Update: Anthony Vainieri said this afternoon that he’s supporting Craig Guy to succeed him as Hudson County Democratic chairman. “It has been my great honor and privilege to serve as the HCDO Chairman for the past two years. Working together with all the county committee members, municipal chairs and all the mayors, we built a stronger party that elected a new county executive, two new State Senators and five new Assembly members,” he said. “I would like to thank all 12 mayors for their support, particularly my Mayor Nick Sacco for his enduring confidence in me to lead our party.”
Hudson County Democratic Chairman Anthony Vainieri is expected to announce today that he will not seek re-election to a second term, a move that appears to clear the field for County Executive Craig Guy to replace him.
Vainieri’s exit had been anticipated after key Hudson mayors and elected officials committed to back Guy.
On Friday evening, Guy attended a fundraiser in North Bergen for freshman Assemblyman Julio Marenco (D-North Bergen) as a way of extending an olive branch to local officials there. Mayor Nicholas Sacco had supported Guy for county executive.
Guy had served as Thomas DeGise’s longtime chief of staff; after DeGise retired last year, Guy sought the post himself and won easily. It’s been Guy, and not Vainieri, who has been representing Hudson in meetings with state Democrats.
Vainieri was elected county chairman in 2022 in a unanimous vote after Jersey City Councilwoman Amy DeGise declined to seek another term.
The move to seat Vainieri, who is also the chief of staff to North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, was part of a deal reached in February 2022 following the approval of a new legislative redistricting map.
Sacco announced that he would not seek re-election to the State Senate seat he’s held for 30 years and endorsed Brian Stack, the mayor of Union City and a state senator who was remapped into the same district.
In May 2023, Sacco was re-elected mayor, a post he’s held since 1991.
Vainieri is the son of former Assemblyman Anthony Vainieri and the brother of former Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Englewood). He served as a Hudson county commissioner before trading his seat for one as a North Bergen town commissioner.