EDISON — Claribel Cortes was sworn in today as the Middlesex County Surrogate. Cortes, who stepped down from her North Brunswick Council seat prior to her swearing in as Surrogate, was the first Latina to be elected to the North Brunswick Council and is the first Latina to serve as Middlesex County Surrogate. Today marks the first time that all three Middlesex County constitutional offices are held by women.

“Claribel Cortes is a pioneer in every sense of the word. She has led a life of many firsts and we are excited that she will be leading the county ticket this year,” said Middlesex County Democratic Organization Chairman Kevin P. McCabe. “Claribel’s passion to serve her community and her experience as an innovative media specialist is the perfect combination to continue the work started by former Surrogate Kevin Hoagland.”

“It is an honor and privilege to not only serve the residents of Middlesex County as their new Surrogate, but to be the first Latina in this county to do so. The Middlesex County Surrogate’s Office has done incredible work for its residents and I am excited to build upon the team created by Kevin Hoagland,” said Surrogate Claribel Cortes. “Service to my community has always been a driving force in my life. Whether it is in my work in journalism, NJ Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, or as a local elected official in North Brunswick, I have always carried with me the desire to understand the community around me and to help others. This is why I ran for the North Brunswick School Board, and why I joined the North Brunswick Council last year. I am a mother and resident, and I wanted to make a difference for my children and my neighbors. But, like everyone else in America, the COVID pandemic has forced me to pause and reevaluate how I can make the greatest impact to better the community around me. So many of us have experienced unexpected loss due to the pandemic, and unfortunately, not everyone plans for the worst case scenario. This is where the Surrogate’s Office can be a resource to help families when they need it most and help prepare for the unfair burden left after unexpected loss.”

Claribel Cortes is a business executive, advocate and community leader with more than two decades of experience in digital media, communications, and community outreach. She has established a track record of accelerating business expansion and community relations by developing relationships with key industry and community leaders in all communities. Early in her career, Claribel established herself while working for Fox News, where she covered numerous historical events such as 9/11 and the Iraq War, and received recognition for various documentaries, including Oscar award-winning film “An Inconvenient Truth” and Spike Lee’s Emmy Award winning film “When the Levees Broke”. Her success led to her promotion to Director of Digital Media & Entertainment for the Associated Press where she collaborated in launching multilingual international campaigns and became the first Latina Director in the company’s 170-year history. In 2017, Claribel co-founded The Setroc Group with her husband to expand communications campaigns in the areas of health, business and government to communities most in need.

Cortes is Vice Chair of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of NJ and a member of the National Association of Professional Women (NAPW), National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE), and National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP). She is a first-generation American to parents who immigrated to American from the Dominican Republic, and lives with her husband and two children in North Brunswick.

She will be running for a full term in the June primary and the November general election.