“Four more years.” The phrase was repeated jubilantly by many of the well-wishers who turned out for Mayor Nicholas Sacco’s victory celebration on Tuesday night, May 12, following his sweep at the North Bergen polls.
Sacco has been the mayor of North Bergen since 1991 and a commissioner since 1985. He has also been a state senator since 1994 and serves as the director of elementary and secondary education in the district.
After a long and tumultuous campaign against Larry Wainstein, Sacco and his team walked away with about two-thirds of the votes in the municipal election.
In North Bergen’s form of government, voters elect five people as part-time commissioners, and they choose a mayor from among themselves. It’s usually a foregone conclusion who will be mayor.
Joining Sacco in his victory were current Commissioners Hugo Cabrera, Frank Gargiulo, and Allen Pascual, along with newly-elected Commissioner Julio Marenco. Formerly the Board of Education president, Marenco joined the ticket to replace Theresa Ferraro, who passed away earlier this year.
“I’m very happy with the results,” said Sacco. “We won every district in town, which to me was very important. We got our whole base to come out and that made me feel extremely good.”
Sacco received 8,465 votes according to unofficial results posted by the Hudson County Clerk on Tuesday night. His running mates each received more than 8,000 votes.
Wainstein received 4,904 votes. His running mates each received between 4,399 and 4,502 votes, for a total of about 35 percent of the total votes cast.
Also running for commissioner as a solo candidate was Henry Marrero, who took 589 votes, or a little under 1 percent of the votes cast.
Accusations and allegations
Sacco and Wainstein have been political enemies for several years. Wainstein got involved in local politics when a developer proposed a liquor store across from one owned by Wainstein. Wainstein has several area businesses and has a home in Franklin Lakes, where his kids attend school.
“I welcome everyone regardless of where they stood in the last election to help make this one united town.” –Mayor Nicholas Sacco
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A lawsuit filed by Wainstein’s campaign manager, Luis Gutierrez, shortly before election day alleged that at least 58 non-North Bergen residents claimed to live in the township in order to vote for Sacco. A New Jersey Superior Court Judge ruled that Gutierrez’s suit failed to provide any evidence to show that intervention by the Attorney General’s Office would be necessary to prevent voter fraud.
Nonetheless, state troopers were assigned to monitor polling places and ensure an orderly election. Supporters of both sides were out in force on Election Day, urging residents to vote for their team. The police issued numerous summonses for electioneering violations such as campaigning within 100 feet of the polls
“It’s a complete relief” to have the election behind him and to move on, Sacco told The North Bergen Reporter on the day after the vote. “I don’t mind the hard work during the campaign, because that’s meeting people and I enjoy that. But the lies, the devisiveness that North Bergen was put through … that was uncalled for, and that made it a very unpleasant election.”
Reorganization next week
Sacco and his team will be sworn into office on Tuesday, May 19 at noon in the Town Hall Building. That will be followed by a reorganization meeting at which the commissioners select the mayor and receive their department assignments.
Currently the role of police commissioner is open after the passing in March of the much beloved Theresa Ferraro.
Julio Marenco is the new commissioner in the group, taking office for the first time this cycle. Asked what he expects Marenco to bring to the table, Sacco said, “He’s young, he’s intelligent, he has a law degree, and he’s a college professor and he’s on the state parole board. He brings a bit of intellectualism with him.”
Looking ahead
Sacco’s victory celebration at 90 Park Restaurant on Tuesday night attracted a cross-section of powerful local and regional politicians, including Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, County Executive Tom DeGise, Assemblywoman Angelica Jimenez, Hudson County Sheriff Frank X. Schillari, Freeholders Anthony Romano and Anthony Vanieri, former West New York Mayor Sal Vega, Union City Mayor Brian Stack, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, Fulop Chief of Staff Mark Albiez, Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner, Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis, and West New York Mayor Felix Roque, and town Commissioner Cosmo Cirillo. The last two were victorious in the polls on Tuesday night in their own town.
Residents turned out in droves to offer their congratulations to the mayor and his ticket.
“I think the people spoke and they like the direction that we’re going, so we’re going to continue working hard to make the town the best it can be,” said Sacco after the event, adding, “I welcome everyone regardless of where they stood in the last election to help make this one united town.”
Wainstein ‘not going anywhere’
Despite being on the losing end of the election, Wainstein proclaimed that “change is coming to North Bergen.”
Anyone facing the popular Sacco has an uphill battle, and Wainstein touted the fact that he was still able to command several thousand votes.
“Our movement to bring real change and honest government to North Bergen has just begun,” Wainstein stated in a press release. “We received more votes against the Sacco machine than any other candidates in the three decades that Sacco has been in office.”
The press release went on to reiterate many of the claims about the Sacco team’s alleged “intimidation and dirty tricks” from the campaign.
“Together we have started the revolution that is going to change the future of North Bergen for our children and our grandchildren,” he stated. “We are not going anywhere. Change is coming and Sacco knows it.”
Sacco representative Philip Swibinski responded that “Larry can try to spin the results of this election any way he wants, but the truth is that North Bergen voters overwhelmingly rejected his hate-filled, race-baiting campaign by a truly enormous margin. Mayor Sacco and his team received roughly the same amount of votes that they’ve gotten in nearly every municipal election during his tenure. The amount of money – which we believe is well over one million dollars – which Wainstein wasted without being able to take away any votes from the mayor is a pretty weak showing.”
Art Schwartz may be reached at arts@hudsonreporter.com.