George Theodore Werts (March 24, 1846January 17, 1910) was an American attorney, judge, and Democratic Party politician who served as the 28th governor of New Jersey from 1893 to 1896. His term in Governor coincided with the precipitous decline of the New Jersey Democratic Party amid the Panic of 1893 and growing ethnoreligious divisions in the state. Werts created the Palisades Interstate Park Commission which saved the New Jersey Palisades from being quarried for their rock. Early life George Theodore Werts was born on March 24, 1846, in Hackettstown, New Jersey. He attended public schools in Bordentown and completed his education at the State Model School in Trenton. Early legal and political career In 1863, Werts moved to Morristown, New Jersey to study law with his uncle, Jacob Vanatta, a former Attorney General of New Jersey. After four years of study, he was admitted to the bar and established a law office in Morristown. He practiced there for sixteen years, building a lucrative practice and gaining a reputation for integrity and skill at trial. Although Morristown was largely Republican at the time, Werts was elected recorder in 1883. In 1886, he was elected both mayor and Senator for Morris County. State Senator Werts served two terms in the State Senate from 1887 to 1893. He focused his efforts in the Senate on election reform and a local option on liquor regulation. Both were politically motivated and ineffectual, but brought him to the attention of Governor Leon Abbett. In February 1892, Abbett appointed Werts to fill the vacant seat of Manning M. Knapp on the Hudson County circuit of the New Jersey Supreme Court, in order to prevent Werts from obstructing his campaign for the United States Senate. Governor of New Jersey 1892 election Werts was nominated for Governor in 1892 on the first ballot of the Democratic convention with Abbett's support, beating out Edward C. Young and Job Lippincott. In the general election, he faced U.S. Representative John Kean, a member of the influential Kean family of Republicans. Kean campaigned against the Abbett administration's record, condemning Democratic election fraud, graft, and subservience to liquor and gambling interests. Werts did not play an active part in the campaign, instead deferring to party chair Allan L. McDermott. McDermott chose not to answer the charge of corruption and instead focused the race on national issues and opposition to President Benjamin Harrison. In a