David A. Norcross (born March 30, 1937) is an American Republican Party

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who ran for

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

in 1976 and served as chairman of the

New Jersey Republican State Committee The New Jersey Republican Party (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 * Darlene Shotmeyer, Vice Chai ...

Biography

Norcross was born in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a City (New Jersey), city in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828.Snyder, John P''The Story of ...

in 1937. He received his

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

from

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

in 1958 and his LL.B from

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1961. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

in the

Judge Advocate General's Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG or JAG Corps) is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called judge advocates ...

, stationed in

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera (), is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region (Eritrea), Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the List of capital cities by altitude, sixth highest capital in the wo ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

from 1962 to 1965.Lawyer Profile: David A. Norcross

LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Martindale-Hubbell is an information services company to the legal profession that was founded in 1868. The company publishes the ''Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory'', which provides background information on lawyers and law firms in the United S ...

. Accessed on March 21, 2008. He was executive assistant to Governor William T. Cahill from 1971 to 1973, when the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission was created. He became the commission's first executive director, serving from 1973 to 1976. In 1976, Norcross ran as the Republican candidate for

against the incumbent

Harrison A. Williams Harrison Arlington "Pete" Williams Jr. (December 10, 1919November 17, 2001) was an American politician and lawyer. He was a Democrat who represented New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives (1953–1957) and the United States Se ...

. A relative unknown, he used his expertise in campaign financing to attack Williams for what he said were unethical fundraising practices. Norcross was soundly defeated, but Williams would later be convicted of bribery and conspiracy in the

Abscam Abscam, sometimes written ABSCAM, was a Federal Bureau of Investigation sting operation in the late 1970s and early 1980s that led to the convictions of seven members from both chambers of the United States Congress and others for bribery and co ...

scandal. He was selected by State Senator

Raymond Bateman Raymond H. "Ray" Bateman (October 29, 1927June 25, 2016) was an American politician who represented Somerset County in the New Jersey Senate in the 1960s and 1970s and was the Republican candidate for Governor of New Jersey in 1977. He was the fa ...

, then the Republican candidate 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 ...

, to replace

Webster B. Todd Webster Bray Todd (August 27, 1899 – February 8, 1989) was an American businessman, a Republican Party leader in New Jersey, and the father of New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman. Early life Todd was born in Yonkers, New York, the son o ...

as chairman of the

in 1977. Norcross also became a member of the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

in 1977. He went on to serve in a number of positions for the RNC, including counsel to the chairman (1983–1989) and general counsel (1993–1997). Norcross was a partner in the Philadelphia-based law and lobbying firm Blank Rome LLP. His dual role as RNC insider and lobbyist came under scrutiny during the

2004 Republican National Convention The 2004 Republican National Convention took place from August 30 to September 2, 2004, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The convention is one of a series of Republican National Convention, historic quadrennial meetings at w ...

, for which Norcross served as chairman of the Committee on Arrangements. ''

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 ...

'' reported that Norcross had been lobbying the Bush administration on behalf of clients like the defense contractor

Raytheon Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Founded in 1922, it merged in 2020 with Unite ...

, but it acknowledged that there was nothing illegal about Norcross serving in both capacities. In 2007–2008, Norcross served as co-chair of presidential candidate

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

's New Jersey campaign. He was also considered a frontrunner to replace

Jim Saxton Hugh James Saxton (born January 22, 1943) is an American politician from New Jersey. A member of the Republican Party, he represented parts of Burlington, Ocean, and Camden counties in the United States House of Representatives from 1984 to 2 ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

until he withdrew his name from consideration. Norcross had been a resident of

Moorestown Township, New Jersey Moorestown is a township in Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an eastern suburb of Philadelphia and geographically part of the South Jersey region of the state. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's popula ...

.Guenther, Alan
"Feud roils race for Saxton's seat"
''

Asbury Park Press The ''Asbury Park Press'', formerly known as the ''Shore Press'', ''Daily Press'', ''Asbury Park Daily Press'', and ''Asbury Park Evening Press'', is the third largest daily newspaper in the state of New Jersey. Established in 1879, it has been o ...

'', November 24, 2007. Accessed December 2, 2013. "The next day, he touted the candidacy of Moorestown resident David A. Norcross, who's been active with the national Republican Party." Norcross served four years as chairman of the Committee on Rules and Order of Business on the Republican National Committee from 2005 to 2009. He is an elected member of the Temporary Committee on Primaries of the RNC. In 2009, he was elected chairman of the board of governors of the Republican Nationals Lawyers Association. Norcross resides in Alexandria, Virginia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Norcross, David A. 1937 births Living people Chairmen of the New Jersey Republican State Committee New Jersey Republicans Politicians from Camden, New Jersey Politicians from Moorestown, New Jersey University of Delaware alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni