David A. Norcross (born March 30, 1937) is an American

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who ran for

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in 1976 and served as chairman of the

New Jersey Republican State Committee The New Jersey Republican State Committee (NJGOP) is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in New Jersey. It was founded in 1880 and is currently led by Bob Hugin. Current leadership * Bob Hugin, Chairman * Lynda A. Pagliughli, Vi ...

Biography

Norcross was born in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

in 1937. He received his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

in 1958 and his

LL.B Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1961. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in the

Judge Advocate General's Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as JAG or JAG Corps, is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called judg ...

, stationed in

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

from 1962 to 1965.Lawyer Profile: David A. Norcross

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. Accessed on March 21, 2008. He was executive assistant to Governor

William T. Cahill William Thomas Cahill (June 25, 1912July 1, 1996) was an American politician, lawyer, and academic who served as the 46th governor of New Jersey from 1970 to 1974. A Republican, Cahill previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives, repr ...

from 1971 to 1973, when the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission was created. He became the commission's first executive director, serving from 1973 to 1976. In 1976, Norcross ran as the Republican candidate for

against the incumbent

Harrison A. Williams Harrison Arlington "Pete" Williams Jr. (December 10, 1919November 17, 2001) was an American politician and lawyer. He was a Democrat who represented New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives (1953–1957) and the United States Sena ...

. A relative unknown, he used his expertise in campaign financing to attack Williams for what he said were unethical fundraising practices. Norcross was soundly defeated, but Williams would later be convicted of bribery and conspiracy in the

Abscam Abscam (sometimes written ABSCAM) was an FBI sting operation in the late 1970s and early 1980s that led to the convictions of seven members of the United States Congress, among others, for bribery and corruption. The two-year investigation initi ...

scandal. He was selected by State Senator

Raymond Bateman Raymond H. "Ray" Bateman (October 29, 1927 – June 25, 2016) was an American politician who represented Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset County in the New Jersey Senate in the 1960s and 1970s and was the Republican candidate for Governor of ...

, then the Republican candidate for

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...

, to replace

Webster B. Todd Webster Bray Todd (August 27, 1899 – February 8, 1989) was a prominent United States, American businessman, a Republican Party (United States), Republican Party leader in New Jersey, and the father of Governor of New Jersey, New Jersey Governor C ...

as chairman of the

in 1977. Norcross also became a member of the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fu ...

in 1977. He went on to serve in a number of positions for the RNC, including counsel to the chairman (1983–1989) and general counsel (1993–1997). Norcross was a partner in the Philadelphia-based law and lobbying firm Blank Rome LLP. His dual role as RNC insider and lobbyist came under scrutiny during the

2004 Republican National Convention The 2004 Republican National Convention took place from August 30 to September 2, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The convention is one of a series of historic quadrennial meetings at which the Republican candidates fo ...

, for which Norcross served as chairman of the Committee on Arrangements. ''

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'' reported that Norcross had been lobbying the

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administration on behalf of clients like the defense contractor

Raytheon Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliza ...

, but it acknowledged that there was nothing illegal about Norcross serving in both capacities. In 2007–2008, Norcross served as co-chair of presidential candidate

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

's New Jersey campaign. He was also considered a frontrunner to replace

Jim Saxton Hugh James Saxton (born January 22, 1943) is an American politician from New Jersey. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he represented parts of Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington, Ocean County, New Jersey, ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

until he withdrew his name from consideration. Norcross had been a resident of

Moorestown Township, New Jersey Moorestown is a township in Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an eastern suburb of Philadelphia and geographically part of the South Jersey region of the state. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township's population was ...

.Guenther, Alan
"Feud roils race for Saxton's seat"
, ''

Asbury Park Press The ''Asbury Park Press'' is a daily newspaper in Monmouth and Ocean counties of New Jersey and has the third largest circulation in the state. It has been owned by Gannett since 1997. Its reporting staff has been awarded numerous national hon ...

'', November 24, 2007. Accessed December 2, 2013. "The next day, he touted the candidacy of Moorestown resident David A. Norcross, who's been active with the national Republican Party." Norcross served four years as chairman of the Committee on Rules and Order of Business on the Republican National Committee from 2005 to 2009. He is an elected member of the Temporary Committee on Primaries of the RNC. In 2009, he was elected chairman of the board of governors of the Republican Nationals Lawyers Association. Norcross resides in Alexandria, Virginia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Norcross, David A. 1937 births Living people Chairmen of the New Jersey Republican State Committee New Jersey Republicans Politicians from Camden, New Jersey People from Moorestown, New Jersey University of Delaware alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni