Riding Thomas Kean's coattails in the 1985 elections, Arango and Ronald Dario of Union City defeated Democratic incumbent Robert Ranieri and newcomer Mario R. Hernandez. In the elections, Republicans won four Assembly seats in the usually Democratic Hudson County.[6][7] Running for re-election in 1987, Arango and newcomer Angelo M. Valente of Hoboken were defeated by Democrats Bernard Kenny and Bob Menendez.[1][8]
In 1988, Arango ran for North Bergen township commission on a slate that included former county Republican chairman Lee Lichtenberger. They were badly beaten by slate supporting incumbent mayor Nicholas Sacco.[9]
In 1989, Arango was elected as chair of the Hudson County Republican Organization and served into the 1990s.[10]
He was elected chair again in 2000 or 2002 and has served in that position since. He was re-elected with 98 percent of the vote in 2021 against Joshua Sotomayor Einstein, whom Arango had pressured to resign from the county committee after Einstein publicly admitted to emotionally abusing women.[11][12] The challenge was delayed by Arango's decision to reschedule committee elections from June 2020 to 2021, citing the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] Arango was re-elected without opposition in 2024. As of 2025, he was the longest serving county party chair in the state.[1][10][14] From 2014 to 2018 and again since 2020, Arango has also served as chairman of the New Jersey Republican Chairs Association, a group of county chairs from throughout the state, expanding his influence in the state.[1][15]
He has also been an influential leader in the New Jersey Hispanic community outside of Hudson County.[16]
As a county Republican chair in the large, urban county, Arango represents around 3 percent of the statewide Republican Party primary electorate, and until 2024, he personally controlled the powerful county line in primary elections, making his endorsement influential in New Jersey Republican politics. Because Hudson County is overwhelmingly Democratic, Arango has focused on endorsing non-partisan moderates in local races,[17] and the margin of Republican defeat in Hudson County can determine statewide general election results.[18]
In 2018, Arango criticized a proposed constitutional amendment that would tie legislative redistricting to partisan performance in statewide elections. He argued that the amendment would diminish minority representation and focus on local issues.[19]
In 2019, Arango and the Republican organization withdrew support for sheriff nominee Adela Rohena after she made disparaging remarks about Pride Month. She agreed to drop out of the race, and Arango endorsed Democratic incumbent Frank Schillari.[20] Arango issued a public statement saying, "I have been consistent as Republican chairman in support of LGBT rights even when the party wasn't as enlightened on this issue. I will not support my candidates making homophobic remarks. Adela understands that and therefore will no longer be our candidate."[20]
In 2020, Arango supported Stuart Meissner for U.S. Senate before switching his endorsement to Rik Mehta after Meissner withdrew.[21][22]
In 2020, Arango and other New Jersey Republican county chairs called for supporters to vote again a ballot measure legalizing recreational marijuana.[23] He opposed a proposal by U.S. senator Mitch McConnell to allow states to declare bankruptcy, arguing for a "middle path" which would tie future federal aid grants to state economic reforms.[24]