Francis "Frank" X. McDermott (October 15, 1924 – December 15, 2011) was an American Republican Party politician who served in both houses 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 ...

Biography

McDermott was born 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 ...

in 1924. He received a

Bachelor of Arts 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 Columbia College, a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

, and a

Master of Public Administration The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...

and

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. He was admitted to practice as an attorney in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. He settled in

Westfield, New Jersey Westfield is a town in Union County, New Jersey, United States, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 30,316,New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for ...

from Union County for the first time. He served as assistant majority leader in 1965 and minority leader in 1966. In 1967 McDermott was elected to 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, ...

. The following year he served as majority leader. In 1969 he was selected as Senate President, serving as acting governor in the absence of Governor

Richard J. Hughes Richard Joseph Hughes (August 10, 1909December 7, 1992) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge. A Democrat, he served as the 45th governor of New Jersey from 1962 to 1970, and as Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1973 to ...

. Also in 1969, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination 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 ...

. He lost the Republican primary to

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 ...

, also finishing behind U.S. Rep. Charles W. Sandman, Jr. and State Sen.

Harry L. Sears Harry Lloyd Sears (January 16, 1920 – May 17, 2002) was an American lawyer and Republican Party politician who served for 10 years in the New Jersey Legislature. As State Majority Leader he was the Chairman of the New Jersey Committee to re-e ...

. He was Senate President pro tempore from 1970 to 1973. In 1973, when Democrats made great gains in the Legislature with the landslide election of

Brendan Byrne Brendan Thomas Byrne (April 1, 1924 – January 4, 2018) was an American politician, statesman, and prosecutor, serving as the 47th governor of New Jersey from 1974 to 1982. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrne started his career as a privat ...

, McDermott was defeated in the general election for State Senate by Assemblymember Alexander J. Menza as the Democrats gained control of the state legislature for only the third time in the 20th century. In 1975 he was again elected to the General Assembly, serving one term. In 1977, he considered running in the Republican primary for governor but dropped out to become the campaign chairman for

Thomas Kean Thomas Howard Kean ( ; born April 21, 1935) is an American businessman, academic administrator and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Kean served as the 48th governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. Following his tenure as governor, ...

. Instead of running for the Assembly, McDermott sought a return to the State Senate after Menza decided not to run for re-election so that he could seek the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in 1978. He lost to Anthony E. Russo, the Mayor of Union Township. McDermott was co-founder of the law firm Apruzzese, McDermott, Mastro & Murphy of Liberty Corner, and he continued to serve as a senior partner there until he died in 2011. He had also served as Chairman of the New Jersey Turnpike and Highway Authority and as Trustee for

Kean University Kean University () is a public university in Union Township, Union County, New Jersey, Union and Hillside, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Kean University was founded in 1855 in Newark, New Jersey, as th ...

. Frank McDermott died on December 15, 2011, surrounded by his family.Star-Ledger Obituary, Published 17 December 2011
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References

External links

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations of ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDermott, Frank X. 1924 births 2011 deaths People from Westfield, New Jersey Columbia Law School alumni New York University alumni New Jersey lawyers Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Republican Party New Jersey state senators Presidents of the New Jersey Senate Columbia College (New York) alumni 20th-century American lawyers