PASCACK VALLEY AREA, N.J.—Eight Bergen County Republican mayors in the 39th legislative district, including four from the Pascack Valley, have written to State Sen. Gerald Cardinale asking him not to run for re-election and to support Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi for “a new generation of leadership in our community.”
Ray Arroyo of Westwood, Peter Calamari of the Township of Washington, Michael Ghassali of Montvale, and Carlos Rendo of Woodcliff Lake are the local mayors thanking Cardinale for his more than 40 years of service but urging him to reflect on how he can best serve moving forward.
They’re joined by John Glidden of Closter, John Kramer of Old Tappan, Al Kurpis of Saddle River, and James Wysocki of Mahwah.
Fellow GOP mayors Danielle DiPaola in Emerson, John Ruocco in Hillsdale, Deirdre Dillon in Ramsey, Glen Jaisonowski in River Vale, and Joanne Minichetti in Upper Saddle River did not sign on to the letter.
In the letter, the mayors laud Cardinale, 86, as “a tremendous public servant and a steadfast partner in the effort to make New Jersey a great place to live, work, and raise a family. The residents of Bergen County and New Jersey have benefited from your leadership and we are grateful.”
They say, “We are at a crossroads in our party and our state. With Democrats controlling everything in Trenton and Washington, D.C., we must reflect on how we got to this point and who is best positioned to lead our party and community in the years ahead.
“With so much at stake in this year’s elections, it’s critical that we have a strong leader with a proven track record like yours at the top of our ticket. It’s why we have decided to support Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi in her bid to become our next state senator,” the mayors say.
Pascack Press obtained a copy of the letter on Feb. 3, after New Jersey Globe broke the news, and quickly connected with Schepisi (R-River Vale) for comment.
Cardinale did not respond to several requests for an interview or statement. NorthJersey.com quotes him as saying of Schepisi’s challenge, she “just wants to stir the pot so that she can jump a couple of steps.”
He reportedly said, “I think you’re seeing, believe it or not, a kind of a nationwide trend of younger people saying: ‘I’m not getting my share of what’s going on and I want more.’ And I think that’s what’s happening here.”
Asked to react to Cardinale’s evident feelings on the Senate challenge, Schepisi, a five-term assemblywoman, said she was proud of her longstanding partnership with Cardinale on constituent issues.
Then she said, “I guess I should be flattered that he thinks a 49-year-old woman who has practiced law for 24 years and been a member of the Legislature for nine years is part of the younger generation.”
She added, “I am grateful for his service to our communities. However there does come a time and a place when you become too much of a political insider and it is time to pass the torch.”
Asked which accomplishments she was most proud of in her tenure with Cardinale in the Legislature, she named several.
“We have worked together to urge light rail expansion into Bergen County, fought for improved service from NJ Transit and increase funding for transportation services for our residents and have sponsored bills together such as Tommy’s Law, which designates a person within NJ Transit to provide victims and their families with support and counseling services following an accident. It also requires the state to promptly provide victims and their families with support and counseling following train, light rail, and bus accidents and crashes,” she said.
She added, “You may want to also note that in the last several election cycles I have been the highest vote getter and have raised the most money.”
What sort of struggle this will entail remains to be seen. Bergen County Republicans meet for a convention in March, and, if no one has dropped out, there they’ll decide whom to support in June’s primary.
Schepisi, who said she is “a working mother fighting for our district,” began a new career in April 2019 as vice president of Holy Name Medical Center and president of its foundation, though that relationship ended recently, she told Pascack Press.
Prior to that she was special counsel at Huntington Bailey LLP, where she practiced governmental law, corporate law, land use law, employment matters, criminal defense, and structured finance law.
She lives in River Vale with her husband and two children.
Cardinale received a B.S. from St. John’s University (chemistry) in 1955 and was awarded a D.D.S. from the New York University College of Dentistry in 1959. He is a dentist by profession, with an office in Fort Lee.
Before his service as State Senator, Cardinale spent one term in the General Assembly, 1980–1981.
In 2017 he faced a challenge from Democrat Linda H. Schwager and Libertarian James Tosone. In his second closest election in the district since 1981, notes NJ State Senate 39, he beat Schwager by over 4,000 votes.