Alan J. Karcher (May 19, 1943 – July 26, 1999) was an American Democratic Party politician whose highest office was Speaker of the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

. He was a member of the Assembly from 1974 to 1990 and was a one-time candidate for the Democratic nomination for

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The ...

.Kerr, Peter
"Noted Maverick Fights To Be Jersey Governor"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', March 13, 1989. Accessed October 12, 2007.

Biography

Politics, and service in the state Assembly, was a family tradition for Alan Karcher. His father, Joseph T. Karcher, served in the Assembly from 1930 to 1933 and his great uncle, John J. Quaid, served from 1898 to 1900. Karcher was born in

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

in 1943. He graduated from

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

in 1964 and from

Rutgers School of Law–Newark Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. pr ...

in 1967.Ravo, Nick
"Alan Karcher, 56, Ex-Trenton Speaker, Dies"
''

'', July 28, 1999. Accessed October 12, 2007. He was admitted to the bar associations in New Jersey and Washington D.C. in the same year. He was later admitted to the

Florida bar The Florida Bar is the integrated, or unified bar organization for the state of Florida. It is the third largest such bar in the United States.

. In addition to his law degree, Mr. Karcher earned a master's degree in liberal studies from the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...

in New York City. Between 1967 and 1969, he served Governor Richard J. Hughes as assistant counsel and secretary to the governor. After leaving Gov. Hughes' staff, Mr. Karcher went into private legal practice, which continued during his political career. Karcher represented the 19th Legislative District, based in Middlesex County, for 17 years. He succeeded Christopher Jackman as speaker of the Assembly, serving from 1982 to 1985 during an activist Legislature. He played a key role in the adoption of the state's first Uniform Penal code, which provided guidelines for priority sentences. He also fought battles for senior citizens, tax reform, workers' rights, environmental cleanup, job creation and additional support for education and the arts. In 1982, he argued against the restoration of the death penalty and in favor of using the resources that would go into enforcing the death penalty for law-enforcement measures. Karcher was a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

in both

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

. After leaving elected office in 1990, Karcher continued in his law practice and remained active in partisan politics, mainly as Democratic chair of Mercer County, and became a political mentor to many budding politicians at the local, county and state levels. In 1998, Karcher published his book, ''New Jersey's Multiple Municipal Madness,'' in which he advocated that many of the state's 566 municipalities be eliminated, or at least combined. Karcher was a resident of Princeton Borough at the time of his death on July 26, 1999. Alan Karcher's daughter, Ellen Karcher, was elected in 2003 to represent a Monmouth County district in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...

, making her the fourth generation of Karcher's family to serve in the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karcher, Alan 1943 births 1999 deaths Lawyers from Mercer County, New Jersey Lawyers from Middlesex County, New Jersey Politicians from New Brunswick, New Jersey Politicians from Princeton, New Jersey Rutgers School of Law–Newark alumni Speakers of the New Jersey General Assembly Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly The New School alumni 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature