Robert Douglas Franks (September 21, 1951 – April 9, 2010) was an American Republican politician who served as a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

Early life

Franks was born on September 21, 1951, in

Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is a city in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.New Jer ...

, the son of Norman A. Franks (1921–2000) and June E. Franks. He grew up in

Glen Rock, New Jersey Glen Rock is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 12,133, reflecting an increase of 532 (+4.6%) from the 11,601 counted in the 2010 census,Summit High School. He graduated from

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the ...

in 1973 where he was President of the Student Senate, and from the

Dedman School of Law SMU Dedman School of Law, commonly referred to as SMU Law School or Dedman School of Law is a law school located in Dallas, Texas. It was founded in February 1925. SMU Law School is located on the campus of its parent institution, Southern Metho ...

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , pr ...

in 1976.

Early Political Activities

He had been involved in Republican politics while growing up, including the races of

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

Charles H. Percy Charles Harting Percy (September 27, 1919 – September 17, 2011) was an American businessman and politician. He was president of the Bell & Howell Corporation from 1949 to 1964, and served as a Republican U.S. senator from Illinois from 1967 ...

. As a teenager, he returned to his home state. While in

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for a m ...

, he became involved with the

Young Republicans The Young Republican National Federation, commonly referred to as the Young Republicans or YRNF, is a 527 organization for members of the Republican Party of the United States between the ages of 18 and 40. It has both a national organization ...

and the Kean for Assembly races. Franks helped to found the Union County Young Republicans Franks then served as an aide, consultant and campaign manager to several congressman including

Jim Courter James Andrew Courter (born October 14, 1941) is an American Republican Party politician, lawyer, and businessman. He represented parts of northwestern New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1991. In 1989, he u ...

and

Dean Gallo Dean Anderson Gallo (November 23, 1935 – November 6, 1994) was an American politician and businessman who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing from 1985 until his death from prostate cancer in Denvil ...

as well as

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Thomas Kean Thomas Howard Kean ( ; born April 21, 1935) is an American businessman, academic administrator and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Kean served as the 48th governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. Following his tenure as governor, ...

. The primary profession of Franks, however, was that of a newspaper publisher.

New Jersey State Assemblyman

In 1979, Franks was a candidate for Union County Freeholder when State Senator Peter J. McDonough resigned. Assemblyman

Donald DiFrancesco Donald Thomas DiFrancesco (born November 20, 1944) is a retired American politician who served as the 51st governor of New Jersey from 2001 to 2002. He succeeded Christine Todd Whitman after her resignation to become Administrator of the Enviro ...

ran for the Senate, and Franks switched to the Assembly race. He defeated Marie Kissebeth, the Berkeley Heights mayor, at the Republican convention. When he was redistricted into the 22nd Legislative District, a Union/Essex district in 1981 and Essex Republicans demanded an Assembly seat, Franks survived and the Union Republicans dumped another incumbent, William J. Maguire. He was re-elected in 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989 and 1991. While in the Assembly, he also served two terms as chairman of the

New Jersey Republican State Committee The New Jersey Republican State Committee (NJGOP) is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in New Jersey. It was founded in 1880 and is currently led by Bob Hugin. Current leadership * Bob Hugin, Chairman * Lynda A. Pagliughli, ...

, 1987–89 and 1990–92. In the second term, finding widespread voter discontent with Governor Jim Florio's tax hikes, he led the Republican Party to winning veto-proof majorities in both houses of the Legislature. He was succeeded in the Assembly by

Alan Augustine Alan Mandeville Augustine (August 17, 1928 – June 11, 2001) was an American Republican Party politician who served for 30 years as Mayor and councilman of Scotch Plains, New Jersey, Union County freeholder, and member of the New Jersey Gener ...

U.S. Congressman

In 1992, Franks was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives (succeeding Matt Rinaldo), and served four terms in the House from 1993 to 2001. While he was a congressman, he was a member of the Transportation Committee and involved with transportation issues. He was known as a budget "hawk" and was a strong supporter of the Contract with America, including voluntary terms limits. Franks was the New Jersey campaign chairman for U.S. Rep.

Jack Kemp Jack French Kemp (July 13, 1935 – May 2, 2009) was an American politician and a professional gridiron football, football player. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party from New York, he served as United States Sec ...

in the campaign for the 1988 Republican presidential nomination. He endorsed New Jersey publisher

Steve Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. (; born July 18, 1947) is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of ''Forbes'', a business magazine. He is the son of longtime ''Forbes'' publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grands ...

in 1996, and U.S. Rep.

John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasic ...

in 2000. Franks and Kasich served together on the House Budget Committee and became close friends. Kasich is the godfather of Franks' eldest daughter, Kelly, and was one of the eulogizers at Franks' 2010 funeral.

2000 U.S. Senate campaign

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, Franks gave up his House seat (true to his "term limits" vow) to become the Republican candidate to the open

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

seat from New Jersey. However, he was defeated by Democrat

Jon Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006 and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran fo ...

. In this race Franks was far outspent by Corzine, a former CEO, by 48 million dollars, yet still was the closest the Republicans have come to winning a New Jersey United States Senate seat since

Clifford Case Clifford Philip Case Jr. (April 16, 1904March 5, 1982), was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Representative (1945–1953) and a U.S. Senator (1955–1979) from New Jersey. He is current ...

won a fourth term re-election in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

. Corzine defeated Franks by less than 100,000 votes and a vote percentage of 51.1% to 47.1% in the 2000 US Senate election.

2001 gubernatorial campaign

He was defeated for the Republican nomination for New Jersey governor in 2001 by

Bret Schundler Bret D. Schundler (born January 14, 1959) is an American Republican politician from New Jersey. Schundler was the mayor of Jersey City from 1992 until 2001. Schundler was the city's first Republican mayor since 1917. He ran for Governor of New ...

, who ran on a more conservative platform. Franks entered the 2001 governor's race reluctantly, following the withdrawal of former Governor

, after having previous announced that he would not be a candidate. It is believed this late start cost him the primary as Schundler had a big head start in campaigning and fundraising.

Jack Abramoff Jack Allan Abramoff (; born February 28, 1959) is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted felon. He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation led by Earl Devaney that resulted in his conviction ...

helped Schundler raise funds against Franks because of his refusal to hold off a "Made in the USA" bill that harmed Abramoff's clients in the

Northern Marianas Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonwe ...

despite assurances he wouldn't introduce the bill until further discussions occurred. The bill was introduced the next day without further discussions. Abramoff retaliated "He was running for governor. I raised a bunch of money for his opponent in the primary and made sure everyone knew I was doing it. He lost his primary. No other Republican tried to slap the CNMI while I was a lobbyist." Abramoff said in an interview. Franks remained involved in New Jersey politics and was often mentioned as a potential candidate for high offices, but Franks discouraged such speculation. Many thought that his next public office, if any, would have been appointive. Franks served as President of the Health Care Institute of New Jersey. There was speculation he might run again for Congress when his successor, Mike Ferguson, announced in 2007 that he would not seek reelection in 2008. However, Franks then declined to run, saying "Representing the people of Central New Jersey in the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2001 was one of the important and rewarding experiences of my life; however I find my work at the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey very fulfilling and I'm enjoying nights and weekends with my family... I have no desire to run for Congress next year."

Death and legacy

A resident of Warren Township, Franks died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

on April 9, 2010. On September 24, 2013, at the dedication of a rail station in Union, New Jersey in honor of Franks, Gov.

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in ...

revealed that he had offered Franks the Republican nomination for Lt. Governor on his ticket in 2009, but that he was turned down. Christie then went to his second choice,

Kim Guadagno Kimberly Ann Guadagno (; ''née'' McFadden; born April 13, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the first lieutenant governor and 33rd secretary of state of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Guadagno was the Republican nominee ...

Electoral history

{, class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%" , + : Results 1992–1998 !, Year ! !, Democrat !, Votes !, Pct ! !, Republican !, Votes !, Pct ! !, 3rd Party !, Party !, Votes !, Pct ! !, 3rd Party !, Party !, Votes !, Pct ! !, 3rd Party !, Party !, Votes !, Pct ! , - ,

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

, , , , align="right" , 105,761 , , 43% , , , , align="right" , 132,174 , , 53% , , , Gillespie , ,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

, align="right" , 4,043 , align="right" , 2% , , , Bill Campbell , , Government , align="right" , 2,612 , align="right" , 1% , , , Spencer Layman , ,

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

, align="right" , 1,964 , align="right" , 1% , , * , - ,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...

, , , Karen Carroll , align="right" , 64,231 , , 39% , , , Bob Franks , align="right" , 98,814 , , 60% , , , Cleary , , LaRouche Was Right , align="right" , 2,331 , align="right" , 1% , , * , , , , , , , , , , , - ,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

, , , Larry Lerner , align="right" , 97,285 , , 42% , , , Bob Franks , align="right" , 128,821 , , 55% , , , Dorothy DeLaura , ,

, align="right" , 4,076 , align="right" , 2% , , , Nicholas Gentile , ,

, align="right" , 1,693 , align="right" , 1% , , , Robert G. Robertson , ,

, align="right" , 696 , align="right" , <1% , , - ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, , , , align="right" , 65,776 , , 44% , , , Bob Franks , align="right" , 77,751 , , 53% , , , Richard C. Martin , ,

, align="right" , 3,007 , align="right" , 2% , , , Darren Young , ,

, align="right" , 1,508 , align="right" , 1% , , , , , ,

Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 1992, John L. Kucek running as an America First Populist received 844 votes and Kevin Michael Criss running under People's Congressional Preference received 684 votes. In 1994, Claire Greene received 481 votes. {, class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%" , +2000 U.S. Senate Race – Republican Primary !, Candidate !, Pct ! !, Candidate !, Pct ! !, Candidate !, Pct , - , , 36% , ,

William Gormley William L. "Bill" Gormley (born May 2, 1946) is an American attorney and Republican Party politician whose career in New Jersey's state Legislature spanned four decades. Representing the state's 2nd Legislative District, which includes most o ...

, 34% , , Others , 30% ,

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Franks, Bob 1951 births 2010 deaths Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly DePauw University alumni Dedman School of Law alumni People from Glen Rock, New Jersey Politicians from Hackensack, New Jersey Politicians from Summit, New Jersey People from Warren Township, New Jersey Politicians from Chicago Politicians from Union County, New Jersey Chairmen of the New Jersey Republican State Committee Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey Summit High School (New Jersey) alumni 20th-century American politicians Candidates in the 2000 United States elections Candidates in the 2001 United States elections