His 2023 state senate reelection hopes dashed during the statewide redistricting process, North Bergen Mayor Nick Sacco nonetheless proved his local power and easily won reelection tonight.

Sacco beat challenger Larry Wainstein by a 3-1 margin.

It was the rivals’ third contest, with Sacco besting Wainstein the two previous times, too.

From the Hudson County View’s John Heinis:

“Also the state senator of the 32nd Legislative District, Sacco was seeking his 11th term in municipal office: he was elected commissioner in 1985 and then mayor in 1991.

“He ran alongside Public Safety Commissioner Allen Pascual, Parks and Public Property Commissioner Hugo Cabrera, Hudson County Democratic Organization Chair Anthony Vainieri, and Board of Education Trustee Claudia Rodriguez.”

The Sacco Team swept.

Sacco’s reelection bid perhaps didn’t carry the same import as the neighboring Hudson County contest in West New York, a town rearranged by redistricting into state Senator Brian P. Stack’s legislative district.

But it carried the intrigue of Vainieri’s presence on the ticket, a statement either of Sacco’s continuing power – even after getting the heave ho out of the senate seat, or of HCDO hard times.

Whatever it was, the ever-politically connected Sacco had no troubled handling the financially well-connected Wainstein.

Editor’s Note: The InsiderNJ photo of Sacco above was taken by Al Sullivan.