Walter J. Mahoney

Walter J. Mahoney (March 10, 1908 Buffalo, New York - March 1, 1982) was an American lawyer and politician.

He received his law degree from the University of Buffalo and was admitted to practice in 1934. He was a reporter for the "Buffalo Times" before being elected to the NewYork State Senate in 1936. He attended on October 2, 1932, in a vacant storefront in the old Gerron’s Building in Buffalo, the first meeting of the Association of New York State Young Republican Clubs. The association was incorporated in 1934 and in 1935 Mahoney was elected president, a post he resigned after he was elected to the New York State Senate. He was a member from 1937 to 1964, from the 48th District 1937 to 1944, from the 53rd District 1945 to 1954, and from the 55th District 1955 to 1964. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention from New York in 1956, 1960, and 1964. After the resignation of Arthur H. Wicks he became the Majority Leader of the New York State Senate (1954 to 1964) and Acting Lieutenant Governor (1954). In 1964, as a sitting majority leader, he was defeated in his run for re-election by John Doerr. In 1965 he was appointed by Governor Rockefeller to the New York State Thruway Authority. In 1967 he was elected a New York Supreme Court judge from the 8th Judicial District, and in 1974 he was designated an Associate Justice to its Appellate Division, Fourth Department, by Governor Wilson. He retired in 1977 to return to private practice in Buffalo.

The Walter J. Mahoney State Office Building on 65 Court Street, in his hometown Buffalo, was named after him.

ource

[http://www.courts.state.ny.us/history/pdf/Library/Courts/App_Div_Fourth_Dept_100th_Anniv.pdf] Bio and Photo, on page 14