Frank Davenport (March 19, 1912 – January 5, 1995) was an American Republican Party politician who served as the Sheriff of Passaic County, New Jersey and served one term in the New Jersey Senate.
[1] In his bid for the State Senate in 1973, he ran in the newly created, Paterson-based 35th district.
Despite the heavy Democratic leanings of the urban district, the popularity of the Democrats in the post-Watergate election season, and the incumbency of State Senator Joseph A. Lazzara, Davenport won the election by 93 votes out of 33,745 votes cast.
[2] Davenport's margins were much higher in the suburban communities of the district (Hawthorne, North Haledon, and Prospect Park) than the ones Lazzara ran in Paterson.
[3] He decided to retire from the Senate after one full term and was succeeded by Frank X. Graves Jr.[4] He died on January 5, 1995, at the age of 82.