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

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Early life

Franks was born on September 21, 1951, in

Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is the most populous municipality in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

, 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 (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 12,133, an increase of 532 (+4.6%) from the 2010 United ...

before his family moved to suburban Chicago. They returned to New Jersey, where Franks attended Summit High School. He graduated from

DePauw University DePauw University ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Greencastle, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1837 as Indiana Asbury College and changed its name to DePauw University in 1884. The college has a Methodist heritage and was ...

in 1973 where he was President of the Student Senate, and from the Dedman School of Law at

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

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 Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Charles H. Percy. 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 ...

, 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 and Dean Gallo as well as

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

Thomas Kean. 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 William J. Maguire (June 12, 1916 – October 2, 1997) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1976 to 1982. Early life and education Born in North Attleborou ...

. 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, 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.

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, professional Gridiron football, football player, and U.S. Army veteran. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party from New York, he served a ...

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 grandso ...

in 1996, and U.S. Rep.

John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician and author who was the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001, and a Republican candidate for the pre ...

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 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, 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 el ...

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 f ...

. 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 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, ...

. 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, 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 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 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 Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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 and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

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 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, , , , align="right" , 105,761 , , 42.6% , , , , align="right" , 132,174 , , 53.3% , , , Gillespie , ,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, align="right" , 4,043 , align="right" , 1.6% , , , Bill Campbell , , Government , align="right" , 2,612 , align="right" , 1.1% , , , Spencer Layman , ,

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

, align="right" , 1,964 , align="right" , 0.8% , , * , - ,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, , , Karen Carroll , align="right" , 64,231 , , 38.7% , , , Bob Franks (incumbent) , align="right" , 98,814 , , 59.6% , , , Cleary , , LaRouche Was Right , align="right" , 2,331 , align="right" , 1.4% , , * , , , , , , , , , , , - ,

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, , , Larry Lerner , align="right" , 97,285 , , 41.83% , , , Bob Franks (incumbent) , align="right" , 128,821 , , 55.39% , , , Dorothy DeLaura , ,

, align="right" , 4,076 , align="right" , 1.75% , , , Nicholas Gentile , ,

, align="right" , 1,693 , align="right" , 0.73% , , , Robert G. Robertson , ,

, align="right" , 696 , align="right" , 0.30% , , - ,

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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, , , , align="right" , 65,776 , , 44% , , , Bob Franks (incumbent) , 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 , 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 Candidates in the 2000 United States elections Candidates in the 2001 United States elections 20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives