Overcoming past rivalries, Sayegh, Khairullah endorse Wimberly slate for LD35

The Passaic County Democratic organization’s chosen slate for the 35th legislative district received endorsements today from Paterson Mayor André Sayegh, whose city is home to a majority of 35th district voters, and two other Passaic County mayors in a show of unity that masks old rivalries and electoral battles within the county.

Sayegh, Haledon Mayor Michael Johnson, and Prospect Park Mayor Mohamed Khairullah have endorsed State Sen. Benjie Wimberly (D-Paterson) and his slate of Assembly running mates, brand-new Assemblyman Al Abdelaziz (D-Paterson) and Passaic County Commissioner Orlando Cruz (D-Paterson), ahead of a potentially competitive Assembly primary.

“Senator Wimberly, Assemblyman Abdelaziz, and Commissioner Cruz are committed to serving our community with integrity and diligence,” Sayegh said in a statement. “Their leadership is what Paterson and the broader 35th district need for a brighter, more inclusive future.”

Wimberly is unopposed in the Democratic primary for a special election to fill out the remainder of now-U.S. Rep. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon)’s State Senate term, but Abdelaziz and Cruz face two primary opponents: former Garfield Councilman Romi Herrera, running on Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop’s “Democrats for Change” slate, and Kenyatta Stewart, Newark’s top lawyer and an ally of Newark Mayor (and gubernatorial candidate) Ras Baraka.

Endorsements from Sayegh and Khairullah are notable in part because the mayors have not always seen eye-to-eye with the Passaic Democratic organization. In last year’s U.S. House primary, Khairullah ran a renegade campaign against Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson), a race that Sayegh had also considered entering but ultimately stayed out of; Johnson and most other Passaic Democrats supported Pascrell, who defeated Khairullah easily.

Then, after Pascrell died last August, Sayegh and Wimberly were both among the Democratic candidates who competed to succeed him; it was Pou, however, who emerged as local party leaders’ pick for the seat. Once Pou was sworn into Congress, Wimberly won a special convention to succeed her in the Senate by one vote over Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter (D-North Haledon), herself a former contender for Pascrell’s seat.

Wimberly was succeeded in the Assembly by Abdelaziz, a former Paterson councilman who had to beat none other than Khairullah at another special convention to win the seat. Sumter, meanwhile, decided to retire from the legislature entirely, and Passaic Democrats chose Cruz to succeed her.

In other words, there’s been plenty of opportunity for the many powers that be in the 35th district to battle against one another in the past year, but Sayegh, Khairullah, and Johnson are all evidently willing to put any past differences aside to back Passaic Democrats’ diverse new legislative slate.

Republicans are running Frank Filippelli for the Senate and have a contested three-way primary for the Assembly, but although Democrats cratered in Passaic County in 2024, the GOP is unlikely to make a serious play for any of the 35th district’s seats this year.