John F. Russo
President of the New Jersey Senate
In office
January 14, 1986 – January 9, 1990
Preceded byCarmen A. Orechio
Succeeded byJohn A. Lynch Jr.
Member of the New Jersey Senate
In office
January 8, 1974 – January 14, 1992
Preceded byDistrict created
Succeeded byAndrew R. Ciesla
Constituency9th district (1974–1982)
10th district (1982–1992)
Personal details
Born(1933-07-11)July 11, 1933
Asbury Park, New Jersey
DiedAugust 12, 2017(2017-08-12) (aged 84)
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceToms River, New Jersey
Alma materUniversity of Notre Dame (BA)
Columbia University (JD)

John F. Russo (July 11, 1933 – August 12, 2017) was an American attorney and Democratic Party politician from New Jersey, who served in the New Jersey Senate from 1974 to 1992 and was Senate President.

Early life and education

A resident of Toms River, New Jersey, Russo was born in Asbury Park, where he attended Asbury Park High School. He was a 1955 graduate of the University of Notre Dame and received a law degree from Columbia Law School in 1958.[1]

Career

He served for nine years as an assistant prosecutor in Ocean County, and was first elected to the State Senate in 1973.[2]

In the Senate, Russo served on the Joint Committee on Appropriations and a Special Sub-Committee on Tax Reform and was the chair of the Committee on Energy, Agriculture and Environment and the Senate Judiciary Committee. In 1982, he wrote a bill reinstating capital punishment in New Jersey.[3] Russo served as Senate President from 1986 to 1990.[4]

Russo ran for the Democratic Party nomination for Governor of New Jersey in 1985, placing second behind nominee Peter Shapiro, who was in turn soundly defeated by Thomas Kean in the general election.[2]

Following his retirement from the Senate, Russo was a partner at the Princeton Public Affairs Group.[4] In 2007, while a bill was proposed that would abolish capital punishment in the state, he sat on the Death Penalty Study Commission and testified against passage of the bill.

Death

Russo died on August 12, 2017, of esophageal cancer at the age of 84.[3]

References

  1. ^ Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, Volume 204, Part 1, p. 211. E.J. Mullin, 1990. Accessed February 21, 2024. "Senator Russo attended Asbury Park High School and the University of Notre Dame, where he graduated cum laude in 1955. He took his law degree at Columbia University in 1958."
  2. ^ a b Sullivan, Joseph F. "In New Jersey, An Early Entry For Governor", The New York Times, June 16, 1987. Accessed February 21, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Napoliello, Alex. "John F. Russo, former senate president, dies at 84", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, August 13, 2017. Accessed February 21, 2024. "John F. Russo, a longtime former state senator and Senate president, died Saturday night. He was 84. Russo, a Democrat from Ocean County, died after a battle with esophageal cancer, his daughter, Caryl Lynn Russo told NJ Advance Media in a phone interview on Sunday."
  4. ^ a b "Our Members". Princeton Public Affairs Group. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
Political offices Preceded byCarmen A. Orechio President of the New Jersey Senate 1986-1990 Succeeded byJohn A. Lynch, Jr. New Jersey Senate Preceded byBrian T. Kennedy Member of the New Jersey Senatefrom the 10th district 1982–1992 Succeeded byAndrew R. Ciesla Preceded byDistrict created Member of the New Jersey Senatefrom the 9th district 1974–1982 Succeeded byLeonard T. Connors
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