Ronald S. Dancer

Ronald Stanley Dancer (born May 31, 1949) is an American Republican Party politician who serves in the New Jersey General Assembly representing the 12th Legislative District. Prior to redistricting, he represented the 30th Legislative District from 2002 until 2012.

Biography

Dancer was born on May 31, 1949 to Rachel Young and Stanley Dancer, the latter of whom was a professional harness racer.^[1][2] He attended the Peddie School, Wesley College (majoring in Business Administration) and the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.^[3] He also served in the United States Army from 1969 to 1971.^[3]

Dancer's first elected office was serving on the Plumsted Township committee. He was chosen as mayor in 1990 and continued to be selected for one-year terms until 2011 when he retired from the committee.^[3] He has served on the Ocean County Board of Social Services since 1997 (as Chair), the Ocean County Natural Lands and Farmland Preservation Advisory Committee since 1998 and the Ocean County Senior Services Advisory Council since 2002. He was on the New Jersey Horse Racing Commission from 1999 to 2002. After retiring as mayor, he now serves as the business administrator for Plumsted Township.^[4] For a period of time, he held two elected positions-- Plumsted Township committeeperson and Assemblyman. This dual position, often called double dipping, was allowed under a grandfather clause in the state law enacted by the New Jersey Legislature and signed into law by Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine in September 2007 that prevented dual-office-holding but allows those who had held both positions as of February 1, 2008, to retain both posts.^[5]

Legislative career

In November 2002, Republican County Committee representatives from the 30th Legislative District (which at the time was made up of portions of Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth, and Ocean counties) chose Dancer to fill the vacancy created by Melvin Cottrell's death; Dancer defeated Howell Township Councilmember Joseph DiBella by a 106–72 margin.^[6] He had been re-elected to two year terms four times from the 30th District before winning twice from the 12th District.

Dancer serves in the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Labor, and the Tourism, Gaming and the Arts committees.^[3]

District 12

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly. The other representatives from the 12th District for the 2014-2015 Legislative Session are:^[7]

• Senator Samuel D. Thompson (R)
• Assemblyman Robert D. Clifton (R)

References

External links

• Assemblyman Dancer's legislative web page, New Jersey Legislature
• New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms
  • 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
• Assembly Member Ronald S. Dancer, Project Vote Smart
• USTrotting.com article on Assemblyman Dancer