He attended Seton Hall College and graduated in 1896 with a Bachelor of Science degree.
[1] He read law in the office of former State Senator William B. Gourley in Paterson and was admitted as an attorney in 1899, becoming a counselor in 1911.
[1] In 1909 McCran was elected as a Republican member of the State Assembly from Passaic County, and he was re-elected in 1911 and 1912.
Despite the backing of Edge (now in the United States Senate) and the regular Republican organization, McCran was defeated for the nomination by Arthur Whitney, who had the support of the Anti-Saloon League.
[3] In September 1925, three months after losing the arduous gubernatorial primary, McCran died suddenly at his home in Paterson.