William J. Bate (April 10, 1934 – January 29, 2011) was an American

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician who served as a

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

, assemblyman, and judge. Bate was born April 10, 1934, in

Passaic, New Jersey Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,78 ...

, the son of William Warren Bate and Winifred Irene King Bate. He graduated from Public School No. 1 in

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

, St. Peter's Prep in

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.St. Peter's College St, St. or Saint Peter's College may refer to: Places of education sorted by location Australia *St Peter's Catholic College, Tuggerah, New South Wales * St Peter's College, Adelaide, South Australia * St Peters Lutheran College, Brisbane, Queensl ...

in Jersey City in 1955, and Georgetown University Law School in 1958. Bate later enrolled and earned a master's degree in American Political Systems from Rutgers University while serving in the legislature. He spent six years as a legislative assistant to Congressman Charles Samuel Joelson, a Democrat from New Jersey. He was elected to the Clifton City Council in 1966, and won election to the Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1968. He served as Freeholder Director in 1971. In 1971, Bate was elected to the New Jersey State Senate. Passaic County had three Senate seats, all elected at-large, and none of the three Fourteenth District incumbent

Republicans 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 ...

sought re-election. Bate finished third, defeating Republican Assemblyman Alfred Fontanella by nearly 8,000 votes. Redistricting for the 1973 elections created single-member Senate districts and put Bate in the same district as another Democratic state senator,

Joseph Hirkala Joseph Hirkala (November 16, 1923 – January 1, 1987) was an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1972 until 1987. Hirkala was born in Passaic, New Jersey Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic ...

. Rather than challenge Hirkala in a primary, Bate instead chose to run for the New Jersey General Assembly and was elected to represent the 34th district. He was re-elected in 1975, 1977 and 1979. Following the 1981 redistricting, Bate was placed in the newly drawn 34th district, which included parts of Passaic and Essex counties. (Hirkala ran in the Passaic-Bergen 36th district.) He was unopposed for the Democratic nomination, but lost the general election to Passaic County Republican Chairman

Joseph Bubba Joseph L. Bubba (born February 28, 1938) is an American Republican Party politician who served for five terms in the New Jersey Senate. Bubba served in the United States Navy Reserves from 1959 to 1961 and served on the aircraft carrier USS For ...

by a 53%-47% margin. Bate was elected Passaic County Surrogate (

Probate Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the sta ...

Court Judge) in 1982, and was re-elected in 1992, 1997, 2002 and 2007. He died in office in 2011. A resident of Clifton, New Jersey, he was married for 48 years to Clara Estrella Bate, a native of the Dominican Republic, and had two sons, William E. Bate and Robert B. Bate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bate, William J. 1934 births 2011 deaths Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Democratic Party New Jersey state senators New Jersey city council members County commissioners in New Jersey Politicians from Clifton, New Jersey Politicians from Passaic, New Jersey Saint Peter's University alumni Georgetown University Law Center alumni New Jersey state court judges 20th-century American judges 20th-century American legislators 20th-century New Jersey politicians