Kenneth D. McPherson, Sr., a politically influential and hugely respected North Jersey power lawyer and close ally of Gov. Brendan Byrne, died on August 30. He was 92.
He and his friend, David Waters, founded a law firm above a storefront in Jersey City. The firm continues to operate as Waters, McPherson, McNeill.
Hudson County Prosecutor James Tumulty, Jr. named McPherson as a part-time assistant prosecutor in 1964.
McPherson was 30 years old when he became warden of the Hudson County Jail in 1965. The freeholder board picked him after voting to give Henry McFarland an unpaid leave of absence following his indictment on federal perjury charges. After an inspection, Commissioner of Institutions and Agencies Lloyd McCorkle praised McPherson’s leadership.
In late 1966, Gov. Richard Hughes named McPherson as secretary of the State Division of Tax Appeals.
Hughes decided to drop Tumulty as prosecutor in early 1969 and nominated McPherson for the post. At the time, Republicans held a 31-9 majority in the State Senate and four of the Democratic senators were from Hudson County.
Republican Raymond Bateman, the majority leader, stalled the nomination until after the gubernatorial election. It was one of several Hughes nominations held up that year; another, Jersey City Auditor William Sternkopf, Jr., who helped take down Mayor Frank Hague in the late 1940s, had his nomination to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey held up.
McPherson’s ascent became complicated when Hudson County Democratic Chairman John V. Kenny implicitly backed Republican William Cahill for governor against his party nominee, former Gov. Robert Meyner. Cahill, with zero coattails, carried Hudson with 57% of the vote; speculation suggested Cahill had promised Kenny could pick the new prosecutor.
But Cahill made it clear that he intended to appoint a Republican to the post, and with four Democratic senators in Hudson County, it took him three months to nominate Raymond Young, an assistant U.S. Attorney from North Bergen. The first person to oppose his nomination was Hudson County GOP Chairman John Theurer. Young’s candidacy for prosecutor lasted about a month, and Cahill instead nominated Geoffrey Gaulkin.
Cahill became New Jersey’s first Republican governor in 16 years, and his election led to the replacement of McPherson at his tax appeals job by Ann Flynn, the Republican state committeewoman from Monmouth County.
McPherson was an early supporter of Byrne’s 1973 bid for the Democratic nomination for governor. Byrne carried Hudson County with nearly 64% of the vote in a five-candidate primary field.
After the election, McPherson was considered a possible candidate for chief counsel to the governor and again for prosecutor. He was also a potential pick for interim secretary of state after J. Edward Crabiel was indicted a few months into Byrne’s term, but McPherson was not especially interested in the post.
Instead, McPherson became Byrne’s informal liaison to the State Senate, and helped form the Woodrow Wilson Society, a group of influential Democrats who began laying the groundwork for Byrne as a future candidate for national office.
In 1976, Byrne reportedly asked McPherson to consider taking a job once held by the governor: president of the Board of Public Utilities.
When Hudson County Democrats moved against Byrne in the 1977 primary and backed Jersey City Mayor Paul Jordan, McPherson became Byrne’s Hudson County campaign manager.
In 1979, McPherson became chairman of the powerful Hudson River Waterfront Commission.
After Frank Lautenberg resigned from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 1981 to seek the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, Byrne appointed McPherson to replace him as one of the New Jersey commissioners.
As his law firm flourished, McPherson became an influential advisor to governors, federal and state legislators, and local officials.
A U.S. Army veteran, McPherson put himself through Fordham University Law School by selling Bibles door to door.
McPherson is survived by his wife of over 70 years, Sheila, his six children, 26 grandchildren, and 50 great-grandchildren. One of his daughters-in-law, Bernadette McPherson, is a former Rutherford mayor and Bergen County freeholder.
Family and friends will be received on September 3 from 9:30 AM to 12 PM, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at the Church of St. Mary in Rutherford.