Paterson Mayor André Sayegh has dropped out of the race for the late Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson)’s congressional seat, three days after he launched his campaign and a few hours after top party leaders in Pascrell’s 9th district announced their support for an alternate candidate, State Sen. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon).
“I am encouraged by the confidence of voters that was conveyed in a recently released poll,” Sayegh said, referencing a poll conducted by the Muslim civil rights organization Council on American-Islamic Relations Action. “I believe the show of support speaks to my hard work and commitment to the community. However, the current political circumstances do not allow for me to pursue a congressional bid at this time. I’ll continue to fight daily for residents and position Paterson for further progress.”
Sayegh’s exit from the race means he will not participate in tonight’s 9th district candidate forum at 8 p.m., hosted by the New Jersey Globe, On New Jersey, and the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University.
Sayegh, the mayor of Paterson since 2018, has a solid base of support in his hometown, and could have mounted a serious campaign for Pascrell’s seat if the race was being decided by Democratic primary voters. The timing of Pascrell’s death, however, meant that the choice for a new nominee has instead fallen to a few hundred Democratic county committeemembers in Bergen, Passaic, and Hudson Counties rather than voters themselves.
Over the weekend, Democratic leaders in those three counties came together to see if they could hash out a deal, and ultimately decided on Pou as a compromise acceptable to all sides; Passaic County Democratic Chairman John Currie, Bergen County Democratic Chairman Paul Juliano, and Hudson County Democratic Chairman Craig Guy all endorsed Pou today.
That decision left Sayegh and two other candidates, Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter (D-North Haledon) and Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly (D-Paterson), as underdogs at Thursday’s secret-ballot convention to determine Pascrell’s successor. Sumter and Wimberly both remain in the race for now, but they have an uphill path to victory.
If Pou is elected to Congress, though, each of her competitors will still have the chance to move up in the world – into her State Senate seat. A hypothetical January 2025 special election convention to replace Pou would likely involve some combination of Sayegh, Wimberly, and Sumter running, and if either of the latter two win, then an Assembly seat opens up and the game of musical chairs continues.