John C. Montana - Run For Congress

Run For Congress

Besides having an influential hand in city and state politics, Montana was known in Republican circles throughout the nation. In June 1936, the Republican National Convention met in Cleveland as they do every four years to nominate a top candidate from the party. During prohibition, Herbert Hoover was the Republican President eventually replaced by the Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt; the Republicans wanted the position back. Montana was chosen as an alternate delegate from New York and mingled with top politicians as they endorsed Alf M. Landon and Frank Knox to run against FDR and his Vice President. While the Republicans lost the election, Montana was still noted as an influential man in Republican circles.

Shortly after the Republican National Convention of 1936, the Mafia consiglieri entered the race for Congress. From the 41st District of the House, made up heavily of the Italian West Side, Republican Party leaders handpicked J. Francis Harter, an Amherst Attorney, as their candidate. When many people opposed because Harter lived outside the 41st District – outside of the City of Buffalo all together – John Montana used it as his blessing to create a splinter in the Erie County Republican Party and lead a dissident faction that supported his candidacy as a representative to the U.S. House.

Buffalo’s Mafia would be complimented nicely if their secret consiglieri (or councelor / #3 man) was elected to the House. Montana, who lived at 228 Busti at the time, vigorously and viciously campaigned against the powerful Republican Party that once supported him. "The ultimate power of democracy lies within the people,” Montana told the city. “In these turbulent times when other nations are depriving their citizens of a voice of the affairs of government, it should be the duty of political leaders in America to show the way in affirming faith in Democracy.” Montana lobbied hard against the County’s Republican Party that supported Amherst’s Harter over the district’s Montana. “Such conduct is a scorning of true democratic principles,” Montana would say, “and those responsible for it should not be entrusted with the leadership of our party.” According to the number three man in the local Mafia, “My candidacy is unbossed by any group or individual who seek special favors.”

On August 14 in 1938, Montana campaigned before the Societa S.S. Del Ponte from the Upper Terrace on Buffalo’s West Side. The next day, Montana had a rally for 10,000 people at the Hamburg Fair Grounds with the Circolo Figlli di Valledolmo. Shortly afterwards, Montana visited Genesee Park on the East Side to garner support at the German Day festivities. His biggest backers came from Charles J. Giambrone and Dr. Marletta Catalano who were both members of the Republican State Committee. State Assemblyman Frank A. Gugino also backed Montana’s run for Congress. Peter F. Fiorella, the head of the Federation of Italian Societies, told many of the Italian organizations under his umbrella to vote for John Montana.

While he was assured to gets votes from Italians on both sides of the party lines, John C. Montana suffered a big loss in the Republican primary as many Italians were held out of voting due to party affiliations - and many others favored the suburban attorney. Montana believed that he’d infiltrated government though and was still a known man in Republican circles. In fact, shortly after the primary loss in 1938, Montana was named as a delegate to the state’s Constitutional Convention; John Montana worked with the most powerful politicians New York had to offer to revise the state’s set of laws. In all, the state’s Constitution Convention in November 1938 saw 10 amendments made to the state’s constitution; Montana witnessed all ten first-hand and even had a role in debating some of them. (This was also the first NYS Constitutional Convention where women were given a vote).

Some laws like due process, the powers of juries and grand juries, double jeopardy laws, religious freedom, and eminent domain were added. Montana supported most, as well as two amendments that would have positive results for the Mafia. On November 8, 1938, a line was added to the state’s constitution saying that all citizens have a right “to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and affects, against any unreasonable searches and seizures.” This amendment stated that police would need to be supported by “oath or affirmation” to secure a warrant of probable cause against a specific item they wanted to search. Another law that would help Mafia insiders regarded labor regulations and rights; “employees shall have the right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing.”

While these were all important rules in the State’s history, nearly 25 years later authorities would have to release mob boss Stefano Magaddino after he was implicated in over 1,000 hours of recorded footage that was thrown out of trial because a judge never approved the wiretaps before they were installed. The Mafia stood firmly behind the rules of illegal searches and seizures! But while they needed lower echelon racketeers and brutal hoods to carry out the day-to-day activities of the Mafia, John Montana had a high place in society to ensure policies and opportunities for the Family.

One opportunity that Montana went after was alcohol. While he was never publicly linked to illegal booze in prohibition, Magaddino’s gangsters organized the production and distribution of illegal alcohol across Western New York and Southern Ontario. When prohibition was ended in the early 1930s, Montana moved in and legally purchased breweries to supply the now-legal alcohol industry still dominated by the Mafia and their distribution connections in German, Polish, Irish, and African American neighborhoods in the region.