C. Robert Sarcone

C. Robert Sarcone
New Jersey State Senator
In office
January 1964 – January 1966
Preceded by Donal C. Fox
Succeeded by Hutchins F. Inge
New Jersey Assemblyman
In office
January 1964 – January 1966
Preceded by Daniel F. Flynn
Succeeded by James Wallwork
Assembly Minority Leader
In office
January 1962 – January 1963
Preceded by Carmine Savino
Succeeded by Alfred Beadleston
Personal details
Born (1925-08-03) August 3, 1925
Newark, New Jersey
Religion Roman Catholic

C. Robert (Bob) Sarcone (born August 3, 1925 in Newark, New Jersey), is an American Republican Party politician. He served in both houses of the New Jersey State Legislature, and sought the Republican nomination for Governor of New Jersey in 1977.

Early life

He was born August 3, 1925 in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Fioravante Sarcone, an electrician and immigrant from Italy, and Rosse Sarcone, who was born in New Jersey to Italian immigrants.[1] He was a 1943 graduate of Barringer High School, attended Muhlenberg College and Columbia University, and received his law degree from Rutgers University Law School in 1949.[2] He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II from February 1943 to August 1946. He was stationed in the Pacific Theater and served in Iwo Jima and Okinawa; he was present at Bikini Atoll for the testing of the Atomic Bomb.[3]

Early career

Sarcone was appointed Special Legal Assistant to the Essex County Prosecutor in 1956, and became an Assistant Essex County Prosecutor in 1957. He was appointed Deputy Attorney General of New Jersey in 1959.[4]

New Jersey State Assemblyman

He was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1959, running At-Large for one of 12 Essex County seats in the legislature.[5] He finished second out of 24 candidates, unseating incumbent Democratic Assemblyman Daniel F. Flynn by 4,769 votes, 116,284 to 111,515.[6]

He was narrowly re-elected to a second term in 1961.[7] Democrats won eight of nine Essex Assembly seats that year; Sarcone finished ninth, defeating Albert Poll, a former Essex County Counsel and Assistant Essex County Prosecutor, by just 188 votes, 127,539 to 127,351.[8]

He was the Assembly Minority Leader in 1962.

In 1963, his Assembly seat was won by James Wallork, Sarcone's 33-year-old Legislative Aide.

New Jersey State Senator

The retirement of two term Democratic Senator Donal C. Fox in 1963 set up an epic battle for the Essex County Senate seat between Sarcone, Assembly Speaker Elmer Matthews, and George C. Richardson, a Black Democratic Assemblyman who was running as an Independent. All three were young political stars.[9]

"He was a dynamic campaigner, very articulate and very well respected and loved in the community," said Assemblyman Ralph R. Caputo said in a 2010 interview about Sarcone. “He was the prototype for that political era where people actually campaigned, when there was no computerized mailing. It was a physical thing. You had to be very close to the communities you served, and very organized. Society was different. There were half a million people in the City of Newark and it was a boiling point of politics. I tried to model myself on Sarcone. I loved him."[10]

Sarcone defeated Matthews by 15,902 votes, 125,836 (50.72%) to 109,934 (44.31%), with Richardson receiving 10,164 votes (4.10%).[11][12]

In 1965, after the U.S. Supreme Court, in Reynolds v. Sims (more commonly known as One Man, One Vote) required redistricting by state legislatures for congressional districts to keep represented populations equal, as well as requiring both houses of state legislatures to have districts drawn that contained roughly equal populations, and to perform redistricting when needed.[13] Because of its population, Essex County went from one State Senate seat to four. Sarcone ran for re-election on a ticket with former U.S. Attorney William F. Tompkins, Assemblyman (and future New Jersey Attorney General) Irwin I. Kimmelman, and James E. Churchman, Jr., a funeral director and the first Black Republican to win a major party nomination for State Senator. The four easily defeated John B. Garcia in the Republican primary.[14]

The Democrats nominated Essex County Freeholder John J. Giblin, former Newark Municipal Court Judge Nicholas Fernicola, West Orange Democratic leader Maclyn Goldman, and Hutchins F. Inge, a Black physician from Newark.[15]

Sarcone lost in 1965, the victim of a landslide re-election victory by Governor Richard J. Hughes that had clear coattails in legislative races. Sarcone was the top vote getter among the Republicans (he finished more than 12,000 votes ahead of Kimmelman),[16] but lost to Inge by 7,144 votes, 135,959 votes; Sarcone received 128,815.[17] Inge made history as the first Black to serve in the New Jersey Senate.[18]

1965 Essex County State Senator General Election Results

Winner Party Votes Loser Party Votes
Nicholas Fernicola Democrat 145,589 C. Robert Sarcone Republican 128,815
Maclyn Goldman Democrat 143,794 Irwin Kimmelman Republican 116,205
John J. Giblin Democrat 143,040 James E. Churchman, Jr. Republican 112,995
Hutchins F. Inge Democrat 135,959William F. Tompkins Republican 112,128
George C. Richardson Independent 10,409
Kendrick O. Stephenson Independent 5,970
David Blumgart Independent 5,305
Frederick Waring Independent 44,76

Indictment

Sarcone's political career was derailed in 1967 when he was indicted by an Essex County Grand Jury on a criminal charge. Later the charges were dismissed.[19]

Candidate for Governor of New Jersey

Sarcone was widely viewed as a potential candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of New Jersey in 1965 against Gov. Hughes. He announced on April 19, 1965 that he would not be a candidate.[20]

His defeat in the 1965 Senate re-election campaign and his 1967 indictment ended talk of a Sarcone for Governor candidacy in 1969, when term limits would prevent Hughes from running again. His indictment also made a return to the State Senate in the very Republican year of 1967 impossible.

Sarcone sought a political comeback in 1975 as a candidate for Essex County Republican Chairman, but lost to the incumbent, Frederic Remington, Jr., in what was described at a bitter contest.[21]

In 1977, Sarcone sought the Republican nomination for Governor of New Jersey, finishing third in a field of four candidates, behind State Senator Raymond Bateman and Assembly Minority Leader Thomas Kean. Bateman won 55% of the vote, followed by Kean at 36%, Sarcone at 6%, and former Moorestown Mayor William Angus with 3%.[22] "I shouldn't have run," Sarcone said in 2010. "I was talked into it be a group of people, and it was a disaster. Two GOP guys running from Essex County. Timing is important."[23]

Later life

Sarcone was an early backer of Ronald Reagan's campaigns for the presidency. On June 11, 1979, Reagan came to New Jersey to help Sarcone retire the debt from his gubernatorial bid. This upset the Essex County Republican Chairman, John Renna, who had backed Bateman for the nomination.[24]

References

  1. ↑ "Ancestry.com". www.ancestry.com.
  2. ↑ Fitzgerald's Legislative Manual of New Jersey. Trenton, NJ: Joseph J. Gribbons. 1965.
  3. ↑ Fitzgerald's Legislative Manual of New Jersey. Trenton, NJ: Joseph J. Gribbons. 1965.
  4. ↑ Fitzgerald's Legislative Manual of New Jersey. Trenton, NJ: Joseph J. Gribbons. 1965.
  5. ↑ , New Jersey Division of Elections. Accessed December 1, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Our Campaigns". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  7. ↑ , New Jersey Division of Elections. Accessed December 1, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Our Campaigns". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  9. ↑ Pizarro, Max. "The roots of Newark: Richardson and Sarcone meet again almost 50 years after historic state senate race". PolitickerNJ.com. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  10. ↑ Pizarro, Max. "The roots of Newark: Richardson and Sarcone meet again almost 50 years after historic state senate race". PolitickerNJ.com. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "Our Campaigns". www.ourcampaigns.om. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  12. ↑ , New Jersey Division of Elections. Accessed December 1, 2013.
  13. ↑ "JERSEY ORDERED TO REAPPORTION; Judge Finds Congressional Districts Unconstitutional". New York Times. 21 May 1965.
  14. ↑ "Our Campaigns". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  15. ↑ "1965 General Election Results" (PDF). New Jersey Division of Elections.
  16. ↑ "Our Campaigns". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  17. ↑ "1965 General Election Results" (PDF). New Jersey Division of Elections.
  18. ↑ Jones, Richard G. (2007-04-08). "A Tribute, and One Conspicuous Absence". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
  19. ↑ Sullivan, Ronald (20 December 1968). "New Jersey Legislator Quoted as Citing Mob Pressure". New York Times.
  20. ↑ "Jerseyan Decides Not to Run". New York Times. 20 April 1965.
  21. ↑ "Bergen and Essex G.O.P. Re-Elect County Leaders". New York Times. 12 June 1975.
  22. ↑ , Our Campaigns. Accessed December 1, 2013.
  23. ↑ Pizarro, Max (8 February 2010). "The roots of Newark: Richardson and Sarcone meet again almost 50 years after historic state senate race". PolitickerNJ.com. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  24. ↑ Joseph F. Sullivan (6 May 1979). "Reagan Leaves A Legacy of Confusion". New York Times. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
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