Having vanquished a field of four other men in last November’s special election, Passaic Mayor Alex Blanco appears to have strengthened his position heading into the May 12th municipal election where he hopes to secure a full, four-year term.
If Blanco wants to continue as mayor in the aftermath of the jailed Sammy Rivera era, he will have to once again beat second-place finisher Vincent Capuana, the city super committed to making up his 203-vote deficit (3,859 to 3,656 votes) this time with the backing of Councilman Joe Garcia.
Garcia was 2008’s fourth-place finisher in the special mayoral election with 2,684 votes, and this year seeks reelection to the council.
The fusion of Capuana’s and Garcia’s troops on its face looks formidable – but in a small turnout election may be more than offset by Blanco’s ongoing alliance with Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic).
Moreover, real estate developer Jose Sandoval, who recorded 2,846 votes on his way to placing third, has apparently not landed securely in either candidate’s camp despite his bread-breaking efforts with both, and his very specific entreaties to the Passaic County Democratic Organization, which is likely to line up behind Blanco.
In what would be a surprising development – and a dramatic turnaround from what Capuana’s allies said was once his all but certain backing of their candidate – sources say Sandoval may consider throwing his support to the physician mayor in exchange for the Democratic Party’s support in this year’s freeholder race.
“I’ve collected 1,700 petitions to run again for mayor,” was all Sandoval told PolitickerNJ.com this week, but street sources say he could ditch another campaign and back the incumbent mayor.
Whether or not he has Sandoval, the mayor will definitely run with the support of bail bondsman Carl Ellen, last year’s fifth place finisher – and sole African American candidate – with 1,111 votes.
“I’m behind Dr. Blanco 100%,” said Ellen. “First of all, we agreed whoever won we would support in this year’s election. I also think Dr. Blanco’s honest and the best, most clean cut candidate out there. I’d rather the mayor be me, but if not me, I support Dr. Blanco.”
Blown up by off-the-record Capuana forces for two months now as a supporter of their man, Sandoval would decidedly be the more intriguing Blanco backer.
He and Blanco go back several years and their political relationship was seldom solid.
Yet sources say Sandoval, a 2005 GOP loser to key Blanco backer Schaer and 2006 general election loser in a bid for Congress against U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson), would be willing to change parties and support Blanco while running with the Democrats’ backing in a bid for Freeholder James Gallagher’s seat.
Last year, a weary Sandoval signaled his disillusion with the Republican Party at the tail-end of his mayoral race, suggesting the GOP hadn’t helped him sufficiently in past campaign efforts. Schaer and Blanco are themselves former Republicans who became Democrats to gain critical machine party backing.
At least one Democratic Party insider – neither in the Sandoval nor the Schaer/Blanco camp – said the jockeying for a freeholder seat by three-time loser Sandoval was wishful thinking on the candidate’s part and that relative newcomer Blanco could muscle his way across the finish line with the full-fledged support of Schaer, who contributes a foundation of 2,000 votes to the mayor.
“In a presidential election year, Gary’s support is maybe not as visible, but in a May nonpartisan race, when turnout is traditionally low, his support of Blanco will be significant,” said the source.
