Robert A. Roe
Robert Aloysius Roe was an American Democratic Party politician who represented New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives for over 23 years, serving from November 4, 1969 to January 3, 1993.Biography
Roe was born in Wayne, New Jersey on February 28, 1924. He attended college at Oregon State University in Corvallis and Washington State University in Pullman. During World War II, Roe served in the United States Army. Roe served as a committeeman of Wayne from 1955–1956 and became the Mayor of Wayne Township in 1956, serving in that capacity until 1961. He also served on the Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1959–1963, and as Freeholder Director in 1962 and 1963.
In 1963, he was appointed as the Commissioner of the New Jersey Conservation and Economic Development Department and served until his 1969 resignation. In 1969, Charles S. Joelson resigned from Congress. On November 4, Roe was elected as Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election.
Roe had a mostly liberal voting record, but he was pro-life on abortion. During the 1980s, conservative radio talk show host Bob Grant often bitterly attacked Roe on his program.
He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor in 1977 and 1981. Roe served as Chairman of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Committee on Public Works and Transportation, 1991–93. Roe retired after the 1992 election and later worked as a consultant.
The former lawmaker was convicted of driving drunk when he crashed into a minivan in Rockaway Township, New Jersey in 1993, seriously injuring a woman and her 15-year-old daughter. In January 2008 a bill was passed to name Route 23 after the former Congressman. Mothers Against Drunk Driving protested the plan to name the highway after a man who seriously injured two people while driving drunk. A spokesman stated that Governor Jon Corzine did not know about the accident when he signed the bill and that a second bill would have to be passed by the New Jersey Legislature to overturn the naming. Roe himself then requested that lawmakers repeal the legislation.Death
Roe died of congestive heart failure at his home in Green Pond, Rockaway Township, New Jersey at the age of 90 on July 15, 2014.
