Norwood Republican pays price for endorsing Democrat

Allen Rapaport lost the Republican primary for his Norwood council seat.

NORWOOD -- Allen Rapaport received a call Wednesday, the morning after losing the Republican primary election for his council seat in Norwood.

The call was from a friend who was a mayor in the town over. He told Rapaport he should have waited until after the primary to endorse Democrat Josh Gottheimer for Congress.

"I said to him, 'You're making the assumption that I'm politically smart,'" Rapaport said.

Rapaport's decision back in March to back Gottheimer in the race to unseat Republican Scott Garrett in New Jersey's Fifth Congressional District drew the ire of the Bergen County Republican Organization. Chairman Bob Yudin asked Maria J. McDonald to run for Rapaport's seat instead.

The organization also placed Rapaport on what he calls the "no man's land" of the ballot, all the way in column five, line 17. McDonald and Frank Marino won the Republican nominations for Norwood council seats Tuesday night.

"The Republican voters in Norwood spoke and they have chosen Mr. Marino and Mrs. McDonald," Rapaport said. "I sent them a text message and congratulated them on their victory and wished them well in November."

Rapaport intends to focus on the remaining six months of his term. He took issue with accusations that he was responsible for tax increases during his 12 years as a councilman.

He blamed Gov. Chris Christie for failing to support municipalities' efforts to control property taxes. Rapaport, who served as police commissioner, helped reduce salaries for the police department, he said.

While Rapaport concedes that endorsing Gottheimer may not have been the politically smart decision, it was one he believed in. In March, he criticized Garrett for voting against a spending bill that included funding for the Zadroga Act, a fund that provides treatment to first responders sickened or hurt while responding to the Sept. 11 attacks.

"I think we owe it to them," Rapaport said Wednesday. "That was from the heart."

Rapaport has not decided whether he will try to run in November as a write-in candidate.

"I have to go with the will of the people," he said. "I've had a good run. I've done a lot of good things for the borough of Norwood."