Former West New York Commissioner Cosmo Cirillo has filed paperwork with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJ ELEC) to run for mayor in May 2027, setting up a potential rematch with incumbent Albio Sires.
Instagram photo.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
His D-2 form, filed with ELEC on Wednesday, says he will serve as his own treasurer, with Jorge Gomez, a former West New York recreation director who is suing the town for wrongful termination, serving as his campaign chair.
Cirillo, the Guttenberg town administrator and the borough clerk for East Newark, served as a West New York commissioner between 2015 and 2023, before running for mayor against Sires – who previously held the title between 1995 and 2006 – in May 2023.
Sires, also a former congressman and state Assembly speaker, won the non-partisan contest by a margin of about 61 to 39, with he and his four running mates sweeping, as HCV first reported.
Commissioners Adam Parkinson, Marielka Diaz, Victor Barrera, and Marcos Arroyo were all elected as part of his slate.
Sires has not yet shown his hand on what he plans to do next year, but political allies have signaled privately that they expect him to run again.
Cirillo could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday.
There is already another big mayoral matchup brewing in North Hudson, with Assemblyman Larry Wainstein (D-33) all but a sure thing to take on Parks and Public Property Commissioner Hugo Cabrera in the May 11th, 2027 North Bergen mayoral race.
That will be held the same day as the West New York races.
On Wednesday, longtime Mayor Nick Sacco will be retiring after 41 years in office – 35 of them as mayor – with Cabrera set to be sworn in as his successor at a special board of commissioners meeting.
Sacco already endorsed Cabrera and his running mates, which includes the mayor’s son, Nick Sacco Jr., at the mayor’s ball earlier this month, as HCV first reported.
Adding further intrigue to the situation is that state Senator (D-33)/Union City Mayor Brian Stack will be on the ballot in the June primary, as will the Assembly seats of Wainstein and his 2024 running mate, Gabriel Rodriguez.
For the time being, it remains an open question who Stack will run with next year, with the current expectation that Wainstein will not seek re-election to run for mayor of North Bergen for a fourth time.
However, it’s unclear at this time what Rodriguez, a former West New York mayor and town commissioner, will end up doing in 2027.
In the board of commissioners form of government, technically no one runs for mayor, with the municipality’s chief elected official decided by the governing body, but for decades the person at the top of the ticket has been referred to as a mayoral candidate.
