Joseph William Cowgill (April 24, 1908 – November 19, 1986) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the Minority Leader of the

New Jersey 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 ...

. 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 ...

on April 24, 1908, he graduated in 1925 from Camden High School, was a 1929 graduate of 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 a 1933 graduate of the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Carey Law, or Penn Law; previously University of Pennsylvania Law School) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Phi ...

. He was elected to the

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 ...

representing Camden County in 1940. He did not seek re-election to a second term in 1941, but instead ran for Camden County Surrogate (

Probate In common law jurisdictions, probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased; or whereby, in the absence of a legal will, the e ...

Court Judge). He resigned as Surrogate in 1943 to join the U.S. Navy during World War II. Cowgill was an Assistant Camden County Prosecutor in 1945, and served as the Camden County Counsel from 1947 to 1953, and again from 1957 to 1960. He was a Delegate to the 1947 New Jersey Constitutional Convention, and an Alternate Delegate to the

1956 Democratic National Convention The 1956 Democratic National Convention nominated former Governor Adlai Stevenson II, Adlai Stevenson of Illinois for president and United States Senate, Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee for vice president. It was held in the Internation ...

. He was elected to the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1952; he did not seek re-election in 1955, but instead ran for an open State Senate seat when Bruce A. Wallace retired. In a close race, Cowgill defeated Republican Haddon Township Mayor William G. Rohrer by 290 votes, 54,683 (50.02%) to 54,393 (49.76%). Cowgill again faced Rohrer when he sought re-election in 1959; this time, Cowgill won by 4,092 votes, 61,656 (51.72%) to 57,564 (48.28%). He served as the Senate Minority Leader from 1959 to 1964. In 1963, Cowgill was defeated for re-election to a third term as State Senator, losing to Republican Frederick Scholz by 13,627 votes, 72,873 (54.94%) to 59,246 (44.66%).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowgill, Joseph W. Democratic Party New Jersey state senators Camden High School (New Jersey) alumni County commissioners in New Jersey Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly New Jersey state court judges American prosecutors United States Navy personnel of World War II University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Politicians from Camden, New Jersey 1908 births 1986 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century New Jersey state court judges 20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature