It was the summer of 1983 and at 25 I was an embarrassingly green and inexperienced political candidate running for the state legislature against popular incumbent John Kelly, who was also the president of Nutley Savings and Loan at the time.
Kelly was already Nutley's most popular public figure, and was in his late 50's. I will never forget going to a Nutley little league game, because I figured there would be lots of voters who I could meet and hopefully persuade to support for me.
But it soon became clear just how popular Assemblyman-and all around good guy-John Kelly really was. Immediately, as I started introducing myself and saying I was running for the Assembly, person after person said things like; "You are running against John Kelly? I'm sorry, I can never vote against him." Or; "Hey kid, take a look at the scoreboard. Did you notice who donated it to the little league? John Kelly." Or, this one; "John Kelly gave me my first loan that allowed me to start my business." People wished me luck, but it became clear that Nutley was a locked up town for anyone running against Kelly.
Tags: New Jersey Politics