John F. Russo (July 11, 1933 – August 12, 2017) was an American attorney and
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
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politician from
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 ...
, 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 1974 to 1992 and was Senate President.
Early life and education
A resident of
Toms River, New Jersey
Toms River is a township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. Its mainland portion is also a census-designated place of the same name, which serves as the county seat of Ocean County.Asbury Park
Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area.
As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 15,188
, where he attended
Asbury Park High School
Asbury Park High School is a comprehensive high school, comprehensive, four-year community state school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school serving students in ninth grade, ninth through twelfth grades. It is in a land ...
. He was a 1955 graduate of the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
and received a law degree 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 ...
in 1958.''Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, Volume 204, Part 1'' p. 211. E.J. Mullin, 1990. Accessed February 21, 2024. "Senator Russo attended Asbury Park High School and the University of Notre Dame, where he graduated cum laude in 1955. He took his law degree at Columbia University in 1958."
Career
He served for nine years as an assistant prosecutor in
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', June 16, 1987. Accessed February 21, 2024.
In the Senate, Russo served on the Joint Committee on Appropriations and a Special Sub-Committee on Tax Reform and was the chair of the Committee on Energy,
Agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
and Environment and the
Senate Judiciary Committee
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...
. In 1982, he wrote a bill reinstating
capital punishment in New Jersey
Capital punishment in New Jersey is currently abolished, after Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine signed a law repealing it in 2007. Before this, capital punishment was used and at least 361 people have been executed.
Early history
It was in ef ...
. Russo served as
Senate President
President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies.
The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for ex ...
from 1986 to 1990.
Russo ran for the Democratic Party 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 ...
in 1985, placing second behind nominee Peter Shapiro, who was in turn soundly defeated by
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, ...
in the general election.
Following his retirement from the Senate, Russo was a partner at the Princeton Public Affairs Group. In 2007, while a bill was proposed that would abolish capital punishment in the state, he sat on the Death Penalty Study Commission and testified against passage of the bill.
Death
Russo died on August 12, 2017, of
esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. Other symptoms may include pain when swallowing, a hoarse voice ...
NJ.com
NJ.com is a digital news content provider and website in New Jersey owned by Advance Publications. According to a report in ''The New York Times'' in 2012, it was the largest provider of digital news in the state at the time. In 2018, comScore r ...
, August 13, 2017. Accessed February 21, 2024. "John F. Russo, a longtime former state senator and Senate president, died Saturday night. He was 84. Russo, a Democrat from Ocean County, died after a battle with esophageal cancer, his daughter, Caryl Lynn Russo told NJ Advance Media in a phone interview on Sunday."