by Frank T. Pallotta
’20 ’22, GOP House Candidate, NJ05
Steel Curtain Capital
In New Jersey politics, the “organizational line” — a ballot configuration where candidates endorsed by the party are clustered — has recently come under intense scrutiny. While legally permissible, this arrangement has nonetheless been tied to claims of unethical and secretive agreements that place party agendas above the tenets of fair democracy. A prime instance illustrating the misuse of this system surfaced amidst both of my campaigns for US Congress in New Jersey’s 5th District.
In the months leading up to the 2020 primary, I began receiving a number of text messages from Jack Zisa protégé and BCRO insider, Matt Gilson demanding money on behalf of BCRO Chairman Jack Zisa, purportedly to secure a favorable position on the primary ballot. Using the term “Buy the line”, Gilson – who had said: “Jack is like a father to me” – sent hundreds of texts telling me that if I didn’t “Buy the line”, I wouldn’t receive the support of Chairman Zisa and the BCRO. It seems Jack saw an opportunity to extort money from me, and Matt Gilson was chosen to execute a plan torn from the pages of a dystopian tale. But when I refused, I received the response: “What are you talking about? I negotiated to give you the line if you gave money and you keep [saying] no”, an obvious reference to a pre-arranged “agreement” between Gilson and Zisa to attempt to extort money from me. Extortion schemes like this goes against the fundamental principles of our democratic system and is unlike anything I encountered in more than 2 decades on Wall Street.
In the face of coercion and the demand to “Buy the line,” I rejected the notion of paying to curry political favors. My resistance however, revealed the inner workings of a corrupt political Bergen County machine. Refusing their demand for money, started a three-year war of vengeance against me. When their extortion plot was initially exposed, the BCRO remained silent. When the scheme was made public, their silence turned to denial. But as the story caught on, and their plan became known, Jack and his team, ultimately resorted to attacking my character; an assault that continues to this day.
As my 2020 campaign progressed, the texts and the demands for money from Bergen County leadership accelerated with threats that they would simply “give” the organizational line to insider and perennial candidate John McCann if I didn’t pay their ransom. The more resolute I remained, the more forceful their threats became – until I received a final ultimatum: “Here’s what I can absolutely assure you. If you don’t do anything, McCann with get BCRO support”. And a few short weeks later, that is exactly what happened, when Chairman, Jack Zisa, and Parliamentarian Rich Malagiere followed through on those “text threats” by cancelling the convention and giving the organizational line to John McCann without a single County Committee vote! Gilson admitting that Malagiere only decided to give the line to McCann because “he was helping a friend”! This revelation raised further suspicion after Gilson admitted that McCann was “smart to see the value in buying support” and added that “He did it last time”, suggesting the BCRO was compensated in 2018 and 2020 for selling the line to the highest bidder. Welcome to the crime syndicate known as the BCRO.
The actions of the BCRO underscore the urgency for systemic changes and a complete overhaul of its leadership. It is critical that we begin to see change before embarking on the long journey towards transparency.
As we fast forward to 2024, we now find that the hapless leader of a struggling county organization is making one last-ditch attempt at relevance. THis past Wednesday, in an unprecedented move, dozens of dedicated Republican County Committee members from Fair Lawn, Mahwah, Oakland, Paramus, Wyckoff and more, discovered they were unfairly taken off the party line. Their only ‘crime’ was not agreeing to follow the corrupt demands of Zisa and his allies. This is a clear example of how Zisa and his team have let Bergen County down, and one of the reasons why Republicans haven’t managed a county win in over a decade.
For the good of the County and our party, I urge Chairman Zisa NOT to seek reelection in this year’s upcoming Chairman’s race. Given his failed 6-year tenure and a track record of 37 consecutive County losses, it’s clear that the time has come for Zisa to shut down his corrupt “gun to the head” lemonade stand, and step aside. Additionally, in light of credible charges of corruption, an overturned 2021 Chairman’s election and repeated Title 19 violations, Bergen County is in desperate need of an honest broker. Finally, we should all be wary of the next sheep in wolves clothing. Another Zisa “puppet regime” would succeed only in putting new lipstick on the same old pig.
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This should surprise no one….just my opinion.