Raymond Bateman

Raymond H. Bateman is an American Republican Party politician, who represented the 16th District in the New Jersey Senate in the 1960s and 70s, and was the Republican candidate for Governor of New Jersey in 1977. He is the father of Christopher Bateman, who now occupies the same Senate district.

Bateman was born on October 29, 1927 in Somerville, New Jersey and is a lifelong resident of Somerset County. He graduated from Somerville High School in 1945 and Wesleyan University in 1950. He also attended the graduate program at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. [http://books.google.com/books?id=1ClMAAAAMAAJ "Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey"] . J.A. Fitzgerald, 1977.]

He served as executive director of the Republican State Committee from 1954 to 1958. He entered the New Jersey General Assembly in November 1958, going on to serve as assistant majority leader in 1964 and majority leader in 1965. He was elected to the New Jersey Senate in 1967 and was reelected in 1971 and 1973. He served as assistant majority leader in 1968, majority leader in 1969, and Senate president and acting governor in 1970-1972.

In 1977 Bateman won the Republican primary for Governor of New Jersey over Thomas Kean, but he lost in the general election to Brendan Byrne by a margin of 1,184,564 to 888,880 votes. [http://governors.rutgers.edu/BTB-interview-Bateman1.htm Brendan T. Byrne Archive: Interview with Raymond H. Bateman] . Eagleton Institute of Politics, January 11, 2007. Accessed March 18, 2008.]

Bateman served as chairman of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. [Sandomir, Richard. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9904EEDC163EF933A15751C1A961958260&scp=5&sq=%22raymond+bateman%22&st=nyt "Devils Owner Seeks Hockey in Hoboken"] , "The New York Times", December 20, 1997. Accessed January 23, 2008. "Raymond Bateman, the chairman of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which is the Devils' landlord, said in a statement that the agency would honor the lease "and there are no foreseeable circumstances under which that would change."] He resigned after a conflict with Governor of New Jersey Donald DiFrancesco in 2001 over construction of a new arena for the New Jersey Devils in Newark and plans for the proposed Xanadu complex. [Fitzgerald, Barbara. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9807E2DE143AF931A15754C0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 "The Incredible Shrinking Governor"] , "The New York Times", July 22, 2001. Accessed January 23, 2008. "And when Raymond Bateman, the chairman of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, disagreed with Mr. DiFrancesco over his proposal for a new arena in Newark and a sprawling retail and entertainment center in the Meadowlands, Mr. Bateman offered his resignation."]

Bateman sponsored the 1962 legislation that established New Jersey's county-based community college system. [Goodnough, Abby. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9403E1DF1131F937A35756C0A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 "Live and Learn"] , "The New York Times", May 4, 1997. Accessed January 23, 2008. 'Raymond Bateman, a former state legislator from Somerset County who sponsored the 1962 law that allowed the establishment of community colleges, said the state used to pay one-third of the colleges' budgets."]

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