Patten was Wilentz's hand-picked Congressman

When New Jersey picked up a fifteenth congressional seat after the 1960 census, the new district included nearly all of Middlesex County.  That was at the insistence of David Wilentz, a former state Attorney General who dominated Middlesex County politics as the Democratic boss from the 1930's into the 1970's.  At the time, congressional districts were drawn by the Legislature and approved by the Governor.  The Senate was under Republican control, 11-10, but Democrats controlled the Assembly and the Governor was a Democrat, Richard Hughes.

One rare rebel who dared to challenge Wilentz's wishes was George Otlowski, a Middlesex County Freeholder from Perth Amboy - the center of the Wilentz power base. 

Otlowski, who had been a Middlesex County Freeholder for eight years, wanted to go to Congress - but Wilentz had another candidate: Edward Patten, a former Perth Amboy Mayor and Middlesex County Clerk who had managed Robert Meyner's campaign for Governor and served as New Jersey Secretary of State from 1954 to 1962.  Patten won the primary by a 56%-44% margin and beat Republican Bernard Rodgers, the Mayor of Dunellen, after pledging to support President John F. Kennedy "100%."

Patten went on to serve eighteen years in Congress.  He just barely won re-election in 1978 after the he was implicated in the Koreagate scandal. He allegedly directed Tongsun Park, a South Korean lobbyist and intelligence agency, to illegally contribute $500 to the Middlesex County Democratic Committee. In the Democratic primary, he won 59% against George Spadoro, the future Assemblyman and Mayor of Edison; he beat Republican Charles Wiley 52%-48%, with a margin of just 2,836 votes. 

He retired in 1980 after Middlesex Democrats made it clear that they would deny him the organization line if he sought a tenth term.  Democrats nominated Senate Majority Leader Bernard Dwyer, who beat several challengers, including Assemblyman David Schwartz and Spadoro, in the primary.  Patten died in 1994 at age 89.

Otlowski made peace with Wilentz, winning re-election as Freeholder four more times.  He won a State Assembly seat in 1973 (his running mate was Alan Karcher) and became Mayor of Perth Amboy in 1976.  Facing a recall election, Otlowski resigned as Mayor in 1990 (Joseph Vas replaced him) and lost a Democratic primary for re-election to the Assembly in 1991.

Otlowski still lives in Perth Amboy, and will celebrate his 97th birthday on January 1, 2009.