Speziale, former Passaic County sheriff, may run to fill seat again after Berdnik's death

PATERSON — Jerry Speziale, with $478,000 in his campaign war chest, has signaled he may run in the Democratic Party primary for Passaic County sheriff.

Speziale, who was sheriff from 2002 to 2010, would be vying for the office that became vacant when his successor, Richard Berdnik, died last month from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a restaurant bathroom.

Speziale has been Paterson's public safety director since 2014. He filed papers earlier this month with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission establishing his campaign fund for the primary.

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Political insiders have been floating the names of other possible candidates in the Democratic field, but Speziale is the only one so far who has submitted papers to ELEC. He still has several steps to take before he lands on the ballot.

Speziale did not make any comments when asked in a message about his possible candidacy.

Lingering resentment among some Democratic leaders

Speziale resigned from the sheriff’s job in the summer of 2010 — just months before he was supposed to run for reelection — to take a high-ranking position at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

That move has left lingering resentment toward Speziale among some Democratic Party leaders, who feel he opened the door for Republicans to capture the office. A key figure in former Gov. Chris Christie’s inner circle has said Christie arranged for Speziale’s Port Authority appointment to get him out of the sheriff’s race.

As it turned out, Berdnik filled the Democratic void and beat the GOP candidate in 2010, holding the sheriff’s job until his recent death.

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Paterson Press on Thursday sought reaction to Speziale’s possible candidacy from political figures at the city, county, state and federal levels. Most did not respond or simply said, “No comment.”

“My sentiment is that the process to participate in a primary should remain open for any eligible individual,” said Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter, part of Paterson’s legislative contingent.

Speziale’s campaign fund had a balance of $553,000 in November 2011, according to his ELEC report at that time. Most of that money has stayed in the bank ever since, collecting about $12,000 per year in interest, his campaign finance reports show.

Speziale has made some charitable and political donations from the fund during the past decade and paid accounting fees for the quarterly campaign reports required by the state. The report he filed Jan. 29 said he had $477,935 in the bank.

After leaving the Port Authority job, Speziale worked briefly as police chief in Prichard, Alabama, before getting the Paterson appointment from then-Mayor Joey Torres. For several years, Speziale worked simultaneously as Paterson director and police chief in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.

For much of his time in the Paterson job, Speziale has won accolades from city elected officials and community leaders, who praised his accessibility and high profile at local events.

Considered a run for sheriff in 2019

In 2019, Speziale was considering making a primary run against Berdnik but subsequently decided against it. Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh said in April 2019 that he told Speziale he would have to resign from his director’s job if he ran for sheriff.

Sayegh did not respond when asked for his thoughts about Speziale’s possible candidacy this time around. But the circumstances five years ago were far different. Back then, Speziale would have been taking on an incumbent regarded as a Democratic Party loyalist. But now the sheriff’s seat is up for grabs, with a special election to fill the last year of Berdnik’s term.

Passaic County Democrats are planning to hold their screening committee sessions for sheriff on the second or third Saturday in March. In order to be on the primary ballot, candidates for sheriff must submit 100 voter-signed nominating petitions by March 25.

Meanwhile, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes has not released any information about her office’s investigation into Berdnik’s death since Jan. 24, when she said the probe was “active and ongoing.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Speziale may run for his old Passaic County sheriff seat