Nicholas Sacco

Early life Sacco was born in Jersey City on November 17, 1946. He grew up in West New York, graduating from Memorial High School. 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.

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). Sacco has been reelected every four years, most recently in May 2019. Two years after becoming mayor, Sacco defeated incumbent state senator Thomas F. Cowan in the Democratic primary election for the 32nd district. 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. 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.

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. 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. In 2021 Sacco voted in favor of legislation establishing a constitutional right to reproductive freedom.

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

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. In response, Stack endorsed Sherill, reiterating his support after supporting her in the primary.

Committees Committee assignments for the current session are: Law and Public Safety, vice-chair Transportation

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. Representatives from the 32nd District for the 2022—2023 Legislative Session are: Senator Nicholas Sacco Assemblyman Pedro Mejia Assemblywoman Angelica M. Jimenez

Election history

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. 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.