David C. Russo
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly
from the 40th district
In office
January 9, 1990 – January 9, 2018
Preceded byWalter Kern
Succeeded byChristopher DePhillips
Personal details
Born (1953-10-08) October 8, 1953
Jersey City, New Jersey
NationalityAmerican
Political partyRepublican
SpouseRosemarie Adamiak
Childrentwo
ResidenceRidgewood, New Jersey
Alma materCollege of William and Mary (B.A.)
Seton Hall University School of Law (J.D.)
OccupationAttorney
WebsiteLegislative web page

David C. Russo (born October 8, 1953) is an American Republican Party politician, who served in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 40th legislative district from 1990 to 2017.

Biography

Russo was born in Jersey City.[1] He graduated with a B.A. from the College of William and Mary in history in 1975 and received a J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law in 1978.[2]

Russo served as Attorney for the Borough of Bergenfield from 2002-2005 and served as attorney for Bergenfield's Zoning Board of Adjustment from 1988-1989. He was the Municipal Prosecutor for the Township of Wyckoff from 1987-1988 and served as an attorney for the Bergen County Office on Aging from 1986-1987.[2]

Having been admitted to the bar in 1979, he is a partner at the Teaneck law firm Russo and Russo. He resides in Ridgewood with wife Rosemarie (née Adamiak) with whom he has two children.[3]

Political career

Russo began his elected career in 1989 when he defeated long-time assemblyman Walter Kern in the June Republican primary, though Kern had been disbarred after a scandal was exposed.[4] He had since been easily re-elected every two years to the Assembly. As of 2017, he was the longest-serving current member of the General Assembly, though not the earliest-serving member (Ralph R. Caputo served non-consecutive terms in the Assembly in the 1960s and 1970s). He served in the Assembly on the Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee.[2]

Russo ran for the Republican congressional nomination in New Jersey's 5th congressional district in 2002, looking to replace the retiring Marge Roukema.[5] Running primarily against 39th District Senator Gerald Cardinale of Demarest, who was endorsed by Roukema, and 24th District Assemblyman Scott Garrett of Wantage Township, who had made two unsuccessful attempts to unseat Roukema in the previous two primaries, Russo finished with 26% of the vote. While this was enough to defeat Senator Cardinale, who polled 25%, it was twenty points short of Assemblyman Garrett's total and left Russo in second place; Garrett would win election to the seat and be elected to six additional terms before being defeated in the 2016 election.[6]

After 28 years in office, Russo chose not to run for re-election in 2017 and was succeeded by fellow Republican Christopher DePhillips.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Assembly Member David C. Russo, Project Vote Smart. Accessed January 20, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 Assemblyman Russo's Legislative Webpage Archived 2008-08-27 at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 20, 2008.
  3. ↑ "Assemblyman David C. Russo". New Jersey Assembly Republicans. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  4. ↑ Edge, Wally (April 16, 2009). "In District 40, a history of incumbents losing primaries". Politicker NJ. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  5. ↑ Kocieniewski, David. "Forrester to Represent G.O.P. in Race to Unseat Torricelli", The New York Times, June 5, 2002. Accessed March 30, 2008. "In the Republican primary to replace Representative Marge Roukema, who is retiring from her Fifth Congressional District seat, State Assemblyman E. Scott Garrett, defeated State Senator Gerald Cardinale, whom Mrs. Roukema had endorsed. With all precincts reporting, Mr. Garrett had 46 percent, to 25 percent for Mr. Cardinale and 26 percent for Assemblyman David C. Russo."
  6. ↑ "Official List Candidate Returns for House of Representatives For June 2002 Primary Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. July 23, 2002. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  7. ↑ Johnson, Brent. "Meet your brand-new state Legislature taking office today, Jersey", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, January 9, 2018. Accessed January 22, 2018. "David C. Russo, a Republican member of the Assembly from Bergen County who did not seek re-election after 28 years.... Chris DePhillips, a Republican who will succeed Russo in north Jersey's 40th District.
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