Jack Conners

Jack Conners (born July 10, 1943) is an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 7th Legislative District from 1998 until his resignation in 2011.

Jack Conners
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 7th District
In office
November 23, 1998 – August 26, 2011
Serving with Herb Conaway
Preceded byKenneth William Faulkner
Succeeded byTroy Singleton
In office
January 13, 1998 – September 17, 1998
Serving with Herb Conaway
Preceded byCarmine DeSopo
Succeeded byKenneth William Faulkner
Personal details
Born (1943-07-10) July 10, 1943
Political partyDemocratic

In the 1997 elections, Republican Diane Allen left the Assembly and ran for and won the Senate seat, while Democrats Herb Conaway and Conners were declared the winners in that year's Assembly race, after a recount which showed that Conaway was the top vote-getter and Conners winning the second seat by a margin of 74 votes.[1] After eight months in office following his being sworn into office in January 1998, the courts threw out the results of the 1997 election due to problems with 160 uncounted ballots from a voting machine that affected the results for the second seat. Conners was ordered to leave office in September 1998 and Republican Ken Faulkner was seated in his place.[2] In a November 1998 special election, Conners defeated Faulkner by 5,500 votes and was sworn into office for a second time that year.[3][4]

Conners served in the Assembly on the Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee (as Chair), the Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee and the State Government Committee.[5] Conners has served on the Board of the Pennsauken High School Foundation, has been a board member of the Pennsauken Free Public Library and previously served as president of the Big Brothers / Big Sisters of Camden & Gloucester Counties. Conners served in the Delaware Army National Guard and the United States Army Reserve.[5] Conners attended La Salle University and the Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.[5] He is a resident of Pennsauken Township.[6]

On March 29, 2011, Conners announced that he would not seek another term to the Assembly in 2011, due to the redrawing of his district that moved his hometown of Pennsauken into a district that primarily included Camden County municipalities, while his current district had been largely based in Burlington County. He announced his resignation on August 26, 2011, effective immediately to accept a position with Camden County as its director of veterans' affairs.[7] Conners was succeeded in the Assembly by Troy Singleton, who was selected to fill the vacant seat and defended it as an incumbent in the general election.[8]

References
  1. Mulvihill, Geoff. "Conaway, Conners Win In Recount Results Had Gone Back And Forth In The Seventh District Assembly Race. The Gop Could Appeal.", The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 3, 1997. Accessed December 14, 2014. "After four weeks of uncertainty, Democrats Herbert Conaway Jr. and Jack Conners announced yesterday that they are going to represent the Seventh District in the state General Assembly.... With the Seventh District results on all the voting machines rechecked and the absentee and provisional ballots recounted by hand, here are the results this week: Conaway, 27,457; Conners, 27,409; Faulkner, 27,335; and Williams of Maple Shade, 25,214."
  2. Staff. "CONNERS ORDERED TO LEAVE ASSEMBLY \ A DISPUTED ELECTION LED TO A RULING THAT A REPUBLICAN MUST TAKE HIS SEAT, SETTING STAGE FOR REMATCH WITH KEN FAULKNER.", The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 3, 1998. Accessed June 23, 2010.
  3. via Associated Press, "DEMOCRAT REGAINS ASSEMBLY SEAT IN 'DO-OVER'RACE", The Press of Atlantic City, November 4, 1998. Accessed June 23, 2010.
  4. Balona, Denise-Marie. "Jack Conners Is Sworn In Again For 7th District Assembly Seat The First Victory Was Contested By A Gop Rival. Nov. 3 Voting Reinstated The Democrat.", The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 24, 1998. Accessed December 14, 2014. "Conners, 55, a retired banker from Pennsauken, became the representative for the Seventh District in January, but because of a controversy over a broken voting machine used in the 1997 state Assembly election, he spent the next nine months wondering whether he would ever be declared the true victor."
  5. Assemblyman Conners' legislative web page, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed February 23, 2008.
  6. New Jersey Voter Information Website 2003 Archived 2005-10-30 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed August 9, 2007.
  7. Levinsky, David. "Conners leaves Assembly early to accept Camden County position" Archived 2012-04-01 at the Wayback Machine, Burlington County Times, August 26, 2011. Accessed August 26, 2011. "Assemblyman Jack Conners has decided to step down early from his post in the state Legislature to begin work at a new job as Camden County’s director of veterans’ affairs.... Conners had decided to retire in April after the state Legislative Redistricting Commission moved his hometown of Pennsauken from the 7th District, made up largely of Burlington County towns, to the Camden County-dominated 6th District, which is already represented by three incumbents."
  8. "Turnover in N.J. Legislature is slight". Asbury Park Press. 2012-01-10. Retrieved 2012-01-20.
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