William Borden Conover was 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 served on the Monmouth County

Monmouth County, New Jersey

Monmouth County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 630,380, up from 615,301 at the 2000 census. Its county seat is Freehold Borough. The most populous municipality is Middletown Township with...

 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...

 from 1907 to 1910. Conover, a Middletown resident served as Director of the Board the entire four years and was the first Republican to serve in that capacity in Monmouth County.

Biography

In the 1905 general election, the voters of Monmouth County approved changing the Board of Chosen Freeholders from 24 members elected by township

Township (New Jersey)

A township, in the context of New Jersey local government, refers to one of five types and one of eleven forms of municipal government. As a political entity, a township is a full-fledged municipality, on par with any town, city, borough, or village, collecting property taxes and providing...

s and wards

Wards of the United States

In the United States, a ward is an optional division of a city or town, especially an electoral district, for administrative and representative purposes...

 to five members elected at-large

At-Large

At-large is a designation for representative members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent the whole membership of the body , rather than a subset of that membership...

. The new board was to be elected in the 1906 election.

Republicans swept all five seats, defeating a Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 ticket consisting of five incumbent

Incumbent

The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...

 freeholders, including Director John Guire

John Guire

John Guire was an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey, who served on the Monmouth County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders.-Biography:...

. The Republicans held the monopoly on the board for four years before being swept out in the Democratic landslide of 1910. Rumson

Rumson, New Jersey

Rumson is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 7,122.Rumson was formed as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 15, 1907, from portions of Shrewsbury Township, based on the results of a...

 Democrat John M. Corlies

John M. Corlies

John Minton Corlies was an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey, who served on the Monmouth County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders, the Shrewsbury Township Committee, and as mayor of Rumson.-Biography:...

would succeed William B. Conover as director.