DiAnne C. Gove (born February 15, 1951) is an American Republican Party politician who serves in the New Jersey General Assembly representing the 9th legislative district. She was sworn in on December 7, 2009 to fill the vacant seat left by the resignation of Daniel Van Pelt after his arrest on corruption charges.
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Gove is the daughter of Anne Christoph and Richard Raymond Gove.[1] She was raised in the Brant Beach section of Long Beach Township and attended Southern Regional High School in Manahawkin.[2]
Gove taught history and government at Southern Regional High School for 32 years. She served as mayor of Long Beach Township from 2004-2008. She served three terms as a Long Beach Township Commissioner.[3] Gove also serves on the Ocean County Utilities Authority.[4]
Gove was selected on August 12, 2009, by delegates from the Ocean County, Atlantic County, and Burlington County Republican Committees to fill a vacancy in the General Assembly created by the resignation of Republican Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt on July 31, 2009. Van Pelt had been arrested as part of Operation Bid Rig by federal agents on July 23, 2009, and charged with accepting a $10,000 bribe from a cooperating witness. At the special convention, all others candidates for the seat formally withdrew their names from contention and endorsed Gove.[5] She will serve the remainder of Van Pelt's term, which ends in January 2010. She also replaced Van Pelt on the November ballot, running for a term in her own right.[6] Gove stated that "getting the confidence of the people back into government" was an important part of her campaign.[5] She and Assemblyman Brian E. Rumpf won easily in the heavily Republican 9th legislative district.
Gove is the first woman to represent the 9th legislative district since Virginia Haines left office in 1994.[7]
Each of the forty districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly. The other representatives from the 9th District for the 2008-2009 Legislative Session are: