Winter 2004 Edition     

Three smart Fair Lawn residents ran for state Assembly race this year.  One won and two lost.   Fair Lawn News discovered the keys the Bob Gordon's victory.   At left, Bob Gordon giving his victory speech.  He later told Fair Lawn News, "when the picture was taken, “I started talking about public policy, But it turned out the crowd was in a mood for a party, not a lecture.”  From left to right: Assemblyman's Dad, his Mom, Teri Romano (she works for State Senator Coniglio) and Senator Byron Baer.         The Six Keys To Gordon's Victory   You Have To Be Devoted Gordon lived and breathed the campaign. For this year’s Assembly race, Gordon visited 7,000 homes in the 13 towns of the 38th legislative district (it stretches from Fair Lawn to Fort Lee). He spent countless hours greeting voters at grocery stores and train stations. He attended countless town events and walked house-to-house 40 hours per week. Gordon said he thinks the millions of dollars spent by the Democrats and Republicans on television, radio and mailings, only had the effect of neutralizing the other party’s message.  He said, “the big difference is that the Democrats emphasized “a more personal, door-to-door campaign. The Republicans went to lots of events. Matt Ahearn (Green Party candidate) had volunteers drop literature.  We rang 7,000 doorbells and spoke personally with the votes. There is no substitute for meeting voters face-to-face,” observed Gordon.   Don't Walk Aimlessly Even the walking was well organized.  Gordon said “The campaign used computer programs to develop walking lists based on party registration and likelihood of voting Democratic. These programs generated maps that provided us with walking routes.” These programs can create precise itineraries. For example, it can create a route that only includes homes of registered Democrats, and those who voted in two out of the last four elections. Gordon said "We left campaign materials with personal notes at every house and then followed up the visit with a post card."   You Need Lots of Help Gordon had a sophisticated, well financed campaign. According to Gordon, the Democrats mounted “the most sophisticated field operation the state has ever seen.” Gordon ran on the ticket with fellow Democrats Joe Coniglio for Senate and Joan Voss for Assembly. The campaign hired over 36 canvassers who went to every Democratic household five times before Election Day. The canvassers became thoroughly knowledgeable of the towns they were responsible for and they identified likely supporters.   You Need Millions of Dollars Because the Senate was evenly split with 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans, each party mounted a major effort to take control of the Legislature and invested millions in about six competitive districts around the state. District 38 was one of them.  In the fall campaign, the Democrats spent about $2 million in District 38 and the Republicans spent $1.3 million. Nearly all of that money was spent on the 38th District Senate campaign between Joe Coniglio and Rose Heck, primarily for radio and television.  A relatively small portion of the money was dedicated to the Assembly campaigns, although the Assembly candidates were often mentioned in the print ads. “The Assembly campaigns were definitely an ‘afterthought’”, Gordon said. Money for the television and radio campaigns came from the State Democratic and Republican parties. The Republicans even got money from their national committee.  Former Assemblyman Nicholas Felice told Fair Lawn News that it has gotten a bit out of hand when you have to spend that much money for a job that pays $49,000 per year.     Advertise with Brochures and Commercials Gordon said that both the Republicans and Democrats spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising on the three or four cable stations in the legislative district. They spent even more on radio and television advertising on New York stations, that was heard and seen by millions of people who couldn't even vote in the race -- audiences throughout New Jersey as well as Long Island, New York City and the northern NYC suburbs. The campaign consultants hired by the campaigns, figured this would be the most effective way to reach voters in Fair Lawn and neighboring towns. See article about brochures.   Get Out The Vote The campaign’s last polling data showed the race was too close to call between the Democrats and Republicans. It was all about who came out and voted. On Election Day, the Democrats had poll watchers who tracked the people who voted. Late in the afternoon, they called their likely supporters who hadn’t yet gone to the polls.