Politics NJ, NJ
July 11 2007
The Armenian factor
By Matt Friedman – July 11, 2007 – 4:55pm
Tags: Joseph Ariyan, Gerald Cardinale,
Armenian-Americans seem like an odd group to go to battle over, but
both 39th district state Senate candidates are vying for their
support.
It’s common for politicians to court specific ethnic groups if
they’re numerous enough to have an impact at the polls, but what
makes Armenian-Americans different is their tiny population. There
are just over 8,200 Armenians in Bergen County, according to the 2000
census, and about 17,000 statewide. But despite their small numbers,
they’re cohesive and politically active, and they can be a powerful
political force if they coalesce behind a single candidate. Now the
support of the Armenian-American community has become a point of
contention between Democratic state Senate candidate Joe Ariyan,
who’s of Armenian heritage, and long-time Republican incumbent Gerald
Cardinale, who just sponsored a Senate resolution that will appeal to
many in the community.
Ariyan has demonstrated impressive fundraising prowess considering
he’s never held a competitive elected office, raising about $200,000
so far. And a lot of that money has come from Armenian-Americans.
Ariyan’s first major fundraising event was a reception hosted by an
Armenian friend, and about 60 Armenian sounding names – which
generally end in `ian,’ according to Ariyan – appear in his campaign
filings. Using that rule of thumb to recognize Armenian names, it
appears that Armenian-Americans had donated about $80,000 to Ariyan’s
campaign as of his last filing.
The last high profile Armenian-American politician in New Jersey was
former Assembly Speaker Chuck Haytaian, a Republican who challenged
Frank Lautenberg for Senator in 1994. The Armenian-American
community rallied around Haytaian during his years in office, and the
same kind of support has gone to Ariyan, a Democrat. But Ariyan
insists that his background isn’t an automatic in with local
Armenians.
`It’s not just like `you’re Armenian, here’s a check’ believe me.
They see me as a viable candidate because I’m a moderate, objective,
rational person,’ said Ariyan. `When these Armenians step up,
they’re stepping up just like everyone else, because they see a
moderate, credible person who wants to serve the public.’
While Armenians are as economically and politically diverse as any
American ethnic group, they tend to share one common political goal:
national recognition of the 1915 Armenian Genocide at the hands of
the Ottoman Empire. Many countries have classified the event as a
genocide, but the United States has not.
Jason Capizzi, Executive Director of ARMENPAC, a federal
Armenian-American Political Action Committee, said that most issues
of concern to Armenians need to be addressed on a national level.
But one way to achieve that is to get state governments to pass
resolutions.
`Joe comes from an area where there are a lot of Armenians who
believe he’s qualified and has got a real chance,’ said Capizzi.
`It’s really easy for everyone to get behind him.’
Just last month, Cardinale introduced Senate Resolution 115, which
designates April 24th as `Armenian Martyrs’ Day’ to commemorate the
Armenian Genocide. Resolutions on the Armenian genocide have been
introduced before in the Assembly by Chuck Haytaian, and more
recently by 38th district members Joan Voss and Bob Gordon, but this
was the first time Cardinale ever sponsored one.
`Some of my Armenian friends asked me to do it,’ said Cardinale, a
legislator since 1980. `They’re doing a fundraiser for me, and one
of them said `Since Chuck has been gone this hasn’t been
reintroduced, would you do me the favor of reintroducing it?’
Cardinale’s sponsorship of the resolution would almost certainly be
uncontroversial under normal circumstances. But it has Ariyan’s
campaign accusing Cardinale of trying to take a small but loyal and
well-paying chunk of voters away from of his base.
`It’s blatant pandering 26 years too late. He’s never done it
before. Coincidentally it’s an election year, and he submits this
ten months before (April 24th),’ said Ariyan. `If it weren’t
disingenuous, it would be a commendable gesture, but the fact is this
is the first time in 26 years.’
Cardinale insisted that he has long ties with the Armenian community,
nothing that he suggested the judicial nomination of Edward A.
Jerejian, who became Bergen County’s first Armenian-American judge.
`I think its fair to say that when some of my Armenian friends saw
this activity on behalf of the Armenian community, they were a bit
outraged, being that there’s a very positive impact on the Armenian
community here in Bergen county through my efforts of getting the
first Armenian americfan judgeship,’ said Cardinale.
He added, `If you’re a political candidate, you don’t want to allow
your opponent to get a whole homogenous group….. I’ve enjoyed the
support of a lot of Armenian Americans in the past….. I want them to
understand that even though I have an opponent who has a common
heritage with them, that doesn’t mean I’m going to write them off.’