James Wallwork

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James H. Wallwork
Member of the New Jersey Senate
In office
January 9, 1968 – January 10, 1982
Preceded byMulti-member district
Succeeded byJohn H. Dorsey
Constituency11th District (at-large) (1968–1974)
25th District (1974–1982)
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from Essex County
In office
January 14, 1964 – January 11, 1966
Personal details
Born (1930-09-17) September 17, 1930 (age 93)
East Orange, New Jersey
SpouseLark Lataner
Alma materU.S. Military Academy (1952)

James Harold Wallwork (born September 17, 1930) 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]

Early life and military career[edit]

Wallwork was born September 17, 1930, in East Orange, New Jersey,[2] the son of J. Harold Wallwork (1904-1985) and Lorraine Cameron Klick Wallwork (1905-1993). He grew up in Montclair, New Jersey, and was a 1952 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point.[3] He was 13th in his class of 525.[4] He attended the General Staff War College, where he finished first in his class of 400, and the Army Engineering School.[4] He was the Company Commander of a Combat Engineer Company with the Army of Occupation in Germany.[4] After he left active duty, he served as a Major in the Army National Guard.[4]

He was an owner of Wallwork Bros., a plumbing, heating and refrigeration supply company, a family business started by his grandfather.[4]

Political career[edit]

Wallwork 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.[4] He was later a resident of the Short Hills section of Millburn, New Jersey.[2]

General Assembly[edit]

He was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1963, winning one of nine at-large seats.[5] In 1965, he lost his bid for re-election to a second term, the casualty of Democratic Governor Richard J. Hughes's landslide re-election.[6]

State Senate[edit]

Wallwork ran for the New Jersey Senate in 1967. He won a hotly contested primary on a Reform Republican slate, finishing first in a field of thirteen candidates for six Senate seats elected at-Large in Essex County.[7] The General Election turned out to be a strong environment for Republicans; it was the mid-term election of Governor Richard J. Hughes's second term. Republicans won all six Senate seats, with Wallwork running fourth. The four Democratic Senators elected in 1965 -- Nicholas Fernicola, John J. Giblin, Maclyn Goldman and Hutchins Inge—were all defeated.[8]

With Republicans taking control of the Legislature in 1967, Wallwork was initially slated to serve as the new Majority Leader. But the Essex County Republican Chairman, William Yeomans, refused to support him, a move that essentially blackballed Wallwork from the leadership post. Instead, Frank X. McDermott. a freshman Senator from Union County, became Majority Leader.[9]

1967 Republican State Senate primary results[edit]

Winner Votes Loser Votes
James Wallwork 21,156 Frederic Remington 19,087
Gerardo Del Tufo 19,889 Jack J. Soriano 18,668
Alexander Matturri 19,723 Irwin I. Kimmelman 18,525
David W. Dowd 19,324 Frank L. Bate 18,225
Michael Giuliano 19,245 J. Harry Smith 17,659
Milton Waldor 19,243 Thomas E. Boyle 35,517
C. Marion Scipio 712

1967 Essex County state senate general election results[edit]

Winner Party Votes Loser Party Votes
Michael Giuliano Republican 122,354 Nicholas Fernicola Democrat 91,812
Gerado Del Tufo Republican 119,956 John J. Giblin Democrat 89,297
Alexander Matturri Republican 119,152 Maclyn Goldman Democrat 88,796
James Wallwork Republican 118,834 David Mandelbaum Democrat 85,131
Milton Waldor Republican 117,280 Victor Addonizio Democrat 83,587
David W. Dowd Republican 115,568 Hutchins Inge Democrat 83,543

In 1971, redistricting reduced the number of Essex County Senate seats from six to five, all elected At-Large countywide. Wallwork finished third in the General Election, a race where Democrats won three of the five Senate seats. He finished more than 6,000 votes ahead of Democrat Martin Greenberg.[10]

1971 Essex County state senate general election results[edit]

Winner Party Votes[11] Loser Party Votes
Michael Giuliano Republican 92,166 Milton Waldor Republican 84,736
Ralph DeRose Democrat 91,380 Martin L. Greenberg Democrat 82,291
James Wallwork Republican 88,632 Matthew G. Carter Republican 77,418
Frank J. Dodd Democrat 86,041 Henry W. Smolen Democrat 76,190
Wynona Lipman Democrat 85,644 Frederic Remington Republican 73,663
John J. Giblin Essex Bi-Partisan 21,688
John F. Monica Essex Bi-Partisan 21,072
Sylvester L. Casta Essex Bi-Partisan 19,015
Joseph J. Bradley Essex Bi-Partisan 16,348
Richard P. Weitzman Essex Bi-Partisan 15,733
Joseph A. Santiago Unity-Victory-Progress 5,483

Another round of redistricting came in 1973 when the 25th legislative district was created. For the first time, the state was divided into 40 legislative districts, each with one Senator and two Assemblymen. His running mate was Assemblyman, later Governor, Thomas Kean. In a Democratic landslide year, Wallwork defeated Roseland Councilman Joel Wasserman by 4,774 votes, 30,552 (54.24%) to 25,778 (45.76%).[12]

He was re-elected in 1977 against Democrat Lewis J. Paper, a former U.S. Senate aide and White House intern. Wallwork won by 12,421 votes, 35,517 (60.60%) 23,096 (39.40%).[13]

Wallwork served as the Senate Minority Whip in 1978 and 1979, and as the Assistant Minority Leader in 1980 and 1981.[14]

Candidate for Governor of New Jersey[edit]

Wallwork sought the Republican nomination for Governor of New Jersey in 1981, but finished fourth in the Republican 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 disguised as a surgeon.[15] The incident was determined by the FBI to be a hoax.[16] In an unrelated indictment, federal prosecutors stated that the hospital chief of security had staged the attempt.[17]

Results of the 1981 Republican primary for Governor of New Jersey[edit]

Thomas Kean Former Assembly Speaker 122,512 31%
Pat Kramer Former Mayor of Paterson 83,565 21%
Bo Sullivan Businessman 67,651 17%
James Wallwork State Senator 61,816 16%
Barry T. Parker State Senator 26,040 7%
Anthony Imperiale State Assemblyman 18,452 5%
John K. Rafferty Mayor of Hamilton 12,837 3%
Richard McGlynn Former Superior Court Judge 5,486 1%

Source:[18]

On March 2, 1993, Wallwork made a late and surprising entrance into the 1993 Republican gubernatorial primary. The two leading candidates, both moderates, former New Jersey Board of Public Utilities President Christine Todd Whitman and former New Jersey Attorney General W. Cary Edwards, were being hammered after admitting that they had hired undocumented aliens as domestic servants in their homes. This was an issue in early 1993, after President Clinton's first two nominees for U.S. Attorney General, Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood, were forced to withdraw their nominations after admitting that they hired undocumented aliens as nannies. Wallwork billed himself as a conservative businessman, and pledged to "repeal every dime" of Governor Jim Florio's $2.8 billion tax increase.[19]

Wallwork was hampered by his late start. He admitted at his announcement that his campaign had just two staffers and that he had not yet raised enough to air his first television commercial. "He's just not that well known. He's deficient in name recognition, political base, support among county leadership, and I honestly don't know whether he can become a major candidate," Cliff Zukin, a professor of political science at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University told the New York Times.[19] He finished third, with 24% of the vote, and carried only Atlantic County.[20]

Results of the 1993 Republican primary for Governor of New Jersey[edit]

Christine Todd Whitman Former President of the Board of Public Utilities 159,765 40%
W. Cary Edwards Former Attorney General 131,587 33%
James Wallwork Former State Senator 96,034 24%
Charles Hoffman Former State Senator 6,695 2%
J. Patrick Gilligan Former State Senator 5,733 1%

Source:[21]

Waterfront Commissioner[edit]

Governor Christine Todd Whitman appointed Wallwork to serve as the Commissioner for New Jersey on the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor.[22]

Family and retirement[edit]

He married the former Lark Lataner of Orange, New Jersey in 1965. They have one daughter, Lyric Wallwork Winik, a book and magazine writer.[23] His son-in-law is historian Jay Winik, the author of the New York Times #1 bestseller April 1865 (2001).[24] Following his retirement from his business, he lived in Far Hills, New Jersey[25] before relocating to Bethesda, Maryland.[citation needed]

Electoral history[edit]

Office Year Republican Votes Democrat Votes
State Assembly 1963 James H. Wallwork 109,278 John J. Miller, Jr. 107,093
State Assembly 1965 James H. Wallwork 114,709 David Mandelbaum 140,712
State Senate 1967 James H. Wallwork 118,834 David Mandelbaum 85,131
State Senate 1971 James H. Wallwork 88,632 Martin L. Greenberg 82,291
State Senate 1973 James H. Wallwork 30,552 Joel Wasserman 25,778
State Senate 1977 James H. Wallwork 35,517 Lewis J. Paper 23,096

References[edit]

  1. ^ New Jersey Legislative Manual, 1980
  2. ^ a b Fitzgerald's Legislative Manual, 1970, p. 388. Accessed April 21, 2020. "James H. Wallwork (Rep., Short Hills) - James H. Wallwork lives at 94 Canoe Brook Road, Short Hills. He was born in East Orange, September 17, 1930."
  3. ^ Romano, Jay (May 16, 1993). "Campaigning With Jim Wallwork". The New York Times. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Fitzgerald's Legislative Manual of New Jersey. Joseph J. Gribbons. 1976.
  5. ^ [1] Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Division of Elections. Accessed December 1, 2013.
  6. ^ [2] Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Division of Elections. Accessed December 1, 2013.
  7. ^ "Our Campaigns". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  8. ^ "Our Campaigns". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  9. ^ Sullivan, Ronald (15 November 1967). "G.O.P. FEUD HURTS ESSEX DELEGATION; Fight for Control of Party Is Developing in Jersey". New York Times.
  10. ^ "Our Campaigns". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  11. ^ "Results of the General Election" (PDF). New Jersey Division of Elections. State of New Jersey. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  12. ^ "Our Campaigns". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  13. ^ "Our Campaigns". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  14. ^ Fitzgerald's Legislative Manual of New Jersey. Joseph J. Gribbons. 1981.
  15. ^ "Gunman disguised as surgeon foiled in attempt to Kill candidate". Lakeland Ledger. April 25, 1981. p. 4A. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
  16. ^ McFadden, Robert (May 1, 1981). "Candidate In Jersey Terms Alleged Death Threat A Hoax". The New York Times. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
  17. ^ "A V.A. Security Chief Indicted in Jersey". The New York Times. June 5, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
  18. ^ "Our Campaigns". Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  19. ^ a b King, Wayne (3 March 1993). "Ex-Legislator Joins Governor Race in Trenton". New York Times.
  20. ^ "Results of the Primary Election" (PDF). New Jersey Division of Elections. State of New Jersey. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  21. ^ "Our Campaigns". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  22. ^ "Annual Report of the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor". www.waterfrontcommission.org/. Archived from the original on 28 October 2004. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  23. ^ "Jay Winik and Lyric Wallwork", The New York Times, November 18, 1991. Accessed April 21, 2020.
  24. ^ "About Jay Winik". www.jaywinik.com. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  25. ^ Annual Report - The Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, p. not specified, Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, 1991. Accessed April 21, 2020. "Representing New Jersey on the Commission is James H. Wallwork of Far Hills."
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