Nicholas J. Sacco
Sacco at a February 2015 job fair at
North Bergen Public Library
Member of the New Jersey Senate
from the 32nd district
In office
January 11, 1994 – January 9, 2024
Preceded byThomas F. Cowan
Succeeded byRaj Mukherji
Mayor of North Bergen
Assumed office
January 1, 1991
Preceded byLeo Gattoni
Personal details
Born (1946-11-17) November 17, 1946 (age 77)
Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseKathryn Somick (m. 2022)[1]
Children1
ResidenceNorth Bergen
Alma materRutgers University (BA)
Seton Hall University (MA)
OccupationAssistant Superintendent of Schools; mayor, North Bergen, New Jersey; State Senator
WebsiteLegislative web page

Nicholas J. Sacco (born November 17, 1946) is an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1994 to 2024, where he represented the 32nd Legislative District. Sacco serveed as the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee and was also a member of the Law and Public Safety and Veterans' Affairs Committee.[2] He currently serves as mayor of North Bergen since 1991 and was allowed to hold two offices under a grandfather clause in a bill that prohibited dual office holding. Sacco announced on February 24, 2022 that he would not seek re-election to the State Senate.[3]

Early life

Sacco was born in Jersey City on November 17, 1946. He grew up in West New York, graduating from Memorial High School.[4] Sacco received a B.A. in 1968 in History from Rutgers University and an M.A. in Administration and Supervision from Seton Hall University in 1973.[2][5]

Political career

Sacco was first elected to the North Bergen Board of Commissioners in 1985 as a part of recall elections headed up by Leo Gattoni to clean out corrupt officials in the Township. In 1991, Gattoni retired from the Mayor's office and decided to endorse Sacco as mayor (in North Bergen, the mayor is chosen among members of the Board of Commissioners).[6] Sacco has been reelected every four years, most recently in May 2019.[7] Two years after becoming mayor, Sacco defeated incumbent state senator Thomas F. Cowan in the Democratic primary election for the 32nd district.[8] He has also been overwhelmingly re-elected to this office since his first election.

In addition to serving as a state senator and mayor of North Bergen, Sacco served as the Director of Primary Education for the North Bergen School District until his retirement in 2017.[2][9] Sacco has been Principal of Horace Mann and Lincoln School in North Bergen, and former president and vice president of the North Bergen Council of Administrators and Supervisors which is affiliated with the New Jersey Education Association. He simultaneously holds a seat in the New Jersey Senate and as Mayor. This dual position, often called double dipping, is allowed under a grandfather clause in the state law enacted by the New Jersey Legislature and signed into law by Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine in September 2007 that prevents dual-office-holding but allows those who had held both positions as of February 1, 2008, to retain both posts.[10]

Sacco is a sponsor of the state's Urban Enterprise Zone legislation, which has helped foster private business investment in urban centers and generates millions of dollars in revenue for North Bergen and other cities.[11] Sacco has also sponsored legislation expanding the use of DNA testing in criminal cases, by having DNA collected from individuals convicted of disorderly conduct offenses that could be compared against databases to help close unsolved crime cases.[12] In 2021 Sacco voted in favor of legislation establishing a constitutional right to reproductive freedom.[13]

In 2012 the Hudson Reporter named him #1 in its list of Hudson County's 50 most influential people.[14] In 2013 and 2014, he was ranked #3 (the first of which tied him with Senate colleague and Union City mayor Brian P. Stack),[15][16] and #4 in 2015.[17]

On February 24, 2022, Sacco announced that he would not run for re-election as state senator in 2023, after North Bergen was redistricted to the 33rd Legislative District, which placed Sacco in the same district as his colleague, Union City mayor and state senator Brian Stack, whom Sacco said he would support.[3]

Committees

Committee assignments for the current session are:[2]

District 32

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly.[18] Representatives from the 32nd District for the 2022—2023 Legislative Session are:[19]

Election history

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (July 2015)
New Jersey State Senate elections, 2013[20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Nicholas J. Sacco (incumbent) 20,098 70.2
Republican Paul Castelli 8,542 29.8
Democratic hold
New Jersey State Senate elections, 2011[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Nicholas J. Sacco (incumbent) 16,413 83.2
Republican Edward T. O’Neill 3,312 16.8
Democratic hold
New Jersey State Senate elections, 2007[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Nicholas Sacco 16,780 82.8
Republican John Pluchino 3,474 17.2
Democratic hold

Personal life

On November 26, 2022, Sacco married his longtime girlfriend Kathryn Somick at a ceremony at the Venetian in Garfield, New Jersey. His brother Joseph served as best man and his grandson, Nathan, was the ring bearer.[1] Somick comes from a family with several members that work in the education system, and she herself worked with Sacco at the Board of Education.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b Zeitlinger, Ron (November 28, 2022). "North Bergen mayor marries longtime girlfriend". The Jersey Journal. Archived from the original on November 13, 2023. Retrieved November 13, 2023 – via NJ.com.
  2. ^ a b c d Senator Nicholas J. Sacco Archived February 28, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed February 22, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Pizarro, Max (February 24, 2022). "Sacco to Retire from Senate, Backs Stack". InsiderNJ. Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  4. ^ Senator Nicholas J. Sacco Archived December 24, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Senate Democrats. Accessed August 29, 2019. "The senator was born in Jersey City Nov. 17, 1946. He attended public schools in Hudson County and graduated from Memorial High School in West New York."
  5. ^ Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey – Two Hundred and Eleventh Legislature (First Session) (PDF). Skinder-Strauss Associates. 2004. p. 239. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  6. ^ Hague, Jim (November 16, 2001). "Former Mayor Gattoni dies Long-time politician, 87, served township for 50 years". Hudson Reporter. Archived from the original on July 5, 2015. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  7. ^ Herzog, Laura. (May 12, 2015). "After 24 years in office, North Bergen Mayor Nick Sacco is victorious again". NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  8. ^ "Official List Primary Election Returns for the Office of Senate and Assembly" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. August 3, 1993. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  9. ^ "Sacco to retire from school job, will remain mayor and state senator". January 5, 2017. Archived from the original on October 24, 2018. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  10. ^ via Associated Press. "N.J. Lawmakers keep double dipping" Archived 2008-03-25 at the Wayback Machine. WPVI-TV, March 4, 2008. Accessed June 4, 2009.
  11. ^ Hague, Jim (March 22, 2005). "North Bergen's UEZ has a new home Office set up on Broadway, in heart of zone" Archived April 15, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Hudson Reporter. Accessed June 25, 2012. "Ever since North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco first introduced legislation 10 years ago, in his role as a state senator, that began the process to have Urban Enterprise Zones (UEZ) in many of the state's major cities and towns as a way to increase business sales while helping to beautify the community, the North Bergen UEZ has been operating out of Town Hall, but was really without an identity."
  12. ^ Hack, Charles. "State Sen. Nicholas Sacco introduces bill to collect DNA samples from all convicted of disorderly persons offenses" Archived March 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, The Jersey Journal, March 21, 2012. Accessed June 25, 2012. "Convicted shoplifters and others guilty of disorderly persons offenses would be forced to submit a DNA sample to authorities under new legislation proposed by Sen. Nicholas J. Sacco, D-North Bergen. The goal of the bill, which was introduced in Trenton yesterday, is to reduce the number of unsolved crimes, according to Sacco, who is also North Bergen's mayor."
  13. ^ "Bill S49: Session 2020 - 2021". New Jersey Legislature. Archived from the original on April 26, 2023. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  14. ^ Adriana Rambay Fernández, Stephen LaMarca, Gennarose Pope, Ray Smith, Al Sullivan and E. Assata Wright. "They've Got the Power". The Union City Reporter. January 8, 2012. Pages 1, 4-7 and 10-11.
  15. ^ Cruz, Vanessa; DeChiaro, Dean; Rambay Fernandez, Adriana; Palasciano, Amanda; Sullivan, Al; Wright, E. Assata (January 13, 2013). "Power Surge". The Union City Reporter. pp. 1, 5-7, 10.
  16. ^ DeChiaro, Dean; Sullivan, Al (February 2, 2014). "The 'Power List'". The Union City Reporter. p. 6.
  17. ^ Sullivan, Al; Davis, Carlo; Schwartz, Art; Passantino, Joseph (January 18, 2015). The Union City Reporter, pp 1, 5, 9, 12
  18. ^ New Jersey State Constitution 1947 (Updated Through Amendments Adopted in November, 2020): Article IV, Section II Archived February 13, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 28, 2022.
  19. ^ Legislative Roster for District 32 Archived March 19, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 11, 2022.
  20. ^ "Official List Candidates for State Senate For GENERAL ELECTION 11/05/2015 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. December 4, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2015. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  21. ^ Official List Candidate Returns for State Senate For November 2011 General Election Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Department of State, December 14, 2011. Accessed May 2, 2012.
  22. ^ Official List Candidate Returns for State Senate For November 2007 General Election Archived 2012-08-22 at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Department of State, December 3, 2007. Accessed June 25, 2012.
  23. ^ Dienst, Jonathan; Paredes, David; Alexiades, Isabel; Rosenzweig, Noah Grey; Stein Mara (November 20, 2018). "I-Team: Sacco Family Ties Extend Deep in North Bergen as Hiring Questions Swirl". NBC News. Archived from the original on November 13, 2023. Retrieved November 13, 2023.((cite web)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

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New Jersey Senate Preceded byThomas F. Cowan Member of the New Jersey Senate for the 32nd District January 11, 1994 – January 9, 2024 Succeeded byRaj Mukherji Political offices Preceded byLeo Gattoni Mayor of North Bergen, New Jersey January 1, 1991 – present Succeeded byIncumbent
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