Albio Sires
Candidate for: United States Representative, NJ 8th District
Party: Democratic
Office: Representative (D–NJ 8th District) since 2013
Previous office:
Albio Sires (born January 26, 1951) is the U.S. Representative for New Jersey’s 8th congressional district, serving since 2006. The district, numbered as the 13th districtfrom 2006 to 2013, includes most of northern and eastern Jersey City, as well as most of the Latino neighborhoods of Newark. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He previously represented district 33 in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2000 to 2006.
Albio Sires was born January 26, 1951 in Bejucal, Cuba. He immigrated to the United States with his family at age 11 with the help of relatives in the United States.[2] He eventually settled in West New York, New Jersey; he still lives there today. He attended Public School 4, where he and his brother were two of only three Latinos in the school. Sires learned English from a teacher who used flash cards and phonetics.[3] and subsequently attended Memorial High School, where he was a star basketball player, whose skills on the court helped him obtain a basketball scholarship to Saint Peter’s College. He received a B.A. in 1974 in Spanish and Marketing. He received an M.A. in 1985 from Middlebury College in Spanish.[
Sires first ran for office as a Republican when he was the nominee for New Jersey’s 14th congressional district[6]
Sires was the first Hispanic mayor of the town of West New York and in 2004 he was elected mayor of the year by his fellow mayors.[3]
Sires served as the Speaker of the Assembly from 2002 to 2006 and was the first Hispanic person to serve as New Jersey’s Assembly Speaker. He was considered a surprise pick for speaker, since he had only served one term in the Assembly before taking the position. It has been reported that he was elected as speaker after Gov.-Elect Jim McGreevey decided he did not want then Assembly Minority Leader Joseph Doria, a former speaker, to serve as speaker during his governorship.[7]
Sires was an active Democrat in the 1970s and 1980s. He switched to the Republican Party in 1985 and he ran for Congress in 1986 against Frank Guarini. Sires lost that election by a 71% to 26% margin. Sires left the Republican Party in 1994 and became a registered independent. Sires rejoined the Democratic Party in 1998. Just three years later, he became Speaker.[4]
During his tenure as speaker, Sires served as Acting Governor of New Jersey on several occasions, when former Gov. Jim McGreevey and former Gov. Richard Codeyleft the state. He was the first Hispanic person to serve as an Acting Governor of New Jersey. As Acting Governor, Sires signed several bills into law and performed routine duties of the office.
For the 2006–2008 legislative session, Sires was given the largely honorary title of Speaker Emeritus. Sires is a former Chairman of the Legislative Services Commission. Sires stepped down from his seat in the Assembly, and was replaced by Silverio Vega, who was selected by the Democratic district committee to replace Sires. Vega was sworn into office on December 11, 2006.[8]
Sires was the Mayor of West New York, New Jersey from 1995 to 2006. Sires was succeeded by Vega, who will retain his mayoral seat while he simultaneously serves in the Assembly, joining three fellow Hudson County mayors — Brian Stack of Union City in the Assembly and both Nicholas Sacco of North Bergen and Joseph Doria ofBayonne in the New Jersey Senate — who serve as both mayors and in the New Jersey Legislature. For many years, it was common for New Jersey mayors to serve in the legislature as well, though this practice has been abolished.
