Paul Kramer

Paul Kramer (September 6, 1933 – June 16, 2020) was an American Republican Party politician. He served four terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 14th Legislative District from 1992 to 2000. He was best known for sponsoring New Jersey's Megan's Law that created a statewide sex offender registry follow the murder of Megan Kanka, a seven-year-old girl.[1]

For the American biologist and plant physiologist, see Paul J. Kramer. For the soap opera character, see Paul Cramer.

Paul Kramer
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly
from the 14th district
In office
January 14, 1992 – January 11, 2000
Preceded byPeter A. Cantu
Anthony J. Cimino
Succeeded byLinda R. Greenstein
Gary Guear
Personal details
Born(1933-09-06)September 6, 1933
Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedJune 16, 2020(2020-06-16) (aged 86)
Hamilton Township, New Jersey, U.S.
Political partyRepublican

Early career

Kramer earned his undergraduate degree from Rider College, where he majored in Accounting. He served in the United States Air Force from 1952 to 1956. He was employed as Finance Director of Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey. Kramer served from 1966 to 1976 as the Assistant Comptroller for the City of Trenton, was chair of the Hamilton Township Improvement Authority from 1980 to 1984 and was a member of the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1985 to 1992.[2]

Assemblyman

Kramer was elected to the General Assembly in 1991 together with Barbara Wright, in a wave of Republican victories following voter dissatisfaction with Democratic Governor of New Jersey James Florio.[3] The two were re-elected in 1993, 1995 and 1997.[4][5] Kramer served in the Assembly on the Banking and Insurance Committee and the Labor Committee, and was Assistant Majority Leader starting in 1998.[2] In the 1999 election, Kramer and Wright were narrowly defeated by Democrats Linda R. Greenstein and Gary Guear, with the incumbents losing votes in Hamilton Township, where Democrat Glen Gilmore won the race for mayor. The two losses were among the three seats Republicans lost in the Assembly in the 1999 elections, though they retained their majority.[3] Kramer and Wright ran again in 2001, losing for a second time to Greenstein and Guear.[4]

Kramer was the Assembly sponsor in 1994 of a package of seven bills known as Megan's Law that were approved one month after the rape and murder of Hamilton Township seven-year-old Megan Kanka by Jesse Timmendequas, a sex offender who had been previously convicted of sex crimes and had lived, together with two other sex offenders, across the street from Kanka. The bills required sex offender registry, with a database tracked by the state, community notification of registered sex offenders moving into a neighborhood, and life in prison without a chance of parole for those convicted of a second sexual assault. Kramer expressed incredulity at the controversy created by the bills, saying that "Megan Kanka would be alive today" if the bills he proposed had been law.[6]

He died on June 16, 2020, in Hamilton Township, New Jersey at age 86.[7]

References
  1. Wildstein, David (June 19, 2020). "Paul Kramer, former assemblyman, dies at 86". New Jersey Globe. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  2. "Assemblyman Paul Kramer". Archived from the original on February 25, 1998., New Jersey Legislature. Accessed June 8, 2010.
  3. Peterson, Iver. "On Politics; Making Headway, Democrats Look Toward Two Big Ones", The New York Times, November 7, 1999. Accessed June 8, 2010.
  4. NJ Assembly 14 – History, OurCampaigns.com. Accessed June 8, 2010.
  5. Staff. "ELECTION '97; Then There Were 80: Assembly Race Results", The New York Times, November 9, 1997. Accessed June 8, 2010.
  6. McLarin, Kimberly J. "Trenton Races To Pass Bills On Sex Abuse", The New York Times, August 30, 1994. Accessed June 8, 2010.
  7. "Assemblyman Paul Kramer, Author of Megan's Law, Dead at 86". Tapinto.net. June 18, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
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