Stack may be the Deciding Factor in West New York Election
Politics in North Hudson got infinitely more interesting now that Albio Sires has decided to run
for mayor again.
Although his career has seen him rise to significant heights mayor, assemblyman, assembly speaker, congressman, in his heart, Sires has always seen himself as mayor of West New York.
Most of his early political careers was focused on becoming mayor, fighting the DeFino political machine, even going to far as to switch political parties in order to remain the prominent heir apparent. West New York has a strong Republican party, even though Sires retained his Democratic roots.
Eventually, Sires replaced Mayor Anthony DeFino to begin a new political dynast as mayor in the mid-1990s.
Frankly, it was a shock when he decided to move on from that role since it seemed to fit his personality so well, the former basketball star seated behind the large desk in city hall, dealing with all of the small but significant day to day issues that small towns mayors must contend with.
As a congressman, he would sometimes stroll the streets of the town he loved, looking at things he would do if he was still mayor.
Even when he abdicated that throne for his other supposedly more illustrious political roles, he was the man behind the throne.
As kingmaker, Sires had a huge say on who would serve in the seat he struggled to attain, handing it over to then Freeholder Chairman Sal Vega, until Vega decided to go his own way, causing one of the most significant political wars that eventually saw Sires backing Felix Roque in 2011.
When Roque repeated Vega’s mistake, Sires was instrumental in getting Gabriel Rodríguez elected, putting Roque out of office in 2019.
But that was then, and this is now, and this election will uniquely demonstrate the condition of Sires’ local power base, which the congressman asserts is strong based on his having taken down Roque in a West New York Party Committee fight.
In the past, moreover, Sires was able to use his alliance with state Senator and Union City Mayor Brian Stack to help keep West New York under wraps.
It was this alliance that helped Roque beat Vega in 2011, and helped Stack obtain his seat on the state assembly – despite efforts by state Senator and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco and the Hudson County Democratic organization to shut him out.
The political world changed completely when redistricting put Sacco and Stack in the same assembly district, and Sacco decided not to seek reelection to the state senate.
Where Stack lands in the West New York election may decide who will be mayor there, and you have to believe Roque is courting Stack’s support, even though Stack did not give Roque the support needed to beat Gabriel Rodríguez in 2019.
Roque was part of that unholy alliance with Stack, Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop to unseat County Executive Tom DeGise, a failed attempt that also denied Stack a seat as chairman of the HCDO.
But only Roque suffered the political retribution for his role in that coup, and this is partly due to the fact Stack did not deliver the promised support.
Stack is much more powerful today than he was then. He doesn’t need the allow alliance with Sires in his one-time perpetual war with Sacco.
In some ways, things are reversed. Stack, not Sires, is king maker when it comes to deciding who will become the next mayor of West New York.
Will he support Roque, his one-time co-conspirator or will Stack honor the old Sacco-war alliance and support Sires?
A critical question.
But Sires allies point out that the establishment – Stack included – are very pro Albio; and Stack may not be able to afford to install someone who might some day build a power base to challenge him in the future.
Ultimately, the voters will decide.
Democracy is a Greek word that means Power of the People. A Republic is a Latin word meaning Of the People. Unfortunately, not all Republics are Democracies. In 1985, four Republicans were elected to the NJ Assembly, including Jose Arango from WNY. This ONLY happened because of open civil war in the HCDO.This was the first time ANY Republicans had been elected to the Assembly since 1921. In 1992, Mr. “school voucher” Brett Schundler was elected Jèrsey City Mayor Only because 16 other ( mostly Democratic) candidates were running, including two, (fighting with each other) Manzo Brothers, the politically weaker of the two siphoning off votes from the brother who should have won . Thus Jèrsey City had its first Republican Mayor since 1917. The Democrats have come along way into the light of truly caring for All the People since the dark days of their antebellum positions, while, since the Civil War, the Party of our Greatest President, Abraham Lincoln, has slowly, but sadly devolved into the Party of the dangerous demagogue and narcissist Trump, that champions personal greed at all costs over concern for each other.
There is still more that unites us Hudson County Democrats than devides us. To the power brokers in Hudson County: Do the Right Thing.
Rodriguez will team up with stack to put Sires in the seat
Stack is part of the Hudson County Democratic Organization that is unanimously backing the erstwhile Congressman Albio Sires who is seeking a return to his former role as a Mayor of West New York. The dynamics of this race is what should make it an interesting race. First there is a Congressman walking down the ladder to reclaim a lesser role as a Mayor. The Congressman has been away from locals politics for approximately 16 years and is banking on the Hudson County Democratic Committee to put its muscle into the race. The opposition is going to be a slate led by Cosmo Cirilo and Maggie Guzman, two Commissioners who have been actively involved in local politics for a number of years. This group is going to have to carry their own weight. The dark horse of the race portends to be Dr Felix Roque . Dr Roque was a two term Mayor upended by Mayor Gabriel
Rodriguez a protege of Albio Sires. Mayor Rodríguez pulled out from seeking re-election to run as an Assemblyman as the Democrat running with Senator Brian Stack. Dr Felix Roque can make this tace even more interesting by cutting into an already split base within the Democratic Party. Dr Roque is a well known pain specialist who is very popular with the largest voting block which are the senior citizens.