Ralph A. Loveys is an American Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 politician who was elected to three terms in the New Jersey General Assembly

New Jersey General Assembly

The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature.Since the election of 1967 , the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for a term of two years, each representing districts with average...

, where he represented the 26th Legislative District

26th Legislative District (New Jersey)

New Jersey's 26th Legislative District is one of 40 in the state, covering the Morris County municipalities of Butler Borough, Chatham Borough, East Hanover Township, Florham Park Borough, Hanover Township, Kinnelon Borough, Lincoln Park Borough, Montville Township, Morris Plains Borough,...

. In 1988, Loveys was nominated to serve as head of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority

New Jersey Turnpike

The New Jersey Turnpike is a toll road in New Jersey, maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. According to the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, the Turnpike is the nation's sixth-busiest toll road and is among one of the most heavily traveled highways in the United...

 by Governor

Governor of New Jersey

The Office of the Governor of New Jersey is the executive branch for the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of Governor is an elected position, for which elected officials serve four year terms. While individual politicians may serve as many terms as they can be elected to, Governors cannot be...

 Thomas Kean

Thomas Kean

Thomas Howard Kean is an American Republican Party politician, who served as the 48th Governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. Kean is best known globally, however, for his 2002 appointment as Chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, widely known as the...

, but resigned after a year in office when Governor James Florio

James Florio

James Joseph "Jim" Florio is a Democratic politician who served as the 49th Governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994, the first Italian American to hold the position...

 would not support a toll increase package Loveys had supported.

Political career

Loveys is the son of P. Augustus Loveys and J. Violet Jacobs Lovey. A resident of Florham Park

Florham Park, New Jersey

Florham Park is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 8,857, which had grown to 12,389 as of the Bureau's 2008 estimate....

, Loveys was first elected to the General Assembly in 1983, where vehicle insurance

Vehicle insurance

Vehicle insurance is insurance purchased for cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other road vehicles. Its primary use is to provide financial protection against physical damage and/or bodily injury resulting from traffic collisions and against liability that could also arise therefrom...

 was one of the major issues he worked on in the legislature. Legislation introduced by Loveys and passed unanimously in the Assembly in June 1985 mandated a redesign of the New Jersey driver's license to allow organ donation

Organ donation

Organ donation is the donation of biological tissue or an organ of the human body, from a living or dead person to a living recipient in need of a transplantation. Transplantable organs and tissues are removed in a surgical procedure following a determination, based on the donor's medical and...

 information to be entered on the license itself, a proposal that the Transplant Foundation of New Jersey estimated could triple organ donations in the state.

As chairman of the Assembly Insurance Committee, Loveys and Assembly Speaker Chuck Hardwick

Chuck Hardwick

Charles Leighton Hardwick is a former state legislator in New Jersey, and a current Senior Vice President at Pfizer...

 announced plans in March 1987 to introduce legislation that would cut premium rates for bodily insurance coverage by 36%, yielding a reduction of $90 per year for drivers.

In December 1988 New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean nominated Loveys to succeed Joseph A. Sullivan as chairman of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, a position that carried no salary. In a statement released about the nomination, Kean said, "Loveys has served with distinction in the Assembly and has taken on some of the most difficult public policy issues our state faces." In January 1989, Alex DeCroce

Alex DeCroce

Alex DeCroce is an American Republican Party politician, who has served in the New Jersey General Assembly since 1989, where he represents the 26th legislative district....

, a member of the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders

Board of Chosen Freeholders

In New Jersey, the Boards of Chosen Freeholders are the county legislatures in each of that state's 21 counties.- Origin :New Jersey's system of naming county legislators "freeholders" is unique in the United States...

, was named to fill Loveys' vacant seat in the General Assembly. The New Jersey Senate

New Jersey Senate

The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. From 1844 until 1965 New Jersey's counties elected one Senator, each. Under the 1844 Constitution the term of office was three years. The 1947...

 confirmed Loveys' nomination in February 1989.

Resignation over toll rates

The first wave of toll increases which Loveys proposed in September 1989 was expected to add 40% to the existing toll rates in order to cover the cost of planned road-widening projects, and by 1996 would more than double rates, increasing the cost for a car traveling the full length of the 117 miles (188.3 km) Turnpike from $2.70 to $6.35 once the full package had been implemented.

Loveys resigned from his position as chairman in February 1990 during a public hearing on proposed toll increases for vehicles using the New Jersey Turnpike, after Governor Jim Florio announced that he was unwilling to support the increases Loveys recommended. The increases were said to be necessary to prevent the Turnpike Authority from being in technical default on billions of dollars in bonds it had issued in 1985 to cover construction costs. Despite his resignation as chairman, Loveys remained a member of the commission that oversaw the Turnpike. Florio's statement accepting Loveys' resignation stated that information coming from Loveys was "confirming our suspicion that management of the Turnpike has left something to be desired". Florio said that he would not allow a toll increase to go through and named commissioner Frank Rogers to serve as acting chairman following Loveys' departure.

Family

Loveys and his wife, Persis, are the parents of James Loveys, who has served three terms as the vice chair of the Parks Committee, is a member of the Landmarks Committee, and is a volunteer in the Recreation Department of Randolph, New Jersey

Randolph, New Jersey

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 24,847 people, 8,679 households, and 6,804 families residing in the township. The population density was 1,185.2 people per square mile . There were 8,903 housing units at an average density of 424.7 per square mile...

. In September 2010, the younger Loveys was selected to serve out the remaining four months in the term of Randolph Mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

Jay Alpert, who resigned in August.