The race to fill the late Bill Pascrell’s congressional seat will trigger significant movement in other offices in Passaic County if Democrats hold the 9th District seat in the general election, and may also result in a change in the Legislature for the first time in 12 years.
All three Democrats from the 35th Congressional District are running for the congressional seat: Senator Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon), Representative Shavonda Sumter (D-Paterson) and Representative Benjie Wimberly (D-Paterson). Two-term Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh is also running.
A victory by Pou would lead to a special election in January to fill her Senate seat on an interim basis; Democratic district committee members would elect the new senator in the 35th District, which includes Paterson, Haledon, North Haledon and Prospect Park in Passaic County and Elmwood Park and Garfield in Bergen County.
Sumter, Wimberly and Sayegh would be at the top of the list of possible Senate candidates.
A special primary for the remainder of Pou’s term is scheduled for June 2025, followed by a special election in November. If districting is eliminated for next year’s primary, the interim senator could face a primary challenge.
The winner of the special election in November would serve the remaining 25 months of Pou’s term.
If Sumter or Wimberly win the congressional seat – or either of them ascends to the state Senate – the 35th District Democrats would hold a special convention to immediately fill the vacant Assembly seat.
Sayegh could run for the general election, as could Alaa Abdelaziz, a Paterson City Councilman and Democratic co-chair of the local council, who could make history as the first Palestinian-American representative in the New Jersey legislature.
The 35th District, which has not elected a Republican since 1993, is 53% Hispanic, 27% white and 19% black.
Since the convention takes place next year, the winner of the convention would serve until January 2026.
If there are no opposing candidates, there is no guarantee that the winner of the special election convention in January 2025 will also win the primary in June. If Sumter and Wimberly face off in a Democratic Senate primary, two seats in the Assembly could be up for grabs.
Sayegh’s successor
If Sayegh wins Pascrell’s congressional seat, the new mayor of Paterson, the state’s second-largest city, would be City Council President Alex Mendez. Mendez is facing voter fraud charges related to his 2020 campaign – he was re-elected earlier this year – and his ascension to the mayor’s office would bring increased attention to the controversial Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, which has so far failed to bring the allegations to a grand jury.
The Paterson City Council would have 30 days to elect a new interim mayor, but Mendez’s allies hold the majority of seats.
Because Paterson holds nonpartisan elections in May in even-numbered years, a special election for mayor would be held in November 2025, and the winner would serve the remaining eight months of Sayegh’s term.
Although Sayegh and Mendez are not allies, they could become so if Mendez sees the mayor’s move to another office as being in his own best interest.
