Sumter interested in Congress; Sayegh won’t challenge Pascrell
PATERSON — Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter on Monday positioned herself for a possible run for Congress, while Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh revealed he has ended his months-long flirtation with challenging 87-year-old incumbent Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr.
Sumter said she submitted letters to the Bergen and Passaic county Democratic committees expressing her interest in interviewing for the 9th District congressional seat. Pascrell, a 27-year congressional veteran, currently holds the seat and is running for reelection.
Sumter said the letters she sent to party leaders on Monday should not be seen as a sign of disapproval of Pascrell, saying she holds him “in high regard” and will support him again if he gets the party endorsement.
Pascrell has come under increasing criticism from Paterson’s Palestinian community over his reluctance to call for a cease-fire in the Middle East.
The Pascrell camp has spent the past year fending off speculation about a primary challenge from Sayegh, and seemed to have clear sailing when the mayor disclosed Monday that he would not run against his former political mentor.
But the clear sailing for Pascrell was short-lived with the emergence of Sumter as a possible candidate.
Passaic County Democrats’ screening committee is scheduled to hold interviews with prospective candidates for Congress and county commissioner on Saturday.
The deadline for submitting letters of interest for the screening was Jan. 26. But party leaders said the cutoff date was “an internal” one and that Sumter would be allowed to participate in the process.
Sumter has served as a member of the New Jersey Assembly for more than 12 years. Her counterpart in the 35th Legislative District, Benjie Wimberly, often has been mentioned as a possible candidate for Congress. But Wimberly has said he would not seek the job as long as Pascrell wants to hold on to it.
Sayegh on Monday afternoon confirmed that he has not submitted candidacy letters seeking party-line endorsements from the Democratic committees in Bergen and Passaic counties.
Sayegh told Paterson Press he won’t be making a bid for Pascrell’s seat in the June Democratic primary. The mayor declined to discuss that decision. He said he is “more interested” in Paterson’s upcoming City Council elections in May.
Political insiders have been pointing to Sayegh’s presence at local political events in Bergen County as evidence of the mayor’s congressional ambitions. During that time, Sayegh himself would neither confirm nor deny whether he was going to oppose Pascrell.
Some of his supporters conducted a poll in January looking at Sayegh’s chances if he took on the 27-year incumbent, who once was among his political mentors. But no one has released the results of that polling.
Democratic Party insiders in recent weeks have said privately that they did not expect Sayegh to enter the congressional race, noting that he had not started raising money to run for federal office.
“Our democracy is beautiful because anyone can seek to serve,” Pascrell said. “As always, I am running 120% to make the case directly to all our neighbors. I will put my record fighting for the 9th District and North Jersey against anybody.“