John Anthony Durkin (March 29, 1936 - October 16, 2012) was a Democratic U.S. Senator from New Hampshire from 1975 until 1980.

Early life

Born March 29, 1936, in Brookfield, Massachusetts, Durkin was the youngest of four children, and graduated from St. John's High School in 1954. He later claimed that his parents told him that the highest callings in life were to become a priest or an honest politician, and that he opted for politics. At age 18 held his first elective office - Moderator of the Brookfield Town Meeting.

Durkin went on to attend the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, graduating in 1959. Through the U.S Navy ROTC program, he received his commission in the United States Navy as an Ensign, and served in the Navy from 1959 to 1961, attaining the rank of Lieutenant (Junior Grade).

After his Navy service, Durkin enrolled at Georgetown University Law Center, where he earned his J.D. degree in 1965. He was admitted to the bar, and began to practice in New Hampshire.

Durkin served as an Assistant State Attorney General from 1966 to 1968, and as State Insurance Commissioner from 1968 to 1973. He gained a degree of name recognition throughout the State, by frequently made headlines fighting the insurance companies on behalf of consumers.

United States Senate

1974 Senate election

Main article: United States Senate election in New Hampshire, 1974

In 1974, Durkin won the Democratic nomination for the Senate being vacated by the retiring 20-year Republican incumbent, Norris Cotton.

In the November 5 general election Durkin appeared to have lost against Republican Congressman Louis Wyman by 355 votes. Durkin requested a recount, which resulted in his victory by 10 votes. Governor Meldrim Thomson then certified Durkin as the winner. Wyman then requested a second recount, in which he prevailed by two votes.

Senator Cotton resigned on December 31, 1974, and Gov. Thomson appointed Wyman for the balance of the term ending January 3, 1975, a common practice intended to give an incoming Senator an advantage in seniority. Most thought this ended the disputed election, but Durkin appealed to the full United States Senate, which is the final arbiter of Senate elections under the Constitution.

The Senate Rules Committee, which has jurisdiction over elections, deadlocked on whether to seat Wyman for the 1975-1981 term, pending the resolution of the dispute, and sent the question to the full Senate. On January 14 the Senate returned the matter to the Rules Committee, which again returned it to the full Senate, enumerating 35 disputed points that questioned the election based on 3,000 questionable ballots. The full Senate was still unable to break the deadlock on even one of the 35 points.

After seven months and six unsuccessful attempts by Democratic Senators to seat Durkin, and much media attention in the New Hampshire press, Wyman proposed that he and Durkin run again in a special election. Durkin agreed, and the Senate declared the seat vacant on August 8, 1975, pending the outcome of the new election. In the meantime, Thomson again appointed Cotton to the seat as a caretaker until the new election was held.

In the September 16, 1975 special election, Durkin defeated Wyman by over 27,000 votes. This ended what remains the longest Senate vacancy, following the most closely contested direct Senate election in the history of the United States Senate.

When asked about the experience of going through such a long-contested election many years later in 2008, Durkin told The Associated Press that he wouldn’t wish the experience on his worst enemy. “I’d much rather have read about it than have lived it,” he said. Having initially resisted the idea of holding a special election to resolve the matter, Durkin recalled in 2008, that it was eventually his daughter, 8-years-old at the time, who helped change his mind: “She said, ‘Dad, don’t you realize they can’t make their mind up about anything?’,” Durkin said. “When the kids realize it, I thought I had to do something.”

Highlights of Senate service

For the first four years of his term, Durkin served alongside fellow Democrat Thomas J. McIntyre. New Hampshire hadn't been represented by two Democratic Senators since prior to the Civil War.

As a member of the senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Durkin authored a successful amendment to the 1976 Veterans Affairs Authorization, which extended GI Bill benefits to veterans of the recently concluded Vietnam War.

Other highlights of his Senate career included his work on energy independence, alternative energy sources, and preserving Federal lands in Alaska for future generations.

Working as a key Senate supporter of the legislation, and in coordination with staff of then Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus, Durkin played a key role in helping achieve successful passage of the Alaska Lands Act, enacted in 1980.

1980 Senate election

Durkin was defeated in his 1980 Senate re-election bid, by former state Attorney General Warren Rudman. He resigned early, six days before the end of his term, so Rudman could be appointed and gain a seniority advantage over other Senators elected in 1980. Durkin resumed the practice of law and resided in Manchester. He sought New Hampshire's other Senate seat in 1990, but was defeated by Republican Congressman Bob Smith.

Death

In his later years Durkin resided at the New Hampshire Veterans Home, battling various ailments. He died on October 16, 2012 at Franklin Regional Hospital in Franklin, New Hampshire. He was survived by his three children: John, Andrea and Sheilagh, and their spouses and children. Durkin was interred at Arlington National Cemetery, Court 7, Section K, Column 11, Niche 3.

Coincidentally, Warren Rudman, Durkin's opponent when Durkin unsuccessfully sought re-election in 1980, and who succeeded him in the Senate, died on November 19, 2012, just five weeks after Durkin's death.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]