Diane B. Allen (born March 8, 1948 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American Republican Party politician, who served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1998 to 2018, representing the 7th Legislative District. She served as the Deputy Republican Conference Leader from 2002 to 2003 and as the Majority Whip from 1998 to 2001. She was the Deputy Minority Leader in the N.J. Senate. She was a member of the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature, the New Jersey General Assembly, from 1996 to 1998. Allen is the Chair of the National Foundation for Women Legislators.
Video Diane Allen
Biography
Allen grew up in Moorestown Township, New Jersey and first ran for elective office in the 1970s when she ran for the Board of Education of the Moorestown Township Public Schools.
In the 1995 general election, Allen and Republican running mate Carmine DeSopo were elected, defeating Democratic incumbent Steven M. Petrillo and his running mate, newcomer Joseph P. Dugan. The $1.1 million spent in the 1995 Assembly race made it the first in New Jersey to cross the $1 million spending mark, as reported in the results of a study conducted by the Center for the Analysis of Public Issues of Princeton, New Jersey that analyzed campaign finance reports from candidates for all 80 Assembly seats.
Incumbent Democrat Jack Casey did not run for re-election in 1997, and in the Senate race that year Allen defeated the Democratic nominee Robert P. Broderick
Allen was elected Chair of the National Foundation for Women Legislators in November 2013. The organization represents the near 1800 female state legislators in America, and supports elected women from all levels of governance.
Senator Allen has served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1996, 2000, as well as in 2004 and 2012. She has served on the Martin Luther King Commission since 1998 and the New Jersey Human Relations Council from 2003 to 2007. She has been the Senate's Deputy Minority Leader since 2006, and serves in the Senate on the Education Committee, the Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee, as well as the Veterans and military affairs.
She was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate in 2002. Six people ran, with Allen a close second to millionaire businessman Doug Forrester who won the party's nomination. Forrester won the primary with 44.6% of the vote, Allen came in second with 36.9%, ahead of third-place finisher John J. Matheussen who garnered 18.6% of the vote.
Allen was a television anchor and reporter for KYW-TV from 1976 to 1978, and again from 1982 to 1988 and at WCAU-TV from 1989 to 1994, both in Philadelphia. She also worked at WLS-TV in Chicago from 1979 to 1982.
Allen received a B.A. from Bucknell University in Philosophy. She is the President of VidComm, Inc. She is currently a resident of Edgewater Park Township.
In 2007, Allen won re-election. She was unopposed in the Republican primary and defeated Democratic challenger Rich Dennison of Florence in the November general election.
Allen was considered a potential candidate for the New Jersey's 3rd congressional district seat being vacated by fellow Republican Jim Saxton in the 2008 election. However, she announced on November 29, 2007, that she would not run for the seat, citing factionalism in the Burlington County Republican Party in her statement.
On November 9, 2009, Allen announced that she has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. Allen had been informed in November 2009 that she had oral cancer. Though doctors had initially thought that treatment would require removal of her tongue and that she would be unable to speak normally, the surgery performed in 2010 did not greatly impair her speech, and she has since undergone radiation and laser treatments.
The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia inducted Allen into their Hall of Fame in 2005.
Allen, and her husband, Sam, are members of Mt. Laurel Friends Meeting and Moorestown Friends Meeting, where she currently serves on the Ministry Committee.
Maps Diane Allen
District 7
Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly. The other representatives from the 7th Legislative District for the 2016-2017 Legislative Session are:
- Assemblyman Herb Conaway, and
- Assemblyman Troy Singleton
Election history
References
External links
- Senator Diane Allen's Official Site
- Senator Allen's legislative web page, New Jersey Legislature
- New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms
- 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
- Senator Diane B. Allen, Project Vote Smart
- Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia webpage
Source of article : Wikipedia
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