Perry Duryea

Perry Belmont Duryea, Jr.
Born October 18, 1921(1921-10-18)
Montauk, New York, U.S.
Died January 11, 2004(2004-01-11) (aged 82)
Southampton, New York, U.S.
Cause of death Car accident
Spouse Marie Therese Duryea
Children two

Perry Belmont Duryea, Jr. (October 18, 1921 Montauk, Suffolk County, New York - January 11, 2004 Southampton, Suffolk County, New York) was an American politician.

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Life

His father ran a wholesale seafood business, Perry B. Duryea and Son, Inc., in Montauk. He attended East Hampton High School and graduated from Colgate University in 1942.

He attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy as a pilot of the U.S. Naval Air Transport Service, and entered the family business full-time after World War II.

He was a Republican member from Suffolk County of the New York State Assembly from 1961 to 1978, was minority leader from 1966 to 1968, Speaker from 1969 to 1974, and minority leader again from 1975 to 1978. After the Watergate scandal the Republicans lost their majority in the Assembly, and Duryea remains to date the last Republican Speaker. Duryea was active in fighting against development of eastern Long Island including a successful fight in 1967 to stop plans to turn the Grumman Assembly Plant in Calverton, New York into the fourth major airport in metropolitan New York City.

He was a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1967, and a member of New York Republican State Central Committee in 1968.

In 1978, he was the Republican candidate for Governor of New York, but lost to the incumbent Hugh Carey.

Duryea died at Southampton Hospital as the result of injuries suffered in a car accident, and was buried at the Fort Hill Cemetery in Montauk.

He had two children: Perry "Chip" Duryea III and Lynn Duryea.

He had a hunting lodge in Bishops Head, Maryland.

A New York State office building in Islip, Long Island, is named for him.

He was also a member of the Long Island State Park Commission, Bethpage Park Authority, Jones Beach State Parkway Authority from 1963 to 1969, and a member of the Board of Trustees of Colgate University and Dowling College.

Duryea was the defendant in People v. Duryea, 76 Misc.2d 948, 351 N.Y.S.2d 978 (1974), affirmed 44 A.D.2d 663, 354 N.Y.S.2d 129 (1974), a case about the right to anonymous free speech, later cited with approval in McIntyre v Ohio Election Commission (1995).

1978 New York State Republican Ticket

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New York Assembly
Preceded by
Irving Price
New York State Assembly, Suffolk County 1st District
1961–1965
Succeeded by
District abolished
Preceded by
New district
New York State Assembly, 1st District
1966–1978
Succeeded by
John Behan
Political offices
Preceded by
George L. Ingalls
Minority Leader of the New York State Assembly
1966–1968
Succeeded by
Stanley Steingut
Preceded by
Moses M. Weinstein
Speaker of the New York State Assembly
1969 - 1974
Succeeded by
Stanley Steingut
Preceded by
Stanley Steingut
Minority Leader of the New York State Assembly
1975–1978
Succeeded by
James L. Emery
Party political offices
Preceded by
Malcolm Wilson
Republican Nominee for Governor of New York
1978
Succeeded by
Lewis Lehrman