Catherine A. Costa, a Democrat who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature in the 1980s and was the first woman to serve on the Burlington County Board of Freeholders, died today. She was 99.
The Brooklyn-born lawmaker became involved in politics after working on John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign, and was present when Kennedy campaigned in Willingboro in October 1960.
As a legislator, Costa sponsored legislation to eliminate no-fault auto insurance, to provide zero-interest loans to help municipal governments pay for wastewater treatment facilities, and to allow school boards to use vacant buildings for emergency housing for people experiencing homelessness. She also sponsored legislation protecting New Jerseyans who miss the filing deadline for homestead rebates and to provide men with equal benefits to women who are the surviving spouses of veterans.
Costa became the Willingboro Democratic Municipal chair in 1964 and ran for freeholder in 1970, but the Democratic organization instead backed former two-term County Clerk Charles Ehrlich and Riverton Councilman Vincent Rogliano. In exchange for party support, Rogliano agreed to drop out of the Democratic primary for Congress to clear the field for Charles Yates, an Edgewater Park industrialist.
She ran off the line on a slate headed by two-term Democratic U.S. Senator Harrison A. Williams, Jr.; the Burlington Democratic chairman, Andrew Soltesz, was supporting State Sen. Frank Guarini (D-Jersey City) in his primary against Williams. Costa lost the primary by a 2-1 margin; she finished third in every municipality but New Hanover, where she was the top vote-getter with nineteen votes.
But two weeks later, after President Richard Nixon named Republican Freeholder Anthony Greski as U.S. Marshal, Costa became a candidate for Greski’s unexpired term.
On election night, Republican Frank Lockhart appeared to have defeated Costa by 56 votes, but a tally error discovered the next day put Costa ahead by 123 votes. After a recount, Costs had lost by eighteen votes out of more than 70,000 cast.
Costa sought a rematch with Lockhart in 1971 and unseated him by about 4,000 votes, 53%-47%.
She was easily re-elected in the 1974 Democratic Watergate landslide, defeating former Freeholder James A. Miller by over 10,000 votes, 56%-44%.
Costa was the Democratic nominee for Congress in New Jersey’s 6th district in 1976; the district included parts of Camden, Burlington, and Ocean counties and was the seat held by William T. Cahill from 1959 until he was elected governor in 1969. The incumbent, Edwin B. Forsythe (R-Moorestown), was a former Senate President who succeeded Cahill in 1970.
Forsythe defeated Costa by 40,867 votes, 59%-40%, in a district that Gerald Ford carried by a 52%-48% margin against Jimmy Carter.
In 1977, Yates, then a three-term assemblyman, decided to mount an ultimately successful primary challenge against State Sen. Edward Hughes, Jr. (D-Cinnaminson), and Costa strongly considered a run for the open Assembly seat. But Willingboro Mayor Barbara Faith Kalik had quickly announced, and Costa instead opted to seek a third term as freeholder; she won by over 10,000 votes against Mount Laurel Councilman Michael Traino; he blamed Republican gubernatorial candidate Raymond Bateman for his loss.
In a bid for a fourth term in 1980, Costa trounced Florence Councilman Emmett Spurlock by over 28,000 votes, winning 35 of 40 municipalities.
The relationship between Costa and Kalik was never good, and the two sparred for years.
When Yates announced he wouldn’t seek re-election to the Senate in 1981, after selling his company for over $100 million, he had planned to run for governor, but instead dropped out of the race, Costa eyed his seat; so did Kalik and Assemblyman Hebert Costello, who was also the mayor of Burlington City.
Democratic party leaders decided to back Costello, with Costa and Kalik running for the Assembly. In the heavily Democratic 7th legislative district, Costa was the top vote-getter, running 1,628 votes ahead of Kalik and 11,639 votes in front of Republican Bradford Smith, a Cinnaminson township committeeman who would become a state senator a decade later.
Costello announced in early 1983 that he would not seek a second term in the Senate; Costa and Kalik immediately expressed interest in succeeding Costello. Kalik touted her Assembly seniority – an argument Costa wasn’t buying – and some Democrats tried to talk Costa into challenging Rep. Christopher Smith (R-Hamilton), then a two-term congressman, in 1984. But Costa wanted the Senate.
The fight between Costa and Kalik lasted until just before the filing deadline. Burlington County Democratic Chairman Ronald Bookbinder was for Costa, but Kalik believed she had more support among rank-and-file county committee members. In the end, an unhappy Kalik dropped out, and Costa became the party-backed candidate. She defeated Willingboro Councilman (and McDonald’s franchise owner) Frank Quinn by 3,254 votes, 62%-38% in the Democratic primary.
In the general election, Costa defeated Republican Freeholder Henry Metzger by 11,081, votes, 63%-37%. She won a second term in 1987, besting Cinnaminson Mayor James Bristow by 11,499 votes, 63%-37%.
Costa resigned from the Senate in late 1990, after Gov. Jim Florio picked her to run the Alcohol and Beverage Commission. Democrats picked Assemblyman Thomas Foy (D-Edgewater Park) to take the Senate seat, again bypassing Kalik, by a vote of 216-92.
Her move out of electoral politics probably saved her the embarrassment of losing in the 1991 anti-Florio Republican wave, when Smith defeated Foy and Kalik lost her Assembly seat.
She served as the Assistant Senate Majority Leader.
In 1993, with Florio battling for re-election, Costa sought to return to the Senate and faced Foy in a bitter Democratic primary fight between two former senators. Costa defeated Foy, the endorsed candidate of the Burlington Democratic organization, by 389 votes, 52%-38% for the chance to take on Smith. Costa’s win was fueled by her 1,200 votes, an 84%-16% win in Pennsauken. Her Assembly candidates in the primary, Steven Petrillo and George Williams, also won.
A recount and a court battle extended into the summer in a district that Democrats believed they could win back.
Costa became hobbled by allegations that she used campaign funds to lease a Cadillac, pay personal credit card bills, and for hair salon services. In late August, she decided to withdraw from the race. Democrats replaced her with Jack Casey, a former Palmyra mayor and Burlington County treasurer; Casey ousted Smith by a 50%-48% margin.
She served on the Willingboro Library Board of Trustees in 1959, and again from 1962 to 1966. Costa chaired the Willingboro Zoning Board from 1969 to 1973. She was the New Jersey Mother of the Year in 1976.
Arrangements are pending through the Perinchief Chapels in Mount Holly.