Steven Perskie

Anne Martindell (1914-2008) served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1974 to 1977.State Sen. Anne Martindell of Princeton, who died yesterday at 93, championed the underdog throughout a life marked by public service and a thirst for knowledge and self-improvement. In the words of her son, Princeton Councilman Roger Martindell, "she fought for what she believed in, and she was gracious in the fight."

Elected to the state Senate as a Democrat in 1973 as part of the Watergate backlash that landed a number of Democrats in the Statehouse to form a 28-12 Democratic majority, Martindell served one term before becoming President Jimmy Carter’s Ambassador to New Zealand.

In her eighties, she doubled back on the college career she never completed. Sixty-years after leaving Smith College following her freshman year, Martindell obtained her Bachelor’s degree from Smith and an honorary doctorate of law in 2002.

On Thursday, news of her death brought forth an outpouring of goodwill from those who knew her and those with whom she served in Trenton, including former Gov. Brendan T. Byrne.

The regions are named after four exceptionally smart legislators of the past: Judge Stephen Perskie (D-Atlantic), who served in the State Assembly from 1972 to 1978 and in the Senate from 1978 to 1982; Bill Gormley (R-Atlantic), who served in the Assembly from 1978 to 1982 and in the Senate from 1982 to 2007; Stephen Wiley (D-Morris), who was a State Senator from 1974 to 1978; and Richard DeKorte (R-Bergen), an Assemblyman from 1968 to 1971.

Judge Steven Perskie, who wrote the legislation that brought casino gambling to Atlantic City in the 1970’s and perhaps one of the smartest people to serve in the New Jersey Legislature, turns 63 today. He was elected to the State Assembly in 1971, at age 26 – part of a Democratic team that toppled the powerful Atlantic County Republican machine. In that race, Joseph McGahn, a physician and the first Democrat to serve as Mayor of Absecon, defeated the legendary Frank “Hap”Farley, the Atlantic GOP boss and a 41-year veteran of the Senate, by nearly 12,000 votes. Perkie and his running mate, 27-year-old attorney James Colasurdo, defeated Republican incumbent Samuel Curcio (the father of Atlantic County Freeholder James Curcio), and Howard Haneman, who was seeking an open seat created by the retirement of Albert Smith, a former Assembly Speaker.

If Wayne DeAngelo wins and Linda Greenstein loses in the fourteenth district Assembly race next week, Greenstein would become the first incumbent to lose to a running mate in thirty years.  The last time was in the second district in 1977.  Democratic Assemblyman Steven Perskie moved up to the Senate and Democrat Michael Matthews took his seat.  Republican Assemblyman Howard Kupperman finished third, trailing his running mate, Atlantic County Freeholder William Gormley.

Three members of prominent Atlantic County political families were among the winners in the 1975 elections: Steven Perskie, 30, the son of Atlantic County Judge David Perskie and grandson of New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Joseph Perskie, won re-election to a third term in the State Assembly; William Gormley, 29, the son of former Atlantic County Sheriff Gerald Gormley, was elected Atlantic County Freeholder; and Sigmund Rimm, 43, the son of former Assemblyman and Judge Benjamin Rimm, was elected Margate City Commissioner.

Perskie went on to serve in the State Senate, as Chief of Staff to the Governor, and as Casino Control Commission Chairman. He is currently serving his second stint as a Superior Court Judge. Gormley went to the State Assembly in 1977 and to the Senate in 1982. Rimm announced this week that he will not seek re-election to a ninth term, ending a 32-year career in local government.

Atlantic County has had just four State Senators over the last 65 years: the legendary Frank "Hap" Farley, who held the seat from 1941 to 1972; Joseph McGahn, who unseated Farley in 1971; Steven Perskie, who ousted McGahn in 1977; and William Gormley, who won a 1982 special election when Perskie left to become a Superior Court Judge.

That mantra probably belongs to the Perskie's. Former Senate Majority Leader Steven Perskie has earned his place in New Jersey history as the father of casino gambling in Atlantic City, but he wasn't the first family member to propose the idea. Perskie’s family emigrated to the United States in 1882 and settled in an agricultural colony near Vineland. Steven's great-grandparents had six children, including Jacob Perskie, the oldest son, born in 1865, and Joseph Perskie, the grandfather of the future Senator, the youngest son who was born on the farm in 1885. Jacob became a prominent portrait artist in Atlantic City, and in 1932 drew the portrait of Franklin Rosevelt that appeared on the official campaign banners for his presidential campaign that year. Jacob was considered something of a bohemian, with a mane of white hair and an ascot, and as for politics he was probably something of an anarchist. In the mid 1930’s, Jacob publicly called for the legalization of gambling in Atlantic City, for which his brother Joseph, then sitting as a New Jersey Supreme Court Justice, was mortified by the seemingly outrageous idea. Steven Perskie began his political career in 1971, at age 26, when he was part of a Democratic ticket that upset legendary State Senator Frank "Hap" Farley in an Atlantic County legislative district. Perskie later served as a State Senator, Superior Court Judge, Chief of Staff to the Governor, and Chairman of the Casino Control Commission. When he proposed casino gambling as a legislator more than thirty years later, some old timers in Atlantic City undoubtedly met young Perskie’s radicalism with a similar contempt. After a stint as a partner at Fox, Rothschild, O’Brien and Frankel, Perskie has returned to the bench, serving as a New Jersey Superior Court Judge in Atlantic County. A Cousin, Timothy Perskie, has become a Republican; he works for GOP media consultant David Murray.