PARAMUS – Denied backing by the Bergen County Democratic Committee, Saddle Brook Police Chief Robert Kugler said he plans to run for sheriff anyway.

As an independent.

“The process is a little stacked against me,” Kugler told InsiderNJ during the voting portion of the convention.

He could feel it coming.

But he refused to stand down, hinting in his speech at an independent run and then affirming that as his intention in the aftermath.

If it were an interim election he might not run, but for a three-year term, Kugler said he had to give it a shot.

“I’d rather get voted in by the general public than Lou Stellato,” Kugler told InsiderNJ.