John A. Durkin

John Anthony Durkin (born March 29, 1936 in Brookfield , Worcester County , Massachusetts , † October 16, 2012 ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ) who represented the state of New Hampshire in the US Senate from 1975 to 1980 .

John Durkin attended Holy Cross College in Worcester until 1959 . He then served in the United States Navy from 1959 to 1961 . Durkin studied now at Georgetown University Law Center , the law school of Georgetown University in Washington, DC in 1965 he graduated and was admitted to the bar in New Hampshire and Massachusetts in 1966. Durkin was now practicing as a lawyer in Concord . He also served in the New Hampshire Attorney General's office from 1966 to 1968 , Assistant Attorney General of the state from 1967 to 1968 , and New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner from 1968 to 1973 .

In the 1974 election he ran for a seat in the US Senate. After the first count of the votes, he was defeated by his Republican opponent Louis C. Wyman with 355 votes behind and demanded a recount, which resulted in a lead of 10 votes for Durkin, so that his election victory was provisionally certified. Wyman complained against it and achieved a third count of the votes, in which Wyman won by 2 votes and was now certified as the election winner. The previous Republican mandate holder, Norris Cotton , resigned, and the Governor of New Hampshire appointed Wyman a Senator on December 31, 1974, to give him greater seniority than the other new Senators who joined on January 3. On January 3, 1975, Durkin called the rules committee and got Wyman to lose the seat and Cotton to be reinstated as a wild card. Durkin and Wyman agreed on a by-election. After the Senate seat was declared vacant on August 8, 1975, Durkin succeeded in being elected by a large margin in the by-election on September 16, 1975.

Durkin served in the Senate from September 18, 1975 until he resigned on December 20, 1980 after losing in the 1980 election . In the New Hampshire Senate election in 1990 , Durkin tried again unsuccessfully to be elected to the Senate.

Durkin then retired from politics and practiced as a lawyer in New Hampshire. He last lived in Manchester .

Web links

John A. Durkin in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

supporting documents

^ Closest Election in Senate History. In: Senate.gov ; Anne M. Butler, Wendy Wolff: The Election Case of John A. Durkin v. Louis C. Wyman of New Hampshire (1975). In: Senate.gov , 1995.

personal data
SURNAME	Durkin, John A.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Durkin, John Anthony (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician (Democratic Party)
DATE OF BIRTH	March 29, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH	Brookfield , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH	October 16, 2012

[1] Closest Election in Senate History. In: Senate.gov ; Anne M. Butler, Wendy Wolff: The Election Case of John A. Durkin v. Louis C. Wyman of New Hampshire (1975). In: Senate.gov , 1995.