SEEKING FIRST WIN SINCE ’77, DEMOCRATS REFUSE TO GIVE UP ON 39TH
By Matt Friedman
PolitickerNJ
/matt-friedman/27570/seeking-first-win-77-democrat s-refuse-give-39th
Feb 24 2009
NJ
Republicans have not yet settled on who they’re going to run for
assembly in the 39th legislative district, but two Democrats are
eager to take on whoever is on the Republican ticket.
John Shahdanian, a labor attorney and Democratic municipal chairman
from Old Tappan, and Michael McCarthy, the political director of a
stage hands’ union, have both filed to run for the party line in the
District 39 convention.
The district, a Republican stronghold where Democrats haven’t won
since 1977 despite their dominance in the rest of the county, saw a
well-funded but unsuccessful challenge two years ago by Democrats,
who spent millions on the state senate campaign of attorney Joseph
Ariyan and the assembly campaigns of River Edge Councilwoman Esther
Fletcher and Dumont Councilman Carl Manna. Despite the effort,
state Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Demarest) and assembly incumbents
John Rooney (R-Northvale) and Charlotte Vandervalk (R-Montvale)
all won by comfortable margins.
"They got the wheels in motion. I think the tide is turning, and we
can do really well," said Shahdanian.
One Bergen County Democratic insider who worked on the 2007 campaign
called it "our Vietnam" and doubted that the local party, let alone the
state party, would again pour significant resources into the district
– especially when it is still reeling by the indictment of its former
chairman, Joe Ferriero. And it’s not yet officially known if Rooney,
who last time around was considered the most vulnerable incumbent,
will run again. Republican sources say he won’t.
When asked why he’s interested in running with such long odds,
Shahdanian, 37, said "maybe it’s because I’m stubborn."
"The same politicians year in and year out are always reelected. It’s
just a matter of automatically pushing the button for people."
Shahdanian has run unsuccessfully twice for council in Old Tappan —
last time against his cousin, Republican Matt Nalbandian.
"Winning in district 39 is probably easier than winning in Old Tappan
itself," he said.
Coincidentally, Shahdanian, like Ariyan and Bergen County Democratic
Chairman Michael Kasparian, is Armenian-American. Members of that tiny
but cohesive and politically active community proved to be a reliable
fundraising base for Ariyan, donating over $80,000 to his campaign.
McCarthy, for his part, is the son of John J. McCarthy, the former
Secretary of the Senate He has been involved in politics since he was
eleven years old, when he spearheaded the effort to make the horse
the official animal of New Jersey.
"I was the chief lobbyist," he said.
McCarthy was even present for Cardinale’s swearing in to the state
senate in 1982.
At the district’s Democratic convention in 2007, Ariyan beat McCarthy
out for the chance to take Cardinale on.
Now, McCarthy said, he can raise a lot of money, especially with his
organized labor connections, to beat Vandervalk and whoever she’s
running with.
"If they see we’re raising money form organized labor and the resources
coming into it, maybe [state Democrats] will look at it and decide
to target the district" he said. "They say you win Bergen you win
the slate, so hopefully the Governor will look forward to winning in
the county."
Matt Friedman is a PolitickerNJ.com Reporter and can be reached via
email at [email protected].
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
