Bergenfield mayor is possible candidate for Bergen Surrogate

Bergenfield Mayor Arvin Amatorio has emerged as a possible candidate for Bergen County Surrogate to replace Michael Dressler, the longtime Democratic incumbent who died on December 4, the New Jersey Globe has learned.

Since Dressler’s death, Deputy Surrogate Sharon Borys has served as acting surrogate.  She can hold that post until the governor appoints an interim replacement with the advice and consent of the State Senate, or until the winner of the 2026 general election is certified.

Amatorio, then a Bergenfield councilman, had been slotted to run for the State Assembly in 2018 after Joe Lagana resigned to join the Senate and Tim Eustace left for a job at the North Jersey Water Commission.  But at the last minute, party leaders instead chose another Bergenfield councilman, Christopher Tully.  Amatorio ran for mayor in 2019 and ousted two-term Republican incumbent Norman Schmelz by 317 votes, 53%-47%

This will be the first open seat for Bergen County Surrogate since Gill C. Job, a legendary vote-getter, announced in early 1992 that he would not seek re-election to an eighth five-year term. Former Englewood Mayor Steve Rothman won the Democratic convention with 65% of the vote against Rose Teague, a former commissioner of the Bergen County Utilities Authority.

Rothman resigned as surrogate in 1996 to seek an open congressional seat; the incumbent, Robert Torricelli, was running for U.S. Senate.  Democrats picked Dressler, a former Bergen County Counsel and mayor and councilman in Cresskill, to run.  He defeated Republican Simone Mele, a 34-year-old attorney, with 51% in the general election.

Dressler’s most recent five-year term was up in 2026, so there will be a primary and general election for surrogate this year.

Amatorio is not up for re-election as mayor until 2027.  If he runs and wins, Amatorio would become the first Filipino American to hold a countywide office in Bergen.