Ronald S. Dancer

Ronald Stanley Dancer (May 31, 1949 – July 23, 2022) was an American Republican Party politician. He spent nearly 20 years in the New Jersey General Assembly, initially representing the 30th legislative district between 2002 and 2012. He later redistricted to the 12th legislative district in 2012, serving until his death in 2022.

Dancer was born on May 31, 1949, to Rachel Young and Stanley Dancer, the latter of whom was a professional harness racer.^[2][3] He attended the Peddie School, Wesley College (majoring in Business Administration) and the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.^[4] He also served in the United States Army from 1969 to 1971.^[4] In 1970 Ronald became the youngest driver ever to compete in harness racing’s Hambletonian.^[5]

Dancer's first elected office was serving on the Plumsted Township committee. He was chosen as mayor in 1990 and continued to be selected for one-year terms until 2011 when he retired from the committee.^[4] He has served on the Ocean County Board of Social Services since 1997 (as Chair), the Ocean County Natural Lands and Farmland Preservation Advisory Committee since 1998 and the Ocean County Senior Services Advisory Council since 2002. He was on the New Jersey Horse Racing Commission from 1999 to 2002. After retiring as mayor, he served as the business administrator for Plumsted Township.^[6] For a period of time, he held two elected positions—Plumsted Township committeeperson and Assemblyman. This dual position, often called double dipping, was allowed under a grandfather clause in the state law enacted by the New Jersey Legislature and signed into law by Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine in September 2007 that prevented dual-office-holding but allows those who had held both positions as of February 1, 2008, to retain both posts.^[7]

In November 2002, Republican County Committee representatives from the 30th Legislative District (which at the time was made up of portions of Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth, and Ocean counties) chose Dancer to fill the vacancy created by Melvin Cottrell's death; Dancer defeated Howell Township Councilmember Joseph DiBella by a 106–72 margin.^[8] He had been re-elected to two year terms four times from the 30th District before winning twice from the 12th District.

• Agriculture and Natural Resources
• Military and Veterans' Affairs
• Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations
• Tourism, Gaming and the Arts

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly.^[9] The representatives from the 12th District for the 2022—23 Legislative Session are:^[10]

• Senator Samuel D. Thompson (R)
• Assemblyman Robert D. Clifton (R)
• Assemblyman Ronald S. Dancer (R)

Dancer and his wife, Brenda, had two children, and lived in New Egypt, New Jersey. He died at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on July 23, 2022, at the age of 73.^[11][12][13]

New Jersey general election, 2017^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Ronald S. Dancer	30,348	29.3	0.2
	Republican	Robert D. Clifton	29,610	28.5	0.5
	Democratic	Gene Davis	21,441	20.7	0.3
	Democratic	Nirav Patel	20,397	19.7	0.6
	Libertarian	Anthony J. Storrow	1,016	1.0	N/A
	Libertarian	Daniel A. Krause	938	0.9	N/A
Total votes			'103,750'	'100.0'

New Jersey general election, 2015^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Ronald S. Dancer	15,164	29.5	3.3
	Republican	Robert D. Clifton	14,433	28.0	3.7
	Democratic	David W. Merwin	10,496	20.4	2.9
	Democratic	Robert P. Kurzydlowski	10,449	20.3	3.7
	Green	Stephen N. Zielinski Sr.	945	1.8	N/A
Total votes			'51,487'	'100.0'

New Jersey general election, 2013^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Ronald S. Dancer	32,188	32.8	2.5
	Republican	Robert D. Clifton	31,059	31.7	2.6
	Democratic	Lawrence J. Furman	17,119	17.5	2.9
	Democratic	Nicholas Nellegar	16,312	16.6	3.7
	For the People	Diane Bindler	1,354	1.4	N/A
Total votes			'98,032'	'100.0'

New Jersey general election, 2009^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Joseph R. Malone, III	47,325	36.6	5.0
	Republican	Ronald S. Dancer	45,901	35.5	4.8
	Democratic	John Kocubinski	18,400	14.2	4.8
	Democratic	William "Bill" Spedding	17,836	13.8	4.9
	Write-In	Personal choice	8	0.01	N/A
Total votes			'129,470'	'100.0'

New Jersey general election, 2007^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Joseph R. Malone III	23,120	31.6	1.0
	Republican	Ronald S. Dancer	22,477	30.7	1.4
	Democratic	Sharon Atkinson	13,906	19.0	1.7
	Democratic	Jeffrey Williamson	13,657	18.7	0.7
Total votes			'73,160'	'100.0'

New Jersey general election, 2005^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Joseph R. Malone III	36,286	32.6	0.4
	Republican	Ronald S. Dancer	35,794	32.1	0.6
	Democratic	Jeffrey Williamson	20,053	18.0	0.6
	Democratic	Marvin Krakower	19,235	17.3	0.4
Total votes			'111,368'	'100.0'

New Jersey general election, 2003^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Joseph R. Malone	25,497	33.0	2.4
	Republican	Ronald S. Dancer	24,355	31.5	1.9
	Democratic	Joseph D. Grisanti	14,347	18.6	2.1
	Democratic	Mitchel Dolobowsky	13,031	16.9	2.2
Total votes			'77,230'	'100.0'

• Assemblyman Dancer's legislative web page, New Jersey Legislature
• New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms
  • 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
• Assembly Member Ronald S. Dancer^{[permanent dead link‍]}, Project Vote Smart
• USTrotting.com article on Assemblyman Dancer