He used his physical prowess to "bust up" pro-Nazi German American Bund rallies held in North Bergen in the late 1930s, acting as a "heckler, protester, and street fighter".

Feldman stopped the car, called some veteran friends and staged the forerunner of a "flash" protest.

According to Feldman, the Bergen County Republican organization attempted to recruit him to run as a "New Jersey Jacob Javits".

"[3] Officially, Feldman and the rest of the Teaneck Council remained neutral, citing a separation of powers between the municipal government and the elected Board of Education.

In September 1964, Feldman was interviewed on WJRZ radio following threats of boycotting the opening day of school and of violence.

Feldman became one of the four Democratic candidates, running on the party organization ticket with Ned Parsekian, Jeremiah F. O'Connor, and Alfred Kiefer.

[7] The Democratic general election campaign was aided by the presence of popular Democratic governor Richard J. Hughes at the top of the ticket, and by a major division among Bergen County Republicans that led to incumbent GOP Senator Pierce H. Deamer Jr. being dumped from the organization line.

Another round of reapportionment gave Bergen County a fifth Senate seat, and the incumbents ran with Cliffside Park Mayor Gerald Calabrese.

They easily defeated Richard Lapidus, a physics professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, in the primary election.

[11] However, in a strongly Republican year, Fairleigh Dickinson Jr., Joseph C. Woodcock, Alfred D. Schiaffo, Garrett W. Hagedorn, and Willard B. Knowlton won all five Bergen County State Senate seats by a wide margin.

Feldman ran again for the Senate, with incumbent Assemblymen Albert Burstein and Byron Baer running with him.

In the general election campaign, Republican William C. Clark, a former Bergenfield Councilman, hammered Feldman on his ethical issues, and on the "totality of his record.

[16] Feldman was re-elected in 1981 with 62% against attorney Barbara L. deMare,[17] with 64% against Bergen County Bar Association President Michael L. Kingman in 1983,[18] and 67% against Shel Haas in 1987.

[20] He faced a tough Republican challenger, 35-year-old Todd Caliguire, who had served as Assistant Counsel to Governor Thomas Kean.

The Court ordered the state to provide funding for urban and rural school districts on par with the suburbs by July 1, 1976.

[3] Though initially unpopular, Byrne and Feldman were re-elected and Democrats held their majorities in the state senate and General Assembly.

Federal prosecutors alleged Feldman had paid $6,400 in cash to Schwartz in order to win about $240,000 in liquor business.

[24] Feldman did not deny that he had paid Schwartz but sought to have his indictment dismissed, claiming his prosecution by U.S. Attorney Jonathan Goldstein, a Republican appointed by Richard Nixon, was politically motivated and that such payments were common practice in the liquor distribution business.

[25] On December 13, 1976, the Chief Counsel to the New Jersey Legislature, William M. Lanning, issued an opinion that Feldman's conviction on federal commercial bribery charges did not involve "fraudulent, dishonest or corrupt conduct", and he could remain in the state senate.

[26] When the New Jersey Legislature met on January 10, 1977, for the opening of the legislative session, Republicans made an attempt to remove Feldman but lost the vote 24–10.

[27] In March 1977, a state Superior Court Judge refused to remove Feldman from office, saying he had no authority to override the Senate's decision.

He faced no opposition in the Democratic primary after his only rival, Freeholder Doris Mahalick, dropped out due to lack of organizational support and fundraising resources.

He cited the election of Bill Clinton and Al Gore in 1992 as evidence of the importance of "passing the baton to a new generation".

[22] In a 2011 profile, columnist Charles Stile of The Record wrote, "Matthew Feldman was the master of New Jersey's Senate for nearly 30 years, a legislative broker of the old school.

[33][34] Teaneck designated about 16 acres of the Roemer Woods as the Senator Matthew Feldman Nature Preserve.