Scott Reddin

If the uber-ambitious Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes decides he wants to pick his own successor, a split within the anti-Wildes faction of the Englewood Democratic Party could boost his chances.  Last night, Frank Huttle, a partner at one of the state's most politically influential law firms and the husband of Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Englewood), scored a 64%-36% victory over Councilman Scott Reddin for the endorsement of the local Democratic organization.  Reddin, a former aide to U.S. Rep. Steven Rothman (who is also a former Englewood Mayor) is saying he will remain in the race.  A three-way contest surely enhances the chances of a Wildes-backed candidate winning the June primary.

Some Democrats view the vote as a slap in the face of Rothman, who has often straddled the line between the Bergen County Democratic Organization and the reform group led by State Sen. Loretta Weinberg, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson (D-Englewood) and Valerie Huttle.  Team Weinberg controls the party apparatus in Englewood.

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Englewood Democrats have endorsed Frank Huttle as their candidate for mayor.

Huttle, a tax attorney who is married to Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Englewood), screened against Englewood Councilman Scott Reddin.  

The municipal Democratic committee vote was 18-10 in Huttle’s favor.

Huttle is also president of BergenPAC and a trustee of Hackensack University Medical Center. 

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Attorney Frank Huttle is considering a mayoral run in Englewood, where incumbent Mayor Michael Wildes is retiring.  

Huttle, the husband of Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Englewood) and partner in the politically connected law firm DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Wisler, LLP, plans to compete for the endorsement of the municipal Democratic committee, which will hear from him and Scott Reddin, a councilman who has already declared his intention to run for mayor, on Wednesday night.

Locals expect Wildes to field a candidate as well.

Frank Huttle and Reddin belong to the same anti-establishment faction of Bergen County Democrats that has often fought with Wildes.  In fact, Reddin already has the endorsement of his wife’s running mate, Assemblyman/Councilman Gordon Johnson (D-Englewood).

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Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes may be stepping down after his term expires, but he is still expected to play a major role in the upcoming election.

"I would be shocked if there was not a Democratic primary. I would not object to that," said Councilman Scott Reddin, an adversary of Wildes who so far is the only declared candidate for mayor.

Politics in this ethnically diverse and heavily Democratic city of 26,000 have been driven over the last six years by the rivalry between the headline-generating Wildes, a fundraising powerhouse who has been candid that he aspires to higher office and who has been a key ally of former county Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero, and his adversaries, who hold a 4-1 majority on the council.

For his mayoral bid, Reddin has the support of fellow council members Charlotte Bennett Schoen, Ken Rosenzweig and Gordon Johnson, who is also a state assemblyman (Johnson ran in 2006 to take out Wildes-backed incumbent Vernon Walton, and will not seek reelection this year).  The other councilman, Jack Drakeford, is aligned with Wildes.

Reddin said that, if elected, he would govern with a much more low-key style than Wildes. Read More >

Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes decision not to seek a third term will become an early test for newly-elected Bergen County Democratic Chairman Michael Kasparian.  Kasparian must decide if he will award the organization line this spring to a candidate backed by the traditionally anti-organization Englewood Democratic Party, support a candidate recommended by Wildes, or seek a compromise candidate that both factions can agree upon.

According to The Record, Council President Charlotte Bennett Schoen and Councilman Scott Reddin are mulling mayoral bids.  Englewood Democratic Municipal Chair Deirdre Glenn Paul, a professor at Montclair State University, is also a potential candidate.  And some Democrats say that Rev. Vernon Walton, a Bergen County Freeholder and former Englewood Councilman, could also emerge as a mayoral candidate.

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The 167-member Englewood Democratic Club has endorsed Robert Stern for Mayor over the Democratic nominee, incumbent Michael Wildes. Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, who is running for Councilman on Wildes' ticket, and Council President Scott Reddin (an aide to Congressman Steven Rothman) are also supporting Stern, a registered Democrat who is running as an Independent. Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, who lives in Englewood, is officially neutral, but said that "if elected, Dr. Stern would make a great mayor".

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