Alene S. Ammond (April 6, 1933 – June 4, 2019) was an American politician who served in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...

from the 6th Legislative District from 1974 to 1978. Known as the "Terror of Trenton," she campaigned on and remained committed to the promise to bring anything of public interest to the public's attention.

Biography

Ammond was born in 1933 in

Jackson Heights, Queens Jackson Heights is a neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. Jackson Heights is neighbored by North Corona to the east, Elmhurst to the south, Woodside to the west, northern Astoria ( Ditmars-Steinw ...

. An attendee of

Pace College Pace University is a private university with its main campus in New York City and secondary campuses in Westchester County, New York. It was established in 1906 by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace as a business school. Pac ...

and

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

, she worked as a ballet dancer in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

while in college. She married Harold J. Ammond in 1957; they had two daughters and one son. Ammond's first foray into the political sphere was as New Jersey's first registered "public interest lobbyist" on behalf of her group dedicated to acting on behalf of Cherry Hill citizens, "The Cherry Hill League". In the beginning, the League made rising property taxes their primary focus. When the mayor made a passing remark that the tax increases should be blamed on "the guys who don't pay up", Ammond and the Cherry Hill League turned their attention to tax-delinquent individuals and corporations. Within one week of Ammond exposing a list of corporations behind in municipal taxes, two-thirds of the outstanding accounts - around $700,000 - were paid in full. She was an ardent proponent of civic activism, encouraging others to "overcome the corruption that is paralyzing the proper functioning of government." In 1967, she ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Cherry Hill township council. However, she was part of a slate of the Camden County Democratic chair's 1973 primary ticket for the State Senate in the newly formed 6th district. She defeated her opponent in the June 1973 Democratic primary, John Jehr, by about 500 votes out of over 8,000 cast and then defeated incumbent

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Senator John L. Miller 53%-47%. While in the Senate, she wrote a column for '' Family Circle Magazine'' based on her previous experience in public interest lobbying. Ammond was vocal in opposition to the machine politics of

South Jersey South Jersey comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey located between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of South Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquialism rather than an administrative ...

and of the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

in general. For example, she used

senatorial courtesy Senatorial courtesy is a long-standing, unwritten, unofficial, and nonbinding constitutional convention in the United States describing the tendency of U.S. senators to support a Senate colleague when opposing the appointment to federal office of ...

to block the appointment of a new Camden County prosecutor and clash with Senate President

Frank J. Dodd Frank J. "Pat" Dodd (February 4, 1938 – May 14, 2010) was an American businessman and Democratic Party politician who served as President of the New Jersey Senate from 1974 to 1975.O'Connor, Julie"Former N.J. Senate president Frank 'Pat' Dodd ...

. In January 1975, she was evicted from the Senate Democratic caucus for sharing secret caucus deliberations and charging that certain legislators were acting in their own interests, rather than in the interest of their constituents. She went to Federal court, where Judge Mitchell H. Cohen upheld her charge that the ousting violated her

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

rights and ordered she be readmitted to the caucus. She returned to the caucus to her colleagues' dismay. When one senator publicly told her, "You're not part of the team," she replied: "I have no intention of being part of your team, Senator. I don't like what it stands for. Besides, I have another team outside." She was defeated in the 1977 Democratic primary election by party-backed former Cherry Hill councilman Victor Pachter (who would be defeated by Republican Lee Laskin in the general election). In 1980, she ran in the Democratic primary for the 6th congressional district but placed third out of three candidates. In the

1993 New Jersey gubernatorial election The 1993 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1993. Incumbent Democratic governor James Florio was narrowly defeated by Republican former Freeholder and 1990 U.S. Senate nominee Christine Todd Whitman following backlash fro ...

, Ammond ran as a third-party candidate under the party name "For the People." She placed eighth out of 19 candidates, receiving 0.13% of the vote. In 2002, she ran as the Republican nominee for mayor of Cherry Hill but was defeated by Bernie Platt. Ammond later moved to

Voorhees Township, New Jersey Voorhees Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 29,131, reflecting an inc ...

. She died June 4, 2019, at the

University of Vermont Medical Center The University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC) is a five-campus academic medical facility under the corporate umbrella of the University of Vermont Health Network that is anchored by a 562-bed hospital. UVMMC is located in Burlington, Vermo ...

from complications of pneumonia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ammond, Alene S. 1933 births 2019 deaths Democratic Party New Jersey state senators Women state legislators in New Jersey People from Jackson Heights, Queens Politicians from New York City Politicians from Cherry Hill, New Jersey People from Voorhees Township, New Jersey Hunter College alumni Pace University alumni 20th-century American legislators 20th-century New Jersey politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century New Jersey politicians 21st-century American women politicians