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Edward Durfee says he went to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 as a member of the Oath Keepers not to start a riot, but to prevent one. We all know how that turned out. Durfee, 71, the Northvale Republican chairman, took an oath to uphold the Constitution when he joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1971 – an oath he takes seriously, which led him to join the far-right militia group, the Oath Keepers, which took him to the Capitol. “We were asked to do security for groups that were attending, because they were afraid of being run over by these antifa,” Durfee says, referring to the counter demonstrators that often show up at Trump rallies. “I was there to exercise my civic duties,” he said. “I have the right to go to a rally. And I have the right to watch over people that were feeling fearful because of other incidents that had happened.” Unlike many others who were at the Capitol that day, Durfee didn’t enter the building and was never charged with crime. But he was questioned by the FBI a few weeks after the attack, and later gave a lengthy deposition to the Congressional subcommittee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack. Nearly five years later, the Oath Keepers are no more, the national organization having collapsed after its leader, Stuart Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 18 years in prison. Rhodes is now free, one of the roughly 1,500 defendants convicted of crimes in the Capitol riot that President Trump pardoned the day after his inauguration. And Durfee is hoping to swear another oath to uphold the Constitution, this time as a member of the Northern Valley Regional Board of Education. Durfee is running under the slogan “Education not Indoctrination” and until recently, he was running unopposed for a seat representing Northvale in the highly rated school district that includes six other towns: Old Tappan, Norwood, Closter, Demarest, Harrington Park and Haworth. But Durfee’s certain victory evaporated this week when another Northvale resident, Mathew Horning, launched a last-minute write-in campaign designed to stop him. Horning, a Democrat who last year narrowly lost a bid for Northvale council, said he isn’t challenging Durfee’s right to run. But he believes Durfee’s Oath Keeper affiliation suggests he’s bad for the district. “I find it sad that a man who took an oath to protect our country from terrorists, both foreign and domestic, would be involved an in organization like that,” Horning said. A product manager in the construction industry, Horning is married with a four-year-old son, and says he entered the race at the last minute to stop Durfee. “When I saw his name on my sample ballot, I said, ‘Oh no! This can’t happen,” Horning recalled. “ He’s very right wing, and very much a supporter of the president.” Horning worries that if elected, Durfee would adopt policies that align with Trump. “He supports the man who cuts funding to blue states, and to blue projects. And if elected, I think he would be extremely biased.” Durfee, who owns a coin shop in Northvale, says he would be a “watchdog” for taxpayers, but appears just as concerned with the culture issues playing out in schools. He’s takes aim at what he calls “social engineering” that he believes is happening in school. A Northvale resident for 42 years, Durfee is married and has three grandchildren within the bounds of the Northern Valley Regional district. He applauds the current board of education’s recent removal of books from the high school library that he claims contained pictures depicting homosexuality. “I want them learning reading, writing arithmetic, and not being socially engineered,” Durfee said. Young children are being exposed to what he calls “age inappropriate literature” about sexuality, material that Durfee says is “pornographic in nature.” Interviewed at his coin shop, Durfee said he had no regrets about the rally that turned into a riot and led to at least 25 Oath Keepers being convicted. Durfee has always maintained that he was peaceful and did not enter the Capitol. “I was exercising my constitutional right to free assembly.” Durfee was questioned several times by the FBI in the weeks following the assault. He was later subpoenaed by the Select Committee to Investigate the Attack on the U.S. Capitol and gave a three-hour deposition. A longtime Republican leader in Bergen County, Durfee ran for state Assembly in the 37th District in 2021 and lost. Durfee says the Oath Keeper tag was an issue in 2021, so he’s not surprised it has resurfaced in the school board race. “I’m being told that this guy [Horning] is saying that January 6 had something to do with my integrity, which is ridiculous. Anybody that knows me, knows better.” Durfee said he’s a lector at his church and a eucharistic minister. “I am not a violent man. I am not prone to violence,” he said. But Horning says Durfee’s strong Trump leanings make it more likely he would be disruptive force once elected. “He would think more along the lines of Trump,” said Horning, who says his mother worked as a speech pathologist in the Northern Valley Regional system and is now retired. “And if he brings that to the school board, I’m afraid what’s going to happen is he’s going to make a mockery out of Northvale.” The election for the nonpartisan seat representing Northvale is only open to Northvale voters. Northvale leans Republican and went for Trump in 2024, although recent council races have been close. Horning received 537 votes when he lost his bid for council in 2023, less than 100 votes behind his nearest Republican rival, Hovannes Bakalian, who finished with 626. Durfee, as the head of Northvale Republican club, appears to have the advantage. Horning got a late start and is trying to drum up votes by word of mouth. “This is a ‘Hail Mary,’ right?” Horning quipped.
