Doug Forrester

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Douglas Forrester (born January 24, 1953 in Glendale, California) is an American businessman in New Jersey. He was the 2005 Republican nominee for Governor of New Jersey. Forrester was defeated by his opponent, then-U.S. Senator Jon Corzine, in the 2005 New Jersey gubernatorial election. Forrester is a 51% owner in pharmacy benefits management company Benecard as well as majority owner of insurance company Heartland Fidelity.

1 Biography
2 2002 Race for U.S. Senate
3 2005 Race for Governor
4 Electoral history
5 References
6 Sources

[edit] Biography

Forrester is the youngest of five children. His father, 45 at the time of Doug's birth, never graduated from high school, but worked his way through the ranks at Lockheed Martin, and Doug's mother died when he was 4. His father remarried.

Forrester excelled in water polo at high school in Santa Clara, California. He considered enrolling in Stanford University, but "Harvard gave [him] a better offer", and he graduated cum laude in 1975, having studied philosophy and government.

Forrester then moved to New Jersey to study at the Princeton Theological Seminary, where he earned a master's degree in divinity. However, he felt he wasn't ready to enter the ministry. Married to childhood friend Andrea Howard, Forrester moved to West Windsor, where he began a career in government. Forrester was elected as a township committeeman and as mayor.

In the 1980s, Forrester became Assistant State Treasurer in the Kean Administration, and later went on to direct the pension system for state employees. In 1990, Forrester founded BeneCard Services, Inc., a pharmacy benefits management firm that provides prescription drug coverage primarily to public sector entities. In a financial disclosure statement in 2002, Forrester reported his 51% share in the company to be worth over $50,000,000. In 2003, Forrester started Heartland Fidelity with Robert Ullman, his partner in BeneCard.

[edit] 2002 Race for U.S. Senate

Forrester ran for the United States Senate in 2002 with the endorsement of President Bush^[1]. Forrester's original opponent, Robert Torricelli, abandoned his re-election bid under accusations of accepting improper "gifts". Torricelli withdrew after he fell far behind in the polls due to an admonishment by the Senate. Torricelli was never criminally prosecuted.

In the case of The New Jersey Democratic Party v. Samson, A-24-02, Forrester sued to stop Democratic Party efforts to have Frank Lautenberg replace Torricelli. Forrester argued that the state statute generally forbidding the replacement of a candidate on the ballot within 51 days of an election (N.J.S.A. 19:13-20) should be obeyed because "here, there are really no extraordinary facts" such as "death and incapacitation". Furthermore, Torricelli was only withdrawing from the race, not his current Senate seat. The Democrats argued that there was still time to notify all the absentee voters and Torricelli had the right to withdraw. The County Clerks agreed that a substitution was logistically possible if it occurred immediately but might cost up to $800,000.

During arguments, the New Jersey Supreme Court justices questioned whether this precedent would be abused in the future. Justice James R. Zazzali asked, "Will there be a parade of candidates removed at the whim of party leaders because the candidate is collapsing?" The justices expressed concern for absentee voters and the public interest in having an optimal choice of candidates.

Ultimately, the justices ruled unanimously to allow the ballot replacement. Peter Verniero, a Republican appointed by Christine Todd Whitman, wrote that the statue in question "does not preclude the possibility of a vacancy occurring within 51 days of the election." He also wrote, "We see what advantage this has for Mr. Forrester; we fail to see what advantage this has for the people of New Jersey." In deciding to interpret the deadline as it did, the Court cited Kilmurray v. Gilbert, 10 N.J. 435 (1952) and Catania v. Haberle, 123 N.J. 438. The Democrats were ordered to cover the extra costs incurred to the state^[2].

Three weeks later, Forrester was defeated by Lautenberg 54%-44%.

[edit] 2005 Race for Governor

According to the Associated Press, Forrester was being asked to run for Governor in autumn 2004, but he felt being near to his daughter Briana, who had suffered a brain hemorrhage and been diagnosed with cancer, a higher priority. However, in November, Briana told her father, "Dad, I'm going to be fine, just announce. By the time you get going, my cancer will be over."

On November 23, 2004, Forrester formally announced his gubernatorial candidacy at Washington Crossing State Park (As of April 2005, Briana's cancer is in remission). He has announced he will not accept public funding for his campaign. His primary competitor in the primaries was Bret Schundler, a former gubernatorial candidate and former Mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey. After vote counting problems in Bergen County, a swing county in the primary election, Forrester broke even as planned with Schundler, giving him a 36%-31% statewide victory over Schundler, setting Forrester up for his race against Democratic Party candidate and US Senator Jon Corzine.

New Jersey law has prohibited insurance companies, or people with a majority interest in one, from making political donations. Forrester's campaign was substantially funded by donations from himself, leading to claims that Forrester was in violation of these regulations. Forrester contended that as Heartland Insurance had been incorporated in Washington, D.C., it was not covered by the restrictions. Acting Banking and Insurance Commissioner Donald Bryan, who had been reappointed by Democratic Governor Jim McGreevey, issued an opinion in August 2005 stating that Forrester had not broken the law.

At 10:30 p.m. on November 8th, with 83% of the districts reporting, Forrester conceded the election to Sen. Jon Corzine.

[edit] Electoral history

2005 Race for Governor
- Jon Corzine (D), 53.5%
- Doug Forrester (R), 43%
2002 Race for U.S. Senate
- Frank Lautenberg (D), 54%
- Doug Forrester (R), 44%