Charles Poekel

Charles Axel Poekel, Jr. (Born 1948) is an American Republican Party politician, author and lawyer. He was the Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976, but was defeated by the Democratic incumbent, Rep. Joseph Minish.
Poekel is the author of Babe & the Kid (The History Press, 2007), following the story of Johnny Sylvester, the young New Jersey boy who was visited in the hospital by baseball legend Babe Ruth on the eve of the 1926 World Series. Ruth famously promised to hit a home run for Sylvester, who made a miraculous recovery. Poekel's book follows Sylvester's life. Julia Ruth Stevens, Ruth's daughter, wrote the forward.
He is the son of Charles A. Poekel and Alice Lester Poekel, who ran a real estate and travel company in Verona, New Jersey. He became active in politics at a young age, serving as Chairman of the New Jersey Teenage Republican (TAR) Federation and the Essex County Young Republicans. He is a graduate of The George Washington University and American University Law School.
In 1976, at age 28, Poekel ran for Congress in the 11th congressional district of New Jersey. He won the endorsement of the Essex County Republican Committee and was unopposed in the Republican primary.
Poekel mounted an underdog campaign against Minish, an entrenched seven-term incumbent and former labor leader. He criticized Minish for his "lack of leadership" and for his vote on a 1975 bill that gave automatic cost-of-living increases to Congressmen. Poekel spent about $10,000, raised mostly in $5 and $10 contributions from family and friends; Minish spent about $100,000.
In the general election, he was defeated by Minish by a 68%-32% margin, 129,026 to 59,397.
In 1977, incumbent Republican Assemblyman John N. Dennis was giving up his seat to run for the State Senate in the 27th legislative district. Poekel was one of four candidates to seek the two Assembly seats in that district. The Essex County Republican Committee backed incumbent Carl Orechio and attorney Roger Toner to run on an organization ticket headed by Assembly Minority Leader Thomas Kean, who was running for Governor. Poekel ran on a ticket headed by another gubernatorial candidate, State Senator Raymond Bateman. Although Bateman beat Kean in the statewide gubernatorial primary, he carried his home county of Essex; Poekel finished third, and his running mate, Vincent M. Iannuzzelli, finished fourth.
From 1974 to 2000, Poekel ran his own law firm in Verona. He joined the New York District Council of Carpenters Benefit Fund in 2000, and became the Director of the United Service Workers Union (USWU) Local 74 Legal Fund in 2005. Since 2009, he has been the USWU Local 74 Benefit Fund administrator.
In 2009, Poekel was selected to present a paper on Babe Ruth and children at the 2009 Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Poekel is also the author of West Essex, Essex Fells, Fairfield, North Caldwell and Roseland (Images of New Jersey, 1999). He served as Chairman of the Essex Fells Historical Committee.

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