William Gormley
William "Bill" Gormley (born May 2, 1946) is an attorney and former New Jersey State Senator who served from 1982 to 2007, where he represented the 2nd Legislative District.
Gormley announced in January 2007 that he would not seek reelection to the State Senate. Gormley indicated that he would support District 2 Assemblyman Francis J. Blee as his successor, and Gormley stepped down on February 15, 2007. Although endorsed by Gormley, Blee lost his bid to be appointed to fill the seat and run as an incumbent in the 2007 elections. Blee lost to Egg Harbor Township Mayor James J. McCullough.[1] McCullough went on to lose the general election to Democrat Jim Whelan.[2]
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[edit] Career
He has run for higher office multiple times, including Governor in 1989, United States House of Representatives in 1994 and the United States Senate in 2000, each time failing to receive the nomination of the Republican Party. He is a former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and was active in casino issues. He represented Atlantic County.
Senator Gormley was first elected to public office in 1975 as a member of the Atlantic County Board of Chosen Freeholders. He was elected to the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature, the New Jersey General Assembly, in 1977, serving until 1982. He was selected as Assistant Minority Leader of the General Assembly in 1982.
Senator Gormley was the sponsor of New Jersey’s recently enacted Educational Facilities School Construction Act, which generated approximately $8.6 billion in construction funds for New Jersey’s school districts. In addition to these initiatives, Senator Gormley also wrote legislation which established the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority Urban Revitalization Incentive program. This measure was recently signed into law, and will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in urban construction as well as thousands of jobs though the use of sales tax incentives. His previously enacted legislation to reclaim landfills had resulted in the rehabilitation of twenty such sites, returning them to the tax rolls and increasing employment.
Gormley received a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in History and was awarded a J.D. from Villanova University.
[edit] District 2
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 2nd Legislative District who served with Gormley were:
- Assemblyman Francis J. Blee, and
- Assemblyman Jim Whelan
[edit] Electoral history
- 2000 Race for U.S. Senate (Republican Primary)
- Bob Franks (R), 36%
- William Gormley (R), 34%
[edit] References
- ^ McCullough receives Senate committee assignments, Press of Atlantic City by Pet McAleer, February 27, 2007
- ^ Sen. Gormley won't seek re-election; career spans 31 years, Asbury Park Press by Tom Baldwin, January 4, 2007
