Raymond H. "Ray" Bateman is an American Republican Party politician, who represented the 16th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate in the 1960s and 70s, and was the Republican candidate for Governor of New Jersey in 1977. He is the father of Christopher Bateman, who now occupies the same Senate district.Bateman was born on October 29, 1927 in Somerville, New Jersey and is a lifelong resident of Somerset County. He graduated from Somerville High School in 1945 and Wesleyan University in 1950. He also attended the graduate program at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.He served as executive director of the Republican State Committee from 1954 to 1958. He entered the New Jersey General Assembly in November 1958, going on to serve as assistant majority leader in 1964 and majority leader in 1965. He was elected to the New Jersey Senate in 1967 and was reelected in 1971 and 1973. He served as assistant majority leader in 1968, majority leader in 1969, and Senate president and acting governor in 1970-1972.In 1977 Bateman won the Republican primary for Governor of New Jersey over Thomas Kean, but he lost in the general election to Brendan Byrne by a margin of 1,184,564 to 888,880 votes.Bateman served as chairman of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. He resigned after a conflict with Governor of New Jersey Donald DiFrancesco in 2001 over construction of a new arena for the New Jersey Devils in Newark and plans for the proposed Xanadu complex.Bateman sponsored the 1962 legislation that established New Jersey's county-based community college system.