Nelson Johnson - Boardwalk Empire - The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City

The Court’s decision was a political disaster for Hap Farley. Being one of 40 with control over no more than a dozen votes was a major setback from being one of 21 with the power to produce a majority for any bill he wanted.

Trenton wasn’t the only place where Farley’s power was slipping. While on the surface the local Republican organization appeared as potent as ever, with its candidates sweeping one election after another, its foundation was crumbling. The cornerstone of Farley’s empire had been ravaged. Gradually, almost imperceptibly, the political ward system was falling apart. Government reforms emanating from federal and state government had finally taken their toll. Nucky Johnson’s finely tuned system for dispensing services and patronage, and grooming political workers and candidates was destroyed by social welfare programs and civil service.

The underpinnings of the political ward system were the delivery of constituent services and control of political spoils. The social welfare programs instituted by Roosevelt’s New Deal during the Depression grew and multiplied until Atlantic City’s downtrodden no longer had to go to the precinct captain every time they had a problem. Unemployment and welfare payments meant Atlantic City’s poor could make it through the winter without having to ask the Republican Party for a handout. It took more than a generation for the effects of Roosevelt’s social liberalism to make an impact on the ward system, but when they did, the result was permanent. Constituent services were no longer a political plum for voters loyal to the party; now they were a right.

Control over patronage was also a problem. Although Jimmy Boyd and his lieutenants kept a tight rein over every person hired, civil service gave city and county employees a degree of freedom they had never known. At first Boyd worked around civil service by limiting the number of classified positions and manipulating eligibility for promotion tests, but gradually it took hold, and as it did his discipline over the ward workers diminished. A city employee could now thumb his nose at the ward leader. Failure to perform one’s political chores no longer meant dismissal. Involvement in ward politics was now voluntary.

The final blow to the power of the ward system was the change in the voting attitude of the resort’s Black community. For more than 50 years the Northside could be counted on for large pluralities for the organization ticket. But Hap never had the loyal following among Blacks the way the Commodore and Nucky had. And again, Roosevelt’s New Deal played a decisive role. For millions of disadvantaged Americans, in particular African-Americans, FDR was a beacon of hope. Roosevelt’s presidency forged a coalition dedicated to making government work for the have-nots, and Black voters were a keystone of this national coalition. Locally, Blacks had no one to vote for other than the organization’s candidates. However, as America entered the ’60s and African-Americans began the battle for civil rights, Atlantic City’s Blacks became involved in partisan Democratic politics. The switch in loyalties came in part as Blacks recognized the racist tactics of the Republican machine. An investigation of county voter registration records, published by The Press , revealed that voting cards had been marked to indicate race. When news of this hit the street, the Black community was outraged. African-American voters were now beyond the control of the ward workers. They could no longer be herded to the polls and their votes sold to the Republican Party. Black voters needed only the right Democratic candidate in order to become a threat to Farley and his machine.

Hap Farley knew the world was growing hostile toward his brand of politics, yet he refused to retire or change his methods. In 10 campaigns no one even came close to defeating him. It didn’t matter that his opponents were Farleycrats; in fact, the ability to select opposition candidates was proof of how totally he controlled Atlantic City’s politics. That kind of power is intoxicating and only an extraordinary person could have given it up voluntarily.

The first real challenge to Farley’s reign as senator came in 1965. It was the first election after the Jackman decision and the initial plan for legislative reapportionment called for Atlantic and Cape May counties to be lumped together creating a single senate district.

Several years after the 1952 City Commission election, Farley’s foe, Marvin Perskie, moved out of town, relocating his law practice to Wildwood in Cape May County. Farley used his influence with the local judges and his contacts in the business community to ensure that Perskie had no future in Atlantic City as a politician or an attorney. Marvin Perskie was not a beaten man, just realistic. There was no point continuing to bang heads with Hap’s machine. Perskie left town, but he never forgave Farley. The two were bitter enemies. By 1965 Perskie had established himself in Wildwood and was eager to make another run at Farley. Despite the influence of the Farleycrats, Perskie was certain of gaining the Democratic nomination from the support of the Democrats of Cape May County and mainland Atlantic County.

Farley remembered the campaign Perskie had waged in ’52 and wasn’t anxious to face him head on. According to one observer, “Farley was scared to death of Marvin.” Shortly before the filing date for the primary, the senate gerrymandered the districts and combined Gloucester County with Atlantic and Cape May counties to create an unusual district. This new voting district was too large to meet the equal population requirement, but Farley solved this problem by having two senators elected from the three counties. Farley chose Gloucester County because at the time it was represented by a popular incumbent, Republican John Hunt. With a running mate like Hunt, Farley had a substantial advantage over Perskie, who had no base of support in Gloucester County. Farley had stacked the deck against Perskie. Rather than go down to defeat in the senate contest, Perskie chose to run for assembly, where he won handily.

Through the efforts of a small but growing number of independent Democrats, Perskie’s place on the Democratic slate was filled by Leo Clark, a former FBI agent. Clark was born and raised in Atlantic City, having attended Holy Spirit High School where he was a star athlete. He went on to graduate from Notre Dame University, followed by an impressive career with the FBI. More importantly, Clark wasn’t a Farleycrat and he made a strong candidate who was not afraid to attack Farley.

With prompting from Perskie and local attorney Patrick McGahn, Leo Clark banged away at Farley charging him with corruption and conflict of interest. Clark zeroed in on the sad state of the resort’s deteriorating economy and blamed one-party rule for the town’s ills. Apparently someone was listening and Clark gave Farley the biggest scare of his life. Clark beat Farley by more than 500 votes in Cape May County and made a respectable showing in Gloucester losing by a similar tally. The difference in the election was in Atlantic City where Jimmy Boyd’s Fourth Ward could still crank out the votes. Clark lost by little more than 4,000 votes, which was the closest Farley had come to defeat in 28 years. While the Leo Clark campaign ended in defeat, it was the beginning of a legitimate Democratic Party in Atlantic County.

The next election in 1967 was a farce. There had been a second court ruling and another redistricting approved by the legislature and the voters at a general election. Again it had been proposed that Cape May and Atlantic counties would form a senatorial district. Perskie had been chosen as a Democratic candidate and spent that spring and summer attacking Farley. Perskie labeled Farley a “political dinosaur” and charged that he headed “one of the vilest political machines that still exists in the United States.” Perskie was on target, but his efforts were for naught. This time it was the State Supreme Court that came to Farley’s rescue. In response to a lawsuit challenging the senatorial districts in Union and Passaic counties, the Court inexplicably decided to do a complete redistricting of the entire state. The Court hadn’t been asked to consider anything but Union and Passaic counties, but revamped the districts of all 21 counties on its own initiative. As a result of the Court’s ruling, Cape May was placed with Cumberland County, leaving Atlantic County by itself. Marvin Perskie was denied again.