In 1956 he served as councilman of East Rutherford, New Jersey, and he served as Mayor of East Rutherford from 1957 until 1965.[1] During his term as mayor, Helstoski also served as a management consultant in advertising until 1964.[1]
After being re-elected five times (for a total of six terms) to the House of Representatives, Helstoski ran into some problems. First, in 1975, he became the target of a federal corruption investigation that would span two years and four grand juries. In April of the following year, his brother was convicted of filing a false income tax return. In the 1976 congressional elections, three-time state assemblyman Byron Baer challenged Helstoski in the Democratic primary.
A week before the primary, Helstoski was indicted on charges of extortion from illegal aliens from Chile and Argentina who in exchange wanted Helstoski to support a bill that let them remain in the United States. He was also accused of obstruction of justice, providing a false testimony before a grand jury, and conspiracy, in order to influence other witnesses to lie. In the primary, Helstoski polled 20,189 to 18,520 against Baer, winning as a result of 2,000 absentee ballots that had nearly a unanimous vote for Helstoski. Fraud allegations resulted, and a judge ordered the absentee ballots to be impounded for the time being. The challenge by Baer dragged on for months, until New Jersey Superior Court Judge John Marzulli ordered that a new primary election be held on September 21. In the new election, Helstoski captured 55% of the vote, and was proclaimed the Democratic candidate for the election against Harold Hollenbeck, a state assemblyman and senator.[5] Hollenbeck ended up winning the election against Helstoski, capturing a 54%-46% margin.
The Supreme Court ruled against government lawyers on several of the counts, and the others were dropped.[6] One of Helstoski's outside counsel, Alfred Porro, was indicted, convicted and sentenced to six years in the Lewisburg Federal Prison Camp.[7]
Life after Congress
After failing in his re-election bid, Helstoski ran again in the 1978 election as an independent,[1] winning only 13% of the vote. He ran in the Democratic primary in 1980, but lost to Gabriel Ambrosio, who lost the general election to Hollenbeck.
In 1981, Helstoski became the superintendent of the North Bergen School District, and held that position until 1985.[1] He later served as a public relations consultant.
^Phalon, Richard. "Two Ex-Classmates in Heated Ninth District Race", The New York Times, October 28, 1974. Accessed January 9, 2018. "As fellow graduates, of the old East Rutherford High School, Class of 1940, Representative Henry Helstoski, a Democrat, and Harold A. Pareti, his Republican opponent in the Ninth Congressional District, have a certain wry respect for each other's talents."
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