 Shortly after the Republican National Convention of 1936, the Mafia consigliere 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.