James Wallwork

James H. Wallwork
New Jersey State Senator
In office
January 1968 – January 1982
Preceded by Maclyn Goldman
Succeeded by Joseph Bubba
Personal details
Born September 17, 1930
Belleville, New Jersey
Spouse(s) Lark Lataner

James Harold Wallwork (born September 17, 1930 in Belleville, New Jersey) is an American Republican Party politician who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature and twice sought the Republican nomination for Governor.[1]

Wallwork grew up in Montclair, New Jersey and was a 1952 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point.[2] He was 13th in his class of 525. He attended the General Staff War College, where he finished first in his class of 400, and the Army Engineering School. He was the Company Commander of a Combat Engineer Company with the Army of Occupation in Germany. He served as a Major in the Army National Guard.

He was elected to the Republican County Committee in Montclair in 1957, and served as an aide to Assemblyman C. Robert Sarcone, the Assembly Minority Leader, in 1963. He was an owner of Wallwork Bros., a plumbing, heating and refrigeration supply company.

He was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1963, but lost his bid for re-election in 1965, the casualty of a Democratic Governor Richard J. Hughes' landslide re-election.

In 1967, Wallwork was elected to the New Jersey State Senate. Five Senators were elected from Essex County, and Wallwork and his running mates were victorious against the Democratic incumbents.

He was re-elected in 1971, 19733 and 1977. His running mate was Assemblyman, later Governor, Thomas Kean.

Wallwork sought the Republican nomination for Governor of New Jersey in 1981, but finished fourth in the GOP primary with 16% of the vote. He lost to Kean, who won the general election. During the campaign, Wallwork was reported to be the subject of an attempted assassination at a Veterans Administration hospital by a gunman disguidsed as a surgeon.[3] The incident was deteremined by the FBI to be a hoax.[4] In an unrelated indictment, federal prosecutors stated that the hospital chief of security had staged the attempt.[5]

Kean appointed him to serve as a Commissioner of the Bistate Waterfront Commission.

In 1993, Wallwork again ran for Governor, finishing third in the GOP primary with 24%. The winner was Christine Todd Whitman.

He married the former Lark Lataner of Orange, New Jersey in 1965. They have one daughter, Lyric Wallwork Winik, a writer who works for Parade magazine.

References

  1. ^ New Jersey Legislative Manual, 1980
  2. ^ Romano, Jay (May 16, 1993). "Campaigning With Jim Wallwork". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/16/nyregion/campaigning-with-jim-wallwork.html?pagewanted=1. Retrieved January 21, 2010. 
  3. ^ "Gunman disguised as surgeon foiled in attempt to Kill candidate". Lakeland Ledger: p. 4A. April 25, 1981. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1IwsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oCcEAAAAIBAJ&dq=james%20wallwork&pg=1593%2C2743167. Retrieved January 21, 2010. 
  4. ^ McFadden, Robert (May 1, 1981). "CANDIDATE IN JERSEY TERMS ALLEGED DEATH THREAT A HOAX". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/01/nyregion/candidate-in-jersey-terms-alleged-death-threat-a-hoax.html. Retrieved January 21, 2010. 
  5. ^ "A V.A. Security Chief Indicted in Jersey". The New York Times. June 5, 1981. http://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/05/nyregion/the-region-a-va-security-chief-indicted-in-jersey.html. Retrieved January 21, 2010.