‘Proud Democrat’ hopes to defeat district’s status quo | Mount Olive Chronicle News

A union ironworker and father of twin boys, he was the only Democratic candidate to file his petition for the primary, and he will square off with Republican incumbents Parker Space and Harold Wirths for one of the two, two-year seats up for grabs.

In an email, Fadden – who called himself a “Proud Democrat who has been fiercely loyal to the party” said he was running because the district’s state representation “embarrassing.”

The district – mostly Sussex County municipalities with the exception of Mount Olive – “is a beautiful place filled with hard-working people who look to our Assembly representation to help them solve their problems, not inflame them,” he said.

“Our current reps accomplish nothing in the Assembly except grandstand and complain, unwilling to work with others or work across the aisle,” he said.

“This behavior creates nothing but tension and failure. We need representation who will work with whomever they must in order to help improve the lives of the citizens within the 24th district, regardless of political ideology or affiliation.”

Fadden, who also ran and won an executive position with Local 11 Ironworkers of Northern NJ, said he got into politics through a 2016 write-in campaign for an open Democratic Committee seat in Sparta, a campaign he won.

Running “is not an easy task,” he said, “the job of a candidate is to listen and learn, from both constituents and potential peers.”

He said his campaigns were successful because he made them “about the people I am looking to support, not about my ego or my ‘brand,’ that is one of the problems with today’s politics.

“The people of the 24th district are my people, the people who are putting faith in me, and like any Union member would attest to, we are very loyal and would do anything for our people, which is what I plan to do in the Assembly.”

Fadden sees the main issues of his campaign as taxes, infrastructure and the rise of extremism both locally and nationally.

“Taxes are obviously a major concern, finding innovative and productive ways to keep them down while also maneuvering the fragile political climate of Trenton,” he said.

“Infrastructure in our rural district is important as well, passing legislation that will actually remedy the situations we experience in our area instead of Band-Aid, pie-in-the-sky bills get us nowhere.

“We need to attack the problem, not the symptoms of the problem,” he said. “Power outages, slow internet, long service times all occurring on beautiful sunny days with some slightly aggressive wind are issues that should not be happening in 21st century Sussex, Warren and Morris counties.

“In a post-quarantine world these resources will become staples of commerce and education and we can not afford to be left behind. Of course you also have the fast growing population of our more rural district.

“Houses in Sussex and Warren are selling like hot cakes and in Mount Olive, a more suburban area then the latter, they are having similar trends occur,” he said.

“This influx of people will bring strains on our roads, bridges, schools, municipal utilities, libraries, stores, etc.

“All of these potential strains will need addressing by leadership ready to work hard to fix them, not leaders who care more about bills that restrict voting rights and voter equality in our state,” he said, referring to a bill co-sponsored by Space and Wirths that would require voters who wished to vote by mail to complete an application for mail-in ballot each calendar year and repeals automatic vote-by-mail designation.

Fadden also addressed the problem of extremism, particularly the rise of anti-government groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, both of which are nestled into sections of northern New Jersey.

“It is here and it is growing, there are no two ways about it,” he said.

“Dancing around around this topic and acting as if it is not a truly problematic issue is exactly what brought us to where we are today.

“It seems like every other week we are seeing new reports of rising levels of bias/hate crimes in our counties, or hearing about another in-resident with ties to Northwest New Jersey being arrested in connection with the completely un-American insurrection at the Capitol.

“The House of the people, the shining example of democracy in this nation was desecrated by Americans who would rather watch our Constitution die then watch their candidate lose.

“These actions are unacceptable and I commend the law enforcement who are working to bring all of the criminals guilty of attacking, injuring and murdering our law enforcement and those who illegally entered the Capitol while our entire governing body of the nation was present.

“This issue has permeated into all corners of the nation and many would rather we didn’t talk about it and moved on to another topic, but I said, that is how we ended up here today in the first place.”

According to Fadden, “Right here in the 24th district we have residents who were present at the insurrection, on the front lines, with weapons and chemical agents, using them against our brave men and women in blue. That’s not what law abiding patriots do, that’s what cowards and anti-democratic nationalists do.

“These actions are spreading because politicians don’t want to do anything about it because it could affect their poll numbers. Well, I am happy to be part of the minority on that subject, this is an issue that is not going away and must be addressed at all levels: local, state and federal.”

Fadden commended U.S. Representatives Mikie Sherrill, D-11, and Josh Gottheimer, D-5 “for all the work they have done on this topic and when I am elected I hope to be able to work with them closely, to ensure all of the residents of the 24th legislative district and our state in general, are safe and sound here at home.”

Fadden was born and raised in Pequannock, graduating from Pequannock Township High School in 1991. He joined Local 11 seven years later, becoming the third generation in his family to do so: His grandfather actually helped build the George Washington Bridge in 1924, while Fadden himself “set steel on the tallest building in New Jersey – the Goldman Sachs building in Jersey City.”

He and his wife, Patricia, whom he married in 2005, have four children, including twin boys. They moved to Sparta from Hardyston in 2008.