- Michael J. Doherty
-
For other people named Michael Doherty, see Michael Doherty (disambiguation).
Michael J. Doherty Member of the New Jersey Senate
from the 23rd districtIn office
2009 -Preceded by Marcia A. Karrow Personal details Born May 24, 1963 Political party Republican Spouse(s) Linda Children Matthew, Ryan and Jared Profession State Senator Michael J. Doherty (born May 24, 1963) is an American Republican Party politician who serves in the New Jersey Senate representing the 23rd legislative district. He won the seat held by Marcia A. Karrow, who had earlier been selected by a party convention to succeed Leonard Lance after his election to the United States House of Representatives, and he was sworn in on November 23, 2009. He had previously served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2002 to 2009.
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Biography
Doherty grew up in Glen Ridge, New Jersey and graduated from Glen Ridge High School in 1981. In 1985, Doherty graduated with a B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point, and was commissioned as an officer in the Field Artillery. Doherty served on active duty in the United States Army from 1985–1989 and in the United States Army Reserve from 1989–1993. He achieved the rank of Captain. He is a graduate of the U.S. Airborne School, the U.S. Army Jungle School and the Defense Language Institute (German). In the Army, he was stationed in Germany and served as a nuclear operations officer. His unit's mission was to utilize nuclear armed missiles to defend Western Europe and NATO forces from possible Soviet aggression. He was granted a Top Secret clearance to perform his nuclear duties.
In 1993, he was awarded a J.D. from the Seton Hall University School of Law. Doherty is a patent attorney, specializing in semiconductor and medical device technology.
Before being elected to the General Assembly, Doherty served on the Warren County Board of Chosen Freeholders.[1] In 2000, Doherty defeated the incumbent Freeholder Director, a Democrat, to capture control of the Freeholder Board for the Republican Party. In 2001, he served as Deputy Director of the Freeholder Board.[1] He was elected to serve as the Director of the Freeholder Board in both 2002 and 2003.[1] During his three years on the Freeholder Board, Doherty cut the county tax rate by 21%. Doherty also began a program to reduce the county debt so that today Warren County has the lowest debt of any county in the state. He also prevailed in a showdown with a Superior Court judge who threatened to jail Doherty unless he issued $5 million in bonds to fund an expansion of the local county college. The showdown was eventually decided by the New Jersey Supreme Court, which sided with Doherty and held that the Freeholder Board was correct to ignore the judge's order.
Doherty was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 2001, and re-elected in 2003, 2005 and 2007. He serves in the Assembly on the Appropriations Committee and the Labor Committee.[1] Previously, he has served on the Agriculture Committee, the Housing and the Local Government Committee and the State House Commission. Doherty has been endorsed repeatedly by pro-business groups such as the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey, the New Jersey Restaurant Association and the National Federation of Independent Business (awarded a perfect 100% voting record by the NFIB). His voting record is ranked A+ by the National Rifle Association and has been repeatedly endorsed by New Jersey Right to Life. Doherty is an outspoken critic of the court system, and has introduced numerous pieces of legislation challenging court decisions and procedures. He was designated as "Legislator of the Year" in 2007 by the N.J. Family Policy Council for his continued efforts to support conservative legislation. Doherty is a self-described global warming skeptic.[2]
On November 10, 2007, Doherty became the first elected official from the state of New Jersey to publicly endorse Ron Paul for President of the United States.[3]
Doherty and his wife, Linda, have three sons, who have served or are serving on active duty in different branches of the armed forces: Matthew, U.S. Army; Ryan, U.S. Marine Corps; and Jared, U.S. Air Force. Doherty was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey and currently resides in Washington Township, Warren County, New Jersey.[4]
2009 State Senate race
In November 2008, Doherty announced his intention to run for the State Senate seat vacated by Leonard Lance, who was elected to represent the 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives.[5] Doherty's opponent in the race was Assemblywoman Marcia A. Karrow.[6] Hunterdon County Freeholder Matt Holt originally planned to run for the vacancy as well, but dropped out to run for one of the Assembly vacancies opened up by Karrow or Doherty.[7]
On January 24, 2009, a special election was held by a convention of Republican committee members from Hunterdon and Warren counties. Karrow defeated Doherty in the special election by a margin of 195 votes to 143. Doherty announced that he would run against Karrow a second time in the June 2009 primary, when she would be running as the incumbent. Doherty gave up his Assembly seat by opposing Karrow in the primary.[8]
On June 2, 2009, Doherty defeated Karrow in the Republican Senate primary by a margin of 52%-48%.[9][10] He defeated the Democratic candidate Harvey Baron in a special election on November 3, 2009 to fill the remaining two years of the Senate term, garnering 71% of the vote.[11] He was sworn into office on November 23, 2009.[12]
District 23
Each of the forty districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly. The other representatives from the 23rd District for the 2010–2011 Legislative Session are:
- Assemblyman John DiMaio
- Assemblyman Erik Peterson
2012 election
There has been speculation that Doherty will run against incumbent Bob Menendez for United States Senator.[13] Assemblyman John DiMaio from the same legislative district as Doherty has said he would endorse Doherty if he ran.[14]
Endorsement of Ron Paul
Doherty endorsed Ron Paul for President of the United States in 2012 election.[15]
References
- ^ a b c d Assemblyman Doherty's legislative web page, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed April 5, 2007
- ^ "Doherty declares himself a global warming skeptic", May 9, 2007.
- ^ Fester, Larry. "Ron Paul brings his ‘Freedom Revolution’ to Independence Hall", USA Today, November 10, 2007. Accessed April 16, 2008. "Ron Paul was introduced by New Jersey assemblyman Mike Doherty, the first high profile elected official from the state of New Jersey to endorse Ron Paul."
- ^ Assembly Member Michael J. Doherty, Project Vote Smart. Accessed August 16, 2007.
- ^ Wichert, Bill (2008-11-21). "Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow enters race to become state senator in 23rd Legislative District". The Express-Times. http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/warren-county/index.ssf?/base/news-0/122724393878150.xml&coll=3. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
- ^ Wichert, Bill (2008-12-15). "Three Republicans vie to fill state Senate seat due to be vacated by Leonard Lance". The Express-Times. http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/warren-county/index.ssf?/base/news-0/122724393878150.xml&coll=3. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
- ^ "Holt decides to run for assembly instead of state senate". PolitickerNJ. 2009-01-05. http://www.politickernj.com/matt-friedman/26350/holt-decides-run-assembly-instead-state-senate. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
- ^ "Karrow wins; calls for unity as Doherty vows to fight on in the primary". PolitickerNJ. 2009-01-24. http://www.politickernj.com/max/26842/karrow-wins. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
- ^ "2009 New Jersey Primary Election Updates". NJ.com. 2009-06-02. http://elections.nj.com/dynamic/files/elections/2009/by_state/NJ_Page_0602.html. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
- ^ "Karrow loses in Hunterdon and Warren". PolitickerNJ. 2009-06-02. http://www.politickernj.com/wallye/30274/karrow-loses-hunterdon-and-warren. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- ^ Wichert, Bill (2009-11-04). "Republican Michael Doherty wins New Jersey Senate post; GOP running mates John DiMaio and Erik Peterson capture state Assembly seats". The Express-Times. http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/elections/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1257311120118530.xml&coll=3. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
- ^ Wichert, Bill (2009-11-23). "Michael Doherty sworn in as new state senator representing Warren, Hunterdon counties". The Express-Times. http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/warren-county/express-times/index.ssf/2009/11/sen_michael_doherty_sworn_in_t.html. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
- ^ D'Aprile, Shane (December 12, 2010). "New Jersey GOP lacking a name to face a more vulnerable Menendez". The Hill. http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/133281-new-jersey-gop-lacking-a-name-to-face-a-more-vulnerable-menendez. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
- ^ Pizarro, Max (17 August 2011). "DiMaio says he would support Doherty U.S. Senate bid". PolitickerNJ.com. http://www.politickernj.com/50285/dimaio-says-he-would-support-doherty-us-senate-bid. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
- ^ "Ron Paul to Receive Endorsement of New Jersey State Sen. Mike Doherty". http://www.ronpaul2012.com/2011/09/20/ron-paul-to-receive-endorsement-of-new-jersey-state-sen-mike-doherty. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
External links
- Senator Michael Doherty's Official Website
- Senator Doherty's legislative web page, New Jersey Legislature
- New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms
- Senator Michael J. Doherty, Project Vote Smart
- New Jersey Voter Information Website 2003
New Jersey General Assembly Preceded by
Leonard LanceNew Jersey State Assemblyman - District 23
January 2002 - November 23, 2009Succeeded by
Erik PetersonNew Jersey Senate Preceded by
Marcia A. KarrowNew Jersey State Senator - District 23
November 23, 2009 - presentSucceeded by
incumbentCategories:- 1963 births
- Living people
- Members of the New Jersey General Assembly
- New Jersey County Freeholders
- New Jersey Republicans
- Seton Hall University School of Law alumni
- United States Army officers
- United States Military Academy alumni
- People from Essex County, New Jersey
- People from Warren County, New Jersey
- People from Point Pleasant, New Jersey
- Defense Language Institute alumni
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