Sires files in West New York with over 15,000 signatures (Updated)

The West New York slate headed by former Rep. Albio Sires filed nominating petitions with over 15,000 signatures in advance of today’s 4 PM filing deadline.

After more than sixteen years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Sires did not seek re-election to his 8th district seat last year.  Instead, he’s mounting a bid to return as West New York mayor, a post he held from 1995 until he took his seat in Congress in 2006.

He’s running with incumbent commissioner Victor Barrera, Board of Education President Adam Parkinson, Board of Education Trustee Marielka Diaz, and housing advocate Marcos Arroyo.

“I’m honored and humbled by the overwhelmingly positive response our team has received from West New York residents since we launched this campaign,” Sires said.   “The Sires Team for WNY is ready to step into office on day one and continue to deliver the leadership that West New York residents expect, and we will spend the coming weeks working hard to earn the support of every voter.”

The opposing slate, headed by an incumbent commissioner and mayoral candidate, Cosmo Cirillo, filed with over 12,000 signatures.

The combined 27,000 signatures is an amazing feat, considering West New York has roughly 24,000 voters.

“My sincere gratitude goes out to my team, the campaign volunteers, and all of the community members who came out and signed petitions to make running for office possible,” said Cirillo. “The overflow of support for our team shows unequivocally that our community is prepared for elected officials who will bring about genuine change in West New York.”

Cirillo is running with another incumbent, Margarita Guzman, Assemblywoman Angelica Jimenez, Walter Lopez and Hiram Gonzalez.

Mayor Gabe Rodriguez is seeking the Democratic nomination for State Assembly in the 33rd district.

The five top vote-getters will decide who will serve as mayor.

If Sires gets one-third of his petition signers to vote for him, his chances will look good.  In 2019, Cirillo won 3,700 votes and Mayor Felix Roque, who lost re-election, received 2,780.

North Bergen

North Bergen Mayor Nichola Sacco and his township commissioner slate filed over 8,300 signatures on their petitions.

Sacco, a state senator and the mayor since 1991, faces businessman Larry Wainstein for the third time.

Two incumbent commissioners, Hugo Cabrera and Allen Pascual, are seeking re-election on a ticket with Sacco.  They will be joined by Hudson County Commissioner Anthony Vainieri, and Claudia Rodriguez.    Longtime Commissioner (and former assemblyman) Frank Gargiulo is retiring, and Julio Marenco is seeking the 33rd district Assembly seat.

“I am once again humbled by the overwhelming support we’ve received from our incredible community,” Sacco stated.  “That we were able to gather so many petition signatures in such a short amount of time clearly demonstrates that the work we are doing is resonating with the residents of North Bergen. I am extremely grateful to all of the volunteers and supporters who helped make this accomplishment possible, and I thank them all from the bottom of my heart.”

This story was updated at 5:16 PM.