David C. Russo (born October 8, 1953) is an American attorney and 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 ...
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 ...
from 1990 to 2017.
Biography
Born in
Jersey City
Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous
Project Vote Smart
Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...
. Accessed January 20, 2008. and raised in
Closter, New Jersey
Closter (Westergaard, Barbara"Closter: Bergen" ''New Jersey: A Guide to the State'', p. 78. Rutgers University Press, 2006. . Accessed July 22, 2011. "Known locally as the "hub of the Northern Valley," Closter (pronounced with a long ''o'') was ...
, Russo attended
Bergen Catholic High School
Bergen Catholic High School is an all-male Roman Catholic high school in Oradell, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grade.
Bergen Catholic operates under the supervision of the Roman ...
. He graduated with a
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 the
College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest instit ...
Seton Hall University School of Law
Seton Hall University School of Law is the law school of Seton Hall University, and is located in downtown Newark, New Jersey. Seton Hall Law is the only private law school in New Jersey. The school confers three law degrees: Juris Doctor, Ma ...
in 1978.
Russo served as Attorney for the Borough of Bergenfield from 2002-2005 and served as attorney for Bergenfield's Zoning Board of Adjustment from 1988-1989. He was the Municipal Prosecutor for the Township of Wyckoff from 1987-1988 and served as an attorney for 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 ...
. Accessed January 20, 2008.
Having been
admitted to the bar
An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...
in 1979, he is a partner at the
Teaneck
Teaneck () is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held every September. As of the 2020 United States cen ...
law firm of Russo and Russo. He resides in Ridgewood with wife Rosemarie (née Adamiak) with whom he has two children.
Political career
Russo began his elected career in 1989 when he defeated long-time assemblyman Walter Kern in the June Republican
primary
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Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
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* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Work ...
, though Kern had been disbarred after a scandal was exposed. He had since been easily re-elected every two years to the Assembly. , he was the longest-serving current member of the General Assembly, though not the earliest-serving member ( Ralph R. Caputo served non-consecutive terms in the Assembly in the 1960s and 1970s). He served in the Assembly on the Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee.
Russo ran for the Republican congressional nomination in in 2002, looking to replace the retiring
Marge Roukema
Margaret "Marge" Ellen Roukema (née Scafati; September 19, 1929 – November 12, 2014) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician who represented New Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 to 200 ...
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 ...
Gerald Cardinale
Gerald Cardinale (February 27, 1934 – February 20, 2021) was an American Republican Party politician, who served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1982 until his death in 2021, representing the 39th Legislative District. He also served on ...
of Demarest, who was endorsed by Roukema, and 24th District Assemblyman Scott Garrett of Wantage Township, who had made two unsuccessful attempts to unseat Roukema in the previous two primaries, Russo finished with 26% of the vote. While this was enough to defeat Senator Cardinale, who polled 25%, it was twenty points short of Assemblyman Garrett's total and left Russo in second place; Garrett would win election to the seat and be elected to six additional terms before being defeated in the 2016 election.
After 28 years in office, Russo chose not to run for re-election in 2017 and was succeeded by fellow Republican
Christopher DePhillips
Christopher P. DePhillips (born March 30, 1965) is an American attorney and Republican Party politician who has represented the 40th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly since 2018. He replaced David C. Russo, who decided ...
NJ.com
NJ.com is a digital news content provider and website in New Jersey owned by Advance Publications. According to ''The New York Times'' in 2012, it was the largest provider of digital news in the state at the time. In 2018, comScore reports that ...
, January 9, 2018. Accessed January 22, 2018. "David C. Russo, a Republican member of the Assembly from Bergen County who did not seek re-election after 28 years.... Chris DePhillips, a Republican who will succeed Russo in north Jersey's 40th District.
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 ...
Project Vote Smart
Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...