Lawrence F. “Pat” Kramer, Jr., a former mayor of Paterson who finished second in the 1981 Republican primary for Governor of New Jersey, died last night. He was 90.
He was the last living member of Gov. William T. Cahill’s cabinet. Kramer was Commissioner of Community Affairs from 1971 to 1974.
As mayor, Kramer expanded social programs in New Jersey’s third-largest city and advocated for aggressive urban renewal projects. As a candidate for governor, Kramer had become the front-runner before his campaign was dealt a fatal blow when the legislature eliminated county lines in gubernatorial primaries.
“Today our Paterson community mourns the loss of a true public servant and a pillar of our city, Pat Kramer,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson), who became friends with his onetime political opponent. “I have known Pat most of my life and he was a brilliant advisor, collaborator, and friend. Pat had a very special sense of humor that could bring everybody up when they were down. He just made people feel good. I have met great leaders in all walks of life.”
Pascrell said that “few people, anywhere, have done more to help others and have dedicated themselves more to their community than Pat.”
“Through force of will, Pat and his wife Mary Ellen brought President Ford to our city and began the process of preserving the Great Falls Historic District, the crown jewel of our city,” he said. “As we reflect on Pat’s life today, I want people to understand that he dedicated his whole life for our city. My prayers are with Pat’s children and Roseanne, his stalwart partner. His kids and mine grew up together and they reflect the high character of their father. We’ve lost part of Paterson’s soul that can never be replaced, but others will come forward to serve their city and their neighbors. And that’s what Pat was all about. Rest in peace, my friend.”
Kramer first ran for mayor in 1966. The incumbent, Frank X. Graves, was term-limited; at the time, Paterson mayors could serve a pair of three-year terms before they had to leave office.
More than a dozen Republicans were under consideration for the mayoral nomination, including Passaic County Sheriff Frank Davenport, but Paterson GOP Municipal Chairman Herman Steinberg settled on Kramer, a 33-year-old lumber yard owner who had served on the Board of Education and planning board.
Kramer was the underdog in the November general election against Paterson Housing Authority Chairman John Wegner, who had won a bitter Democratic primary against former Mayor Michael DeVita by about 275 votes; Wegner had the backing of State Sen. Anthony Grossi, the Passaic County Democratic boss.
A World War II Army captain, DeVita ousted four-term Republican Mayor William Furrey in 1947. He was re-elected in 1949 despite his indictment on charges that he ordered a police officer to give false testimony in an illegal gambling probe. After the election, DeVita’s indictment was dismissed.
But he lost his bid for a third term after former Jersey City Mayor Frank Hague alleged that the New Jersey Democratic Party was controlled by reputed mobster Abner “Longy” Zwillman and named DeVita, the Passaic County Democratic Chairman, as one of the Democratic leaders Zwillman controlled. Republican Lester Titus beat him 52%-48%.
DeVita refused to endorse Wegner, and many of his supporters backed Kramer.
In that campaign, Kramer was mentored by former Rep. Gordon Canfield (R-Paterson), a longtime GOP insider who had served in Congress from 1941 to 1961.
Kramer won a massive 57%-43% victory, carrying 67 of Paterson’s 92 districts and defeating Wegner by roughly 6,000 votes.
He was immediately tagged as a rising star in New Jersey politics and mentioned as a future candidate for governor or U.S. Senator.
In 1968, Kramer and Davenport wrestled control of the Passaic County Republican organization away from the county chairman, Steve Dudiak. Davenport became GOP chairman.
President Richard Nixon tapped Kramer as one of four mayors in the nation to serve on the White House Advisory Council on Intergovernmental Relations.
Kramer quickly became popular in Paterson, but that didn’t prevent a brutal re-election campaign in 1969 when Graves sought to return to the mayoralty. Kramer won by about 5,000 votes, 56%-40%, with former Paterson Taxpayers Association President Thomas C. Rooney finishing a distant third.
Paterson voters went with candidates from both parties in the 1969 election, supporting Cahill for governor and Democrat Robert Roe in a special election for Congress; Roe defeated Eugene Boyle by 960 votes after taking Paterson by over 5,700.
In September 1972, Cahill nominated Kramer to serve as Commissioner of Community Affairs following the resignation of Edward Hume, a former Maplewood mayor.
He was succeeded on an interim basis by Arthur C. Dwyer, the president of the Paterson Board of Finance and a Democrat, and his resignation triggered a 1972 special election. In a shocking upset, Rooney, who had won just 4% of the vote in 1969, defeated Grossi’s choice, State Sen. Joseph Lazzara, by a 46%-31% margin, with Cyril Yanarelli (a future assemblyman) finishing third with 15%. The fourth candidate in the race was Pascrell, a 35-year-old Paramus High School history teacher who received just 8% of the vote; Pascrell would later go on to a hugely successful political career as an assemblyman, Paterson mayor, and congressman.
Rooney went on to win a general election by a 48%-39% margin against Edwin Englehardt, a member of the city’s police and fire commission.
Kramer’s tenure as community affairs commissioner was short-lived; he became a lame-duck after Cahill lost the June 1973 Republican primary. Kramer resigned after Democrat Brendan Byrne took office in 1974.
Paterson’s switch to non-partisan May municipal elections gave Kramer a path to return to public office soon after his tenure in Trenton was over, despite the overwhelming anti-Republican tide that covered the nation at the worst points of the Watergate scandal.
His bid to unseat Rooney was especially nasty and incredibly close. On Election Day, Kramer led Rooney by 160 votes out of more than 25,000 cast. A recount increased his margin to 161.
In that same election, Graves returned to City Hall as a councilman; in 1977, he replaced Davenport in the State Senate.
Kramer briefly mulled a bid for the 1977 Republican gubernatorial nomination against Byrne but opted not to run.
He was re-elected in 1978 in a landslide over Rooney and John Bell, the city’s human resources director and the first major Black candidate for mayor. Kramer beat Bell, 55%-27%, followed by Bell (17%) and businessman Nicholas Westhoven, who received less than 1%.
Kramer quickly began to traverse the state with an eye on running for governor in 1981.
As a moderate Republican, Kramer began locking up party organization support and secured endorsements from nine Republican county chairmen; in a crowded field of eight contenders, no other candidate had more than two.
But the rules of the race changed late in the campaign when Thomas H. Kean, a former Assembly Speaker, was able to use his relationships in the legislature to get a bill passed that eliminated county lines in gubernatorial primaries. The plan was the brainchild of Kean’s top strategist, Roger Stone, who effectively neutered Kramer and muscled him out of the front runner spot. Stone’s plan forced Kramer to change his campaign strategy after it was too late to win a publicly financed campaign with a spending cap.
Kean had a strong Democratic ally in this maneuver: Byrne, trying to advance the candidacy of his preferred successor, Attorney General John Degnan, against other Democrats with more party support.
The elimination of lines catapulted Kean to the nomination. He defeated Kramer in the Republican primary by 38,947 votes, 31%-21%, followed by businessman Bo Sullivan (17%), State Sen. James Wallwork (15.5%), Senate Minority Leader Barry Parker (6.5%), Assemblyman Anthony Imperiale (5%), Hamilton Mayor Jack Rafferty (3%), and former Superior Court Judge Richard McGlynn (1%).
In that primary, Kramer beat Kean 48%-15% in Passaic and 34%-32% in Bergen, where the GOP county chairman, John Inganamort, had endorsed him. Kean carried Hudson and Cape May.
He did not seek re-election as mayor in 1982 and declined an offer to run for Passaic County Freeholder. Graves succeeded him as mayor.
After leaving office, he began working as a business consultant and developer. He leveraged his national political contacts to help Graves lobby for federal funding for Paterson in the 1980s.
Kean nominated Kramer for a seat on the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority in 1983. But Kramer never got the seat after a Republican state senator from Passaic County, Joseph Bubba, used senatorial courtesy to block him. After a year, Kean withdrew the nomination.
Following Graves’ 1990 death, Kramer tried to stage a political comeback in 1991 as a candidate for State Senate in the 35th district. Republicans had held an Assembly seat in the Paterson-based district through the first half of the 1990s, and some candidates, including Englehardt, had carried the city in partisan elections.
But despite a Republican wave election that followed Gov. Jim Florio’s massive $2.8 billion tax increase – and led to the GOP picking up ten Senate seats – interim State Sen. John Girgenti was able to eke out a 1,894-vote, 53%-47% win.
RELATED ARTICLES
-
July 1, 2022 -
September 18, 2018 -
October 6, 2018