Donal C. Fox (December 16, 1903 – August 15, 1987) was an American Democratic Party official who represented

Essex County, New Jersey Essex County is located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey, and is one of the centrally located counties in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the county was the state's second-most populous county,< ...

in the

New Jersey State 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 ...

from 1956 to 1964. Born in

Amesbury, Massachusetts Amesbury is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the left bank of the Merrimack River near its mouth, upstream from Salisbury and across the river from Newburyport and West Newbury. The population was 17,366 at the ...

, he graduated from the

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 ...

and

Fordham Law School Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. According to Fordham University School of Law's ABA- ...

and practiced law in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

. He served as the Deputy Attorney General of New Jersey, the First Assistant Essex County Prosecutor, the Chairman of the

South Orange South Orange is a historic suburban village located in Essex County, New Jersey. It was formally known as the Township of South Orange Village from October 1978 until April 25, 2024. As of the 2020 United States census, the village populatio ...

Planning Board and as President of the Essex County Bar Association. In 1955, Fox became the Democratic nominee for State Senator, challenging freshman Republican incumbent Mark Anton. Anton faced a split among Essex Republican factions after just narrowly defeating Assembly Majority Leader William O. Barnes in the GOP Primary. Fox beat Anton by 7,809 votes out of more than 230,000 cast, a 51%-48% win. Fox won re-election to a second term in 1959, defeating Republican Alfred Clapp, who served in the State Senate from 1948 to 1953, when he resigned to become a Superior Court Judge. Clapp left the bench to help the GOP regain the Senate seat, but Fox won by 14,582 votes, a 51%-45% win. He did not seek re-election to a third term in 1963 after losing the support of the Essex County Democratic organization, but instead accepted an appointment by Governor

Richard J. Hughes Richard Joseph Hughes (August 10, 1909December 7, 1992) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge. A Democrat, he served as the 45th governor of New Jersey from 1962 to 1970, and as Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1973 to ...

as a Commissioner of the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Donal 1903 births 1987 deaths Politicians from Essex County, New Jersey University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly 20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature