NORTH BERGEN - Revenge in politics takes many forms. Sometimes, it has to do with circumstance or just a lot of luck.

Either description fits Larry Wainstein, who was seen in recent years trying to unseat township Mayor Nick Sacco.

Wainstein ran three times against Sacco - and lost three times quite badly.

Now he's running again, but not for mayor.

Wainstein is running for the state Assembly with incumbent Gabe Rodriguez in Hudson County's 33rd District, which includes Union City, Guttenberg, Secaucus, North Bergen,  Weehawken and West New York.

In his corner is Brian Stack, the mayor of Union City and the district's state senator. Stack has a proven record of turning out votes, so that is a huge advantage.

The other incumbent in the district, Julio Marenco, is not seeking reelection.

But there are two other Dems running for Assembly nominations in the June 10 primary - Frank Alonso and Tony Hector.

To grasp how Wainstein rose from a perennial losing candidate to the likely favorite for an Assembly seat, you have to consider the feud between Stack and Sacco.

Stack's endorsement of Wainstein clearly is a way to antagonize Sacco.

Sacco, for the record, said in a social media post:

"I am proud to support Tony Hector and Frank Alonso for State Assembly in the June Democratic Primary Election. Tony and Frank are both dedicated community leaders who North Bergen will always be able to count on."

Sacco's problem is about arithmetic.

Two of the largest towns in the district (Union City and West New York) would appear to be in the Wainstein-Rodriguez camp. We have Stack's endorsement and Rodriguez is from West New York. He also is a former mayor, whose ascendancy to the Assembly cleared the way for Albio Sires, the former congressman, to become mayor.

As for the Assembly race, Wainstein and Rodriguez officially opened their Bergenline Avenue campaign office last week.

Stack's photo is on the front window flanked by the two Assembly candidates.

Stack is not up for election this year, but why worry about the small details?

Wainstein appeared in a recent YouTube video called "The Dream City - Union City, N.J."  The title is .. well, creative.

He was asked about his losses to Sacco and said:

"When you have someone like me who fights the political machine, it's not easy."

Now, critics can - and probably will - say that Wainstein has hitched his wagon to the Stack machine.

Talking about Stack, Wainstein praised him for working to improve life in Union City since he was a teenager.

Part of the spat between Stack and Sacco involves a man named Leonard Filipowski, or Leroy Truth, a loud and persistent critic of the Union City mayor.

Stack says Sacco is paying Filipowski.

Sacco denies that.

Let's see if Filipowski gets involved in the Assembly primary.