Unlike last time, Paterson mayor not blocking Speziale bid for county sheriff

PATERSON — Mayor Andre Sayegh issued an ultimatum when his public safety director, Jerry Speziale, wanted to become Passaic County Sheriff in 2019.

“I told him if he runs for sheriff then he would have to resign,” Sayegh said at that time.

Five years later, Sayegh has opted not to stand in Speziale’s way as the Paterson public safety director seeks the sheriff’s job by challenging the Passaic County Democratic Party leaders’ choice, Thomas Adamo, in the June 4 primary.

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Sayegh has stayed silent — at least publicly — about whether he supports or opposes Speziale’s candidacy, walking a political tightrope in what Democratic Party insiders say has been an effort to avoid offending either side as the mayor eyes a potential run for Congress in 2026.

Paterson Press in the past two weeks interviewed 15 political figures — people supporting Speziale as well as Adamo — about Sayegh’s role in the sheriff’s race.

“The mayor doesn’t want to show his hand,” said a North Jersey political operative, who like almost everybody interviewed for this story didn’t want to be quoted by name.

“He’s trying to keep a low profile,” a Paterson political activist said of Sayegh.

But Sayegh’s silence doesn’t mean the mayor has remained neutral, according to political insiders. People in both camps have pointed to the presence of Sayegh supporters at Speziale campaign events as a sign of where they think the mayor’s sympathies lie.

A reporter asked Sayegh earlier this month about the differences in his response to Speziale’s sheriff candidacy in 2019 versus 2024. Why did the mayor block Speziale in 2019, but not in 2024? Sayegh said 2019 was his first year in the mayor’s office and he wanted to keep his administrative team — including Speziale as head of public safety — together.

When asked whom he was supporting in the sheriff’s primary this time, Sayegh said to “circle back” with him after Paterson’s May 14 council elections. But the mayor has not responded to two recent messages about where he stands in the sheriff’s race.

Adamo endorsements

Sayegh isn’t the only political figure trying to lay low as Speziale and Democratic Party leaders slug it out in a brutal battle in which both sides have engaged in such savage attacks on their opposition that there seems to be little chance for post-election reconciliation.

State Sen. Nellie Pou and Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly are among those who have not taken sides in any public way. The Democratic organization during the past week has issued a series of press releases announcing Adamo endorsements by Paterson council members Al Abdelaziz, Alex Mendez, Md Forid Uddin, Shahin Khalique and Lilisa Mimms. Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter this week said she was backing Adamo, as well.

First Ward Councilman Michael Jackson is the only member of the Paterson governing body who publicly stated he is backing Speziale. Luis Velez, Paterson’s 5th Ward councilman, said on Monday that he planned not to back anyone.

“I’m not going to get in the middle of this,” Velez said during a phone interview. “It’s been all negative with everybody attacking each other.”

Speziale had served as Passaic County sheriff from 2002 until 2010, when he resigned to take a top-level job at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Democrats say the Port Authority appointment was part of a deal orchestrated by then-Gov. Chris Christie to help Republicans take the sheriff’s office.

But Democrat Richard Berdnik won the 2010 election and served as sheriff for 13 years, until he died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in the bathroom of a Clifton restaurant in January, setting up the Adamo versus Speziale contest.

So far, campaign spending in the sheriff’s primary has represented a significant reversal of the typical situation in which the party-backed candidate enjoys a big edge in fundraising. That’s partly because Speziale has been sitting on almost $500,000 in his political bank account for the past 14 years.

Speziale already has spent $332,723 on his candidacy and had $473,977 in the bank, according to his campaign report filed last week with the state.

Adamo, meanwhile, has spent $53,863, and has $170,501 remaining, according to his report.

Neither sheriff’s candidate listed any contributions from Sayegh in his finance report.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ mayor not blocking Jerry Speziale county sheriff bid