By YUNG KIM Staff Writer Robert C. Rivas has caused a new wrinkle in his own party's campaign plans by entering the primary for one of the two Assembly seats in the 37th District. Five-term incumbent Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg, who moved back to Teaneck from Fort Lee last year, will be running on the Democratic Party line with acting Sheriff Gordon Johnson. But the mix now includes Rivas, the first Filipino-American to serve as mayor of Bergenfield, who said his decision to run is just an attempt to give voters options.
Voters have the final say.
Joseph A. Ferriero, chairman of the Bergen County Democratic Party, said he was disappointed Rivas chose not to go through the party process. He said the standard procedure calls for candidates to file a petition signed by a varying number of elected delegates and to drum up support among party members. Ferriero admits that he made a commitment to Johnson because of a pledge he made to the African-American community years ago. But Rivas feels the other minority communities were not given a shot at the seat. But the rest of the community was not consulted.