John H. Dorsey (December 26, 1937 — December 16, 2018) was an American attorney and

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 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 ...

from 1976 to 1994, serving in the

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 1976 to 1978 and 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 1978 to 1994. Dorsey represented the 23rd Legislative District until 1982 and the 25th Legislative District starting that year in redistricting following the

1980 United States census The United States census of 1980, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 226,545,805, an increase of 11.4 percent over the 203,184,772 persons enumerated during the 1970 census. It was th ...

. Dorsey was born on December 26, 1937, in

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

and resided in Boonton Township. He served in the General Assembly for one term and subsequently ran for the state senate in 1977. In the 1977 election, Dorsey faced incumbent Democrat

Stephen B. Wiley Stephen Bradford Wiley (June 21, 1929 – October 8, 2015) was an American attorney, poet, businessman, civic leader, and Democratic Party politician. Wiley served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1973 to 1978, where he represented Morris C ...

, who had been one of the prime sponsors of the Public School Education Act of 1975, which expanded state aid to public school districts. Dorsey had served in the Assembly on the Taxation Committee and was an opponent of the state income tax bill that Wiley had supported. Wiley's support of the income tax was one of Dorsey's key campaign issues. Dorsey went on to win the Senate seat bya 43.3%-45.7% margin. After the 1991 elections, with the Republicans taking control of the Senate, Dorsey had hoped to step up from being minority leader but was defeated by

Donald DiFrancesco Donald Thomas DiFrancesco (born November 20, 1944) is a retired American politician who served as the 51st governor of New Jersey from 2001 to 2002. He succeeded Christine Todd Whitman after her resignation to become Administrator of the Enviro ...

for the post of majority leader. Both DiFrancesco and Dorsey had actively lobbied candidates running for office, making contributions and offers of committee chairmanships to individuals who might provide support in the race for majority leader. Dorsey made efforts in 1993 to block

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 ...

James Florio James Joseph Florio (August 29, 1937 – September 25, 2022) was an American politician who served as the 49th governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994. He was previously the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional district from 19 ...

's reappointment of Judge Marianne Espinosa Murphy of the Family Court. Dorsey invoked "

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 ...

", an unwritten rule under which Senators from a gubernatorial appointee's home county can block consideration of a candidate from that county. Dorsey indicated that he had received complaints about Judge Murphy that she "giggles and throws pencils on the desk during testimony", though she was viewed as a model judge by an advocacy group for custodial parents who said that she would actively enforce judgments against

deadbeat parent Deadbeat parent is a pejorative term referring to parents who do not fulfill their parental responsibilities, especially when they evade court-ordered child support obligations or custody arrangements. They are also referred to as absentee father ...

s and was endorsed by the

New Jersey State Bar Association The New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New Jersey. History In June 1899, 74 attorneys launched NJSBA in Atlantic City; annual dues were $5.00. Within the next decade, the Canon of Ethics was ...

, which had had a longstanding objection to the use of senatorial courtesy.Sullivan, Joseph F
"Florio Fans Public Debate Over Senate's System of Blocking Appointments"
''

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 ...

'', May 25, 1993. Accessed July 29, 2010. In the 1993 elections, Dorsey was originally being challenged in the Republican primary by political newcomer and attorney

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in Ne ...

. However, Dorsey successfully challenged enough of Christie's petition signatures to have Christie removed from the ballot. In the general election, he was one of three Republican senators to lose their seats in the 1993 general election, falling to Democratic former Assemblymember

Gordon MacInnes Gordon A. MacInnes (born December 4, 1941) is an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey who has served twice in the state Legislature. MacInnes was elected to the state Assembly in 1973 in a heavily Republican Morris County distr ...

, whom he had defeated in 1975, by 607 votes. His loss was attributed to his use of senatorial courtesy to block Judge Murphy. Regardless of his departure from the senate, Dorsey has been viewed as a success in his political career and law career.Sullivan, Joseph F
"THE 1993 ELECTIONS: New Jersey Legislature; Cut Taxes 30 Percent? Whitman's Top Statehouse Allies Say Not So Fast"
''

'', November 4, 1993. Accessed July 29, 2010. He died on December 16, 2018, in

Pequannock Township, New Jersey Pequannock Township is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 15,420, reflecting an increase of 1,652 (+11.9%) from the 13,888 counted in the 2000 Census, whi ...

at age 80.David Wildstein
"John Dorsey, former Senate majority leader, dead at 80"
''New Jersey Globe'', December 17, 2018, Accessed December 17, 2018

References

External links

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorsey, John H. 1937 births 2018 deaths Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Republican Party New Jersey state senators People from Boonton Township, New Jersey Politicians from Morris County, New Jersey Politicians from Newark, New Jersey 20th-century American legislators 20th-century New Jersey politicians