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Michael J. Doherty

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For other people named Michael Doherty, see Michael Doherty (disambiguation).
Michael Doherty
Member of the New Jersey Senate
from the 23rd district
In office
November 23, 2009 – November 30, 2022
Preceded byMarcia A. Karrow
Succeeded byDoug Steinhardt
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly
from the 23rd district
In office
January 8, 2002 – November 23, 2009
Preceded byLeonard Lance
Succeeded byErik Peterson
Member of the Warren County
Board of County Commissioners from the 1st district
In office
January 1, 2001 – January 1, 2004
Preceded byAnn M. Stone
Succeeded byEverett A. Chamberlain
Personal details
Born (1963-05-24) May 24, 1963 (age 61)
Point Pleasant, New Jersey
Political partyRepublican
SpouseLinda Doherty
ChildrenThree
Alma materUnited States Military Academy (BS)
Seton Hall University (JD)
WebsiteLegislative website

Michael J. Doherty (born May 24, 1963) is an American Republican Party politician who has served as the surrogate of Warren County, New Jersey since November 30, 2022. He previously served in the New Jersey Senate representing the 23rd Legislative District. He was sworn into the State Senate on November 23, 2009, having won the seat held by Marcia A. Karrow, who had earlier been selected by a party convention to succeed Leonard Lance after his election to the United States House of Representatives. Doherty served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2002 to 2009.

Early life

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Doherty was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey and resides in Washington Township, Warren County, New Jersey.[1] Doherty grew up in Glen Ridge, New Jersey and graduated from Glen Ridge High School in 1981.

In 1985, Doherty graduated with a B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point, and was commissioned as an officer in the Field Artillery. Doherty served on active duty in the United States Army from 1985–89 and in the United States Army Reserve from 1989–93, achieving the rank of captain. He is a graduate of the United States Army Airborne School, the U.S. Army Jungle School and the Defense Language Institute (German). In the Army, he was stationed in Germany and served as a nuclear operations officer. His unit's mission was to utilize nuclear armed missiles to defend Western Europe and NATO forces from possible Soviet aggression. He was granted a Top Secret clearance to perform his nuclear duties.[2]

Doherty and his wife, Linda, have three sons, who have served or are serving on active duty in different branches of the armed forces: Matthew, U.S. Army; Ryan, U.S. Marine Corps; and Jared, U.S. Air Force.[2]

In 1993, he was awarded a J.D. from the Seton Hall University School of Law. Doherty is a patent attorney, specializing in semiconductor and medical device technology.[2]

Warren County Board of County Commissioners

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Doherty served on the Warren County Board of County Commissioners from the 1st district .[3] In 2000, he defeated the incumbent Freeholder Director, a Democrat, to capture control of the Freeholder Board for the Republican Party.[4][5] In 2001, he served as deputy director of the Freeholder Board.[6] He was elected to serve as the Director of the Board in both 2002 and 2003.[3]

Doherty also began a program to reduce the county debt. He prevailed in a showdown with a Superior Court judge who threatened to jail Doherty unless he issued $5 million in bonds to fund an expansion of Warren County Community College. The New Jersey Supreme Court sided with Doherty and held that the Freeholder Board was correct to ignore the judge's order.[7]

New Jersey Assembly

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Doherty was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 2001, and was re-elected in 2003, 2005 and 2007. He served in the Assembly on the Appropriations Committee and the Labor Committee.[3] Early in his Assembly career, he served on the Agriculture Committee, the Housing and the Local Government Committee, and the State House Commission.[citation needed]

New Jersey Senate

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In November 2008, Doherty announced his intention to run for the State Senate seat vacated by Leonard Lance, who was elected to represent the 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives.[8]

Doherty's opponent in the race was Assemblywoman Marcia A. Karrow.[9] Hunterdon County Freeholder Matt Holt originally planned to run for the vacancy as well, but he dropped out to run for one of the Assembly vacancies opened up by Karrow or Doherty.[10]

On January 24, 2009, a special election was held by a convention of Republican committee members from Hunterdon and Warren counties. Karrow defeated Doherty in the special election by a margin of 195 votes to 143. Doherty announced that he would run against Karrow a second time in the June 2009 primary, when she would be running as the incumbent. Doherty gave up his Assembly seat by opposing Karrow in the primary.[11] On June 2, 2009, Doherty defeated Karrow in the Republican Senate primary by a margin of 52%-48%.[12]

He defeated the Democratic candidate Harvey Baron in a special election on November 3, 2009, to fill the remaining two years of the Senate term, garnering 71% of the vote.[13] He was first sworn into his Senate seat on November 23, 2009.[14] In the Senate for the 2018-19 session, Doherty serves on the Education Committee and the Judiciary Committee.[15] Doherty was re-elected to the Senate in November 2011, 2013 and 2017 by wide margins.

In September 2022, Doherty announced that he would retire from the Senate to seek the Warren County Surrogate’s Office. Former State GOP Chairman Doug Steinhardt announced that he would run in a special election convention in for the vacated senate seat; Doherty endorsed Steinhardt as his successor.[16]

Committees

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  • Judiciary
  • Education

2012 U.S. Senate election

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There had been speculation that Doherty would run against incumbent Bob Menendez for United States Senator.[17] Assemblyman John DiMaio from the same legislative district as Doherty has said he would endorse Doherty if he ran.[18] In February 2012, Doherty announced his support for Joseph M. Kyrillos for the Republican nomination for the 2012 U.S. Senate race.[19]

Electoral history

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New Jersey Senate

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23rd Legislative District general election, 2021[20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Michael J. Doherty (incumbent) 46,554 60.95
Democratic Denise T. King 29,830 39.05
Total votes 76,384 100.0
Republican hold
New Jersey general election, 2017[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Michael J. Doherty (Incumbent) 35,676 59.1 Decrease 8.5
Democratic Christine Lui Chen 24,730 40.9 Increase 9.7
Total votes '60,406' '100.0'
New Jersey State Senate elections, 2013[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Michael J. Doherty (Incumbent) 37,477 67.6
Democratic Gerard R. Bowers 17,311 31.2
Independent Daniel Z. Seyler 672 1.2
Republican hold
New Jersey State Senate elections, 2011[23]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Michael J. Doherty (Incumbent) 27,750 61.3
Democratic John Graf, Jr. 12,579 35.7
Independent Daniel Z. Seyler 1,040 3.0
Republican hold
Special election, November 3, 2009[24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Michael J. Doherty 51,960 71.4 Increase 4.4
Democratic Harvey Baron 20,851 28.6 Increase 1.3
Total votes '72,811' '100.0'

New Jersey Assembly

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New Jersey general election, 2007[25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Marcia A. Karrow (Incumbent) 28,904 31.0 Increase 1.6
Republican Michael J. Doherty (Incumbent) 28,857 31.0 Decrease 0.8
Democratic Dominick C. Santini Jr. 18,333 19.7 Decrease 1.2
Democratic Peter G. Maurer 17,119 18.4 Increase 0.6
Total votes '93,213' '100.0'
New Jersey general election, 2005[26]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Michael J. Doherty (Incumbent) 41,753 31.8 Increase 1.5
Republican Marcia A. Karrow 38,623 29.4 Decrease 1.5
Democratic Janice L. Kovach 27,485 20.9 Increase 0.6
Democratic Scott McDonald 23,387 17.8 Decrease 0.7
Total votes '131,248' '100.0'
New Jersey general election, 2003[27]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Connie Myers (Incumbent) 26,122 30.9 Decrease 1.5
Republican Michael J. Doherty (Incumbent) 25,554 30.3 Increase 1.1
Democratic Brian D. Smith 17,100 20.3 Increase 3.8
Democratic Cynthia L. Ege 15,658 18.5 Increase 2.4
Total votes '84,434' '100.0'
New Jersey general election, 2001[28]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Connie Myers (Incumbent) 39,313 32.4
Republican Michael J. Doherty 35,345 29.2
Democratic J. Rebecca Goff 19,995 16.5
Democratic Thomas E. Palmieri 19,454 16.1
Warren/Hunterdon Independent Mike King 7,060 5.8
Total votes 121,167 100.0

References

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  1. ^ Assembly Member Michael J. Doherty, Project Vote Smart. Accessed August 16, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c Senator Michael J. Doherty, New Jersey Senate Republicans. Accessed November 23, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Assemblyman Doherty's legislative web page, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed April 5, 2007
  4. ^ "Our Campaigns - Warren County Freeholder Race - Nov 07, 2000".
  5. ^ "Doherty will run for Warren Surrogate, Steinhardt will seek his Senate seat". 27 August 2022.
  6. ^ "Board of Chosen Freeholders". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 3 February 2001. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  7. ^ "WARREN COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. WARREN COUNTY BOARD OF CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS, Defendant-Appellant. IN RE: the Warren County Board of Chosen Freeholders Charged With Contempt of Court". FindLaw. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  8. ^ Wichert, Bill (2008-11-21). "Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow enters race to become state senator in 23rd Legislative District". The Express-Times. Archived from the original on 2011-05-22. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
  9. ^ Wichert, Bill (2008-12-15). "Three Republicans vie to fill state Senate seat due to be vacated by Leonard Lance". The Express-Times. Archived from the original on 2011-05-22. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
  10. ^ "Holt decides to run for assembly instead of state senate". PolitickerNJ. 2009-01-05. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
  11. ^ "Karrow wins; calls for unity as Doherty vows to fight on in the primary". PolitickerNJ. 2009-01-24. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
  12. ^ "Karrow loses in Hunterdon and Warren". PolitickerNJ. 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  13. ^ Wichert, Bill (2009-11-04). "Republican Michael Doherty wins New Jersey Senate post; GOP running mates John DiMaio and Erik Peterson capture state Assembly seats". The Express-Times. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  14. ^ Wichert, Bill (2009-11-23). "Michael Doherty sworn in as new state senator representing Warren, Hunterdon counties". The Express-Times. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  15. ^ Senator Doherty's page, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 28, 2018.
  16. ^ Wildstein, David. "Steinhardt locks up key endorsements to secure State Senate seat", New Jersey Globe, September 1, 2022. Accessed September 29, 2022. "Former GOP State Chairman Doug Steinhardt appears to have lined up enough support to win the 23rd district State Senate seat after receiving endorsements from key Republican officials, including the man he wants to succeed, State Sen. Michael Doherty (R-Oxford)."
  17. ^ D'Aprile, Shane (December 12, 2010). "New Jersey GOP lacking a name to face a more vulnerable Menendez". The Hill. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
  18. ^ Pizarro, Max (17 August 2011). "DiMaio says he would support Doherty U.S. Senate bid". PolitickerNJ.com. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  19. ^ Pizzaro, Max. "Doherty formally backs Kyrillos for Senate", PolitickerNJ, February 10, 2012. Accessed June 22, 2012. "Surprising no one at this point after strengthening his relationship with the Christie administration, state Sen. Mike Doherty (R-23) today said he intends to back state state Sen. Joe Kyrillos (R-13) for U.S. Senate."
  20. ^ "Official List, Candidates for State Senate For GENERAL ELECTION 06/08/2021 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. November 30, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  21. ^ "Official List, Candidates for State Senate For GENERAL ELECTION 11/07/2017 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. November 29, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 5, 2017. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  22. ^ "Official List Candidates for State Senate For GENERAL ELECTION 11/05/2015 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. December 4, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2015. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  23. ^ Official List Candidate Returns for State Senate For November 2011 General Election Archived 2012-07-13 at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Department of State, December 14, 2011. Accessed June 22, 2012.
  24. ^ "Official List, Candidate Returns for Special Senate Election for November 2009 General Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  25. ^ "2007-official-general-election-tallies(ga)-12.12.07.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  26. ^ "05831236.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  27. ^ "2003g_a_candidate_tally.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  28. ^ "2001-general-elect-gen-assembly-tallies.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
[edit]
Political offices
Preceded by
Ann M. Stone
 Member of the Warren County Board of Chosen Freeholders
from the 1st district
January 1, 2001–January 1, 2004 		Succeeded by
Everett A. Chamberlain
New Jersey General Assembly
Preceded by Member of the New Jersey General Assembly
from the 23rd district
January 8, 2002–November 23, 2009
Served alongside: Connie Myers, Marcia A. Karrow, John DiMaio 		Succeeded by
New Jersey Senate
Preceded by Member of the New Jersey Senate
from the 23rd district
November 23, 2009–present 		Incumbent
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