.3	437

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,194
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 (2 seats)

Khaldoun Androwis andFoster Lowe advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 36 on June 4, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Khaldoun Androwis	50.0	1,447
✔		Foster Lowe	50.0	1,445

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,892
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

2017

See also:New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2017

General election

Elections for theNew Jersey General Assembly took place in 2017. All80 seats were up for election. State assembly members are elected to two-year terms. The general election took place onNovember 7, 2017. A primary election took place onJune 6, 2017. The filing deadline for the primary election wasApril 3, 2017.^[2] Legislative districts in the New Jersey General Assembly aremulti-member districts, with two representatives in each district. In Democratic and Republican primary elections, the top two candidates move forward to the general election, and the top two candidates in the general election are declared the winners.^[3] IncumbentGary Schaer (D) and incumbentMarlene Caride (D) defeatedPaul Passamano (R) andMarc Marsi (R) in the New Jersey General Assembly District 36 general election.^[4][5]

New Jersey General Assembly, District 36 General Election, 2017
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Gary SchaerIncumbent	31.92%	22,527
	Democratic	Marlene CarideIncumbent	31.77%	22,419
	Republican	Paul Passamano	18.77%	13,245
	Republican	Marc Marsi	17.53%	12,372
Total Votes				70,563
Source:New Jersey Department of State

Democratic primary election

IncumbentMarlene Caride and incumbentGary Schaer were unopposed in the New Jersey General Assembly District 36 Democratic primary election.^[6][7]

New Jersey General Assembly, District 36 Democratic Primary, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Marlene CarideIncumbent	50.90%	5,990
Gary SchaerIncumbent	49.10%	5,779
Total Votes		11,769
Source:New Jersey Department of State

Republican primary election

Paul Passamano andMarc Marsi were unopposed in the New Jersey General Assembly District 36 Republican primary election.^[8][7]

New Jersey General Assembly, District 36 Republican Primary, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Paul Passamano	51.93%	2,006
Marc Marsi	48.07%	1,857
Total Votes		3,863
Source:New Jersey Department of State

2015

See also:New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2015

Elections for theNew Jersey General Assembly took place in 2015. A primary election was held on June 2, 2015. The general election took place onNovember 3, 2015. Thesignature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 30, 2015.^[9] Since thegeneral assembly uses multi-member districts, the top two candidates from each party in the primaries advanced to the general election. IncumbentGary Schaer and incumbentMarlene Caride were bracketed together and were unopposed in the Democratic primary.Forrest Elliott andJames Lenoy were bracketed together and were unopposed in the Republican primary. Schaer and Caride defeated Elliott, Lenoy andJeff Boss ("NSA DID 911") in the general election.^{[10][11][12][13][14]}

New Jersey General Assembly, District 36 General Election, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Gary SchaerIncumbent	33.1%	15,125
	Democratic	Marlene CarideIncumbent	32.4%	14,788
	Republican	Forrest Elliott	17.1%	7,835
	Republican	James Lenoy	16.4%	7,510
	NSA Did 911	Jeff Boss	0.9%	430
Total Votes				45,688

2013

See also:New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2013

Schaer won re-election in the2013 election forNew Jersey General Assembly District 36. Schaer was bracketed withMarlene Caride and defeatedAharon Cohn andSam Krause in the June 4 Democratic primary. He and incumbentMarlene Caride (D) defeatedRosina Romano (R) andFoster Lowe (R) in the general election, which took place on November 5, 2013.^{[15][16][17][18]}

New Jersey General Assembly, District 36 General Election, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Gary SchaerIncumbent	29.2%	21,131
	Democratic	Marlene CarideIncumbent	28.4%	20,520
	Republican	Rosina Romano	21.6%	15,631
	Republican	Foster Lowe	20.8%	15,014
Total Votes				72,296

New Jersey General Assembly, District 36, Democratic Primary, 2013
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Gary SchaerIncumbent	47%	3,318
Marlene CarideIncumbent	44.4%	3,133
Sam Krause	4.4%	309
Aharon Cohn	4.2%	296
Total Votes		7,056

2011

See also:New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2011

Schaer won re-election in 2011. He andMarlene Caride ran unopposed in the June 7 Democratic primary. They then defeatedJohn Genovesi (R) andSara Rosengarten (R) in the November 8 general election.^[19]

New Jersey General Assembly District 36 General Election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Gary SchaerIncumbent	30.5%	17,262
	Democratic	Marlene Caride	28.8%	16,319
	Republican	Sara Rosengarten	20.7%	11,735
	Republican	John Genovesi	19.9%	11,256
Total Votes				56,572

2009

See also:New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2009

Running for re-election in the November 3, 2009, general election, Schaer received 21,908 votes (28%), defeatingRepublican challengersCarmen Pio Costa andDonald Diorio.^[20] He was bracketed withFrederick Scalera (D).^[21]

New Jersey Assembly General Election, Thirty-Sixth Legislative District (2009)
Candidates		Votes
Frederick Scalera (D)		23,353
Gary S. Schaer (D)		22,089
Carmen Pio Costa (R)		17,035
Donald Diorio (R)		16,691

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also:Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Gary Schaer did not completeBallotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.

2023

Gary Schaer did not completeBallotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.

2021

Gary Schaer did not completeBallotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.

2019

Gary Schaer did not completeBallotpedia's 2019 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf.Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.

Scorecards

See also:State legislative scorecards andState legislative scorecards in New Jersey

Ascorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of New Jersey scorecards, email suggestions toeditor@ballotpedia.org.

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

Endorsements

2013

In 2013, Schaer’s endorsements included the following:^[22]

• The New Jersey AFL-CIO

2011

In 2011, Schaer’s endorsements included the following:^[23]

• New Jersey State AFL-CIO

Personal

Note: Pleasecontact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Schaer and his wife, Donna, have three children.

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