Veteran Ward Councilman Andre Sayegh would be in a good position to make a play for Democratic Party support in the event that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Murphy taps Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter (D-35) as his running mate, sources say.

Sumter may not get the nod, but she has maintained strong footing in the campaign conversation.

Twice a candidate for mayor of Paterson, Sayegh may run again next year, but sources say Passaic County Democratic Committee Chairman John Currie would prefer to avoid a free-for-all mayoral contest in the Silk City. By giving Sayegh an assembly seat, he can remove Sayegh as a citywide candidate and open the way for Al Abdel-aziz to claim the ward seat he sought when he put up a credible but ultimately unsuccessful 2016 challenge to Sayegh.

A source close to the developing situation, however, says Abdel-aziz, a leader in the Palestinian community and veteran Democratic Committee member who put up impressive numbers against Sayegh, may not go quietly, and could even seek a rematch with Sayegh districtwide.

In the waning days of Murphy’s decision-making on the LG front, sources say Sumter’s rival for the job, Assemblywoman Marlene Caride (D-36), makes sense in the context of two muscled up Hispanics losing power, or at least appearing vulnerable: Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-32), due to get ejected from the assembly throne; and U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), who faces a fall corruption trial.

By opting for an Hispanic now, Murphy can appease the state’s fast-growing voting bloc with a good faith statement. But sources also name Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez as a frontrunner for the attorney general slot in a Murphy Administration, a selection that might accomplish would Murphy might gain in part with Caride.

If Suarez is indeed a short list option as AG, Sumter may have an edge on LG, which strengthens the potential for Sayegh’s and possibly ultimately Abdel-Aziz’s upward mobility.