Thomas J. Shusted

Born in Ocean City, New Jersey on August 3, 1926, Shusted attended Camden Catholic High School and served in the United States Army from 1944 to 1946.

[3][4] Shusted was appointed in February 1971 by Assembly Speaker Barry T. Parker to fill the vacant seat that had been held by James T. Dowd as a member of the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation, an independent governmental fact-finding agency responsible for identifying and investigating organized crime, corruption and waste, fraud and abuse in government, and was the first county prosecutor to serve on a full-time basis in Camden County.

[2] In September 1986, Governor Thomas Kean signed legislation that Shusted had sponsored which would double and triple fees assessed to drivers upon conviction for drunk driving.

[12][13] In the 1989 general election, with Republicans holding a two-seat margin in the Assembly, Rocco and Shusted faced off against Democrats Barbara Berman (who had lost the seat to Rocco and Shusted in 1979) and her running mate Mary Ellen Talbott, with 10,000 more registered Democrats in the district than Republicans.

Freeholder Lee Solomon was sworn in to fill the vacant seat on February 21, 1991, having been chosen by Republican county committee members from the district.