Wayne Dumont

Wayne Dumont, Jr. (June 25, 1914 – March 19, 1992) was an American Republican Party politician from New Jersey. He served in the New Jersey Senate for more than 30 years, representing the 15th Legislative District until 1982 and the 24th Legislative District until his retirement in 1990. He was the Republican candidate for Governor of New Jersey in 1965.

Biography

Dumont was born in Paterson, New Jersey in 1914. He graduated from Montclair Academy (now Montclair Kimberley Academy),[1] then went on to Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. After graduating, he became a minor league pitcher for the former St. Louis Browns but decided to study law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. After receiving his law degree he moved to Phillipsburg in 1940, where he began practicing law.[2]

Dumont was elected in 1951 as a Republican to represent Warren County in the New Jersey Senate; and was re-elected in 1955, 1959 and 1963, during which time he served as Senate Majority Leader, Senate President and Acting Governor of New Jersey. He was responsible for sponsoring well over 500 bills during his legislative career including the state's first school aid bill and farmland preservation law.

After failing to win the Republican nomination for governor in the 1957 and 1961 primaries, he was successful in 1965 with 50.4% against fellow State Senator Charles W. Sandman becoming the nominee against Governor Richard J. Hughes, and lost. He had made a campaign issue out of the pro-Marxist speeches of a Rutgers University professor, Eugene D. Genovese and supported the institution of a state sales tax.

Dumont returned to the State Senate in 1967 and remained until his retirement in July 1990. He won reelection in 1977, despite his opponents focus on Dumont's support for the state income tax.[3]

Dumont died at the age of 77 on March 19, 1992, due to congestive heart failure suffered at Warren Hospital in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. He was survived by his wife, the former Helen S. Williamson (married September 19, 1938), and their son W. Hunt Dumont (born August 12, 1941), who served as United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 1981 to 1985.[2]

The Warren County Administration Building in Belvidere, New Jersey is named after Dumont.

References

  1. ↑ "WAYNE DUMONT, LAWYER, DIES AT 58; Succumbs to Heart Disease at Home in Little Falls, N. J., After Long Illness. ON SEVERAL BANKS' BOARDS Was President of the High Point Park Commission and a Member of Many Clubs.", The New York Times, April 8, 1929. Accessed July 11, 2008.
  2. 1 2 Fisher, Ian (1992-03-21). "Wayne Dumont Jr., 77, Is Dead; Was Dean of New Jersey Senate". The New York Times.
  3. ↑ Narvaez, Alfonso. "Easy Triumph by Governor Helps Democrats Keep Trenton Control", The New York Times, November 9, 1977. Accessed August 18, 2008.
Political offices
Preceded by
Bruce A. Wallace		 President of the New Jersey Senate
1956 		Succeeded by
Albert McCay
Party political offices
Preceded by
James P. Mitchell		 Republican Nominee for Governor of New Jersey
1965 		Succeeded by
William T. Cahill
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