John F. Russo (July 11, 1933 – August 12, 2017) was an American attorney and Democratic Party politician from New Jersey, who served in the New Jersey Senate from 1974 to 1992 and was Senate President.
[1] He served for nine years as an assistant prosecutor in Ocean County, and was first elected to the State Senate in 1973.
In 1982, he wrote a bill reinstating capital punishment in New Jersey.
[4] Russo ran for the Democratic Party nomination for Governor of New Jersey in 1985, placing second behind nominee Peter Shapiro, who was in turn soundly defeated by Thomas Kean in the general election.
[2] Following his retirement from the Senate, Russo was a partner at the Princeton Public Affairs Group.