My coalition building began in a basement on a Thursday night more than 35 years ago.
When I ran for the House of Delegates the first time, I wanted to get votes from both the reform and the machine factions of the Democratic Party.
I had been going to meetings of the New Democratic Coalition – Fifth District since the group was formed after the 1968 election.
This was the Gene McCarthy wing of the party. I had volunteered for Hubert Humphrey.
Morty Pollack was the son of the legendary political boss, Jack Pollack.
The Trenton Democratic Club met in his basement in Ranchleigh every Thursday night, just as it had met weekly in the Trenton club house on Park Heights Avenue near Park Circle.
Once a month, I would go to the Trenton meeting.
The club endorsed me in 1982.
When I ran for reelection, the landlords opposed me because I had introduced legislation to reduce childhood lead poisoning. They asked Morty if he would support another candidate whose last name was Rosenberg.
He told them no.
For the last 15 years, I have represented a district where a majority of my constituents are African-American. The 41st District also has a significant number of observant Orthodox Jews.
I take great pride in the fact that I have credibility with both the African-American and the Orthodox communities.
After speaking at Morty Pollack’s funeral on Friday, I realized that there was a connection between my coalition building – then and now.
