William J. Bate (April 10, 1934 – January 29, 2011) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as a state senator, assemblyman, and judge.
Bate later enrolled and earned a master's degree in American Political Systems from Rutgers University while serving in the legislature.
Passaic County had three Senate seats, all elected at-large, and none of the three Fourteenth District incumbent Republicans sought re-election.
Rather than challenge Hirkala in a primary, Bate instead chose to run for the New Jersey General Assembly and was elected to represent the 34th district.
He was unopposed for the Democratic nomination, but lost the general election to Passaic County Republican Chairman Joseph Bubba by a 53%-47% margin.