PATERSON – Paterson is arguably as politically disorganized as Hudson is organized, so the idea that a pure party boss can make a mayor here is a stretch, proved by a recent run of against the grain guys chin barring the second floor of City Hall on their own – or even in spite of the county party organization.

Marty Barnes (1997-98) was a Republican.

Jose “Joey” Torres (2002, 2006) had his own base.

Jeff Jones (2010) got in with a spiked grassroots African American performance.

Torres beat a 2012-honed party machine in 2014.

Still, Passaic County Democratic Committee Chairman John Currie informally quietly – but no less forcefully – has a horse in the race for mayor here, and that pick inevitably prompts insiders to game the larger-context meaning of a win by Ward 6 Councilman Andre Sayegh, not only for Currie – but for Governor Phil Murphy. Neither Murphy nor Currie has endorsed Sayegh, who spent ten years building relationships on his own and with the learned, shoe leather behavior of one who knows better than to let the party machine alone handle his politics. But key members of Murphy’s political brain trust back Sayegh or work for him (including Murphy Campaign Manager Brenan Gill and Field Operative Dave Parano), and on the trail the candidate plays up his connectivity to the governor as a plus. Then there are undeniable Currie allies – Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly (D-35) and Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter (D-35) – out there on the hustings, fundraising for him and talking him up: Wimberly on Friday and Sumter on Saturday.

Prior to his coming up short in his mayoral bid four years ago, Sayegh had Currie and others in the party’s circle making calls on his behalf in the African American community, to church leaders specifically. Currie also went out front on a handful of occasions then, or through much of that season, in fact, putting his own name on the Sayegh effort more than this year, even though it hurt him to dump Jones, who had at one time been a friend. Meant to capitalize on a sagging incumbent and bolster Sayegh with that critical portion of the electorate that wasn’t part of Torres’ Latino army, it amounted to late-game campaign work as it turned out – and not enough to stop Torres. This time, a source insisted, “Andre’s going to do better in the African American community.”

If Sayegh loses again, Currie allies can say, “Oh, well, it’s a nonpartisan election in Paterson,” even as the chairman’s antagonists will run around cackling about how he can’t win in his own backyard, and feed the narrative of tottering Northern chairs.

Of course, Bergen County Democratic Chairman Lou Stellato – a bankable Currie ally – would disagree that anything's amiss in Bergen, or that he’s amping up a departure, however wrinkled the rest of the quad county quilt looks in 2018.

“I have a moral obligation to be here,” Stellato’s been known to say of his chairmanship.

If the Ward 6 Councilman wins on May 8th, Currie and company will lead the Sayegh endzone dance. At odds with Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3) ever since he picked Murphy over Sweeney for Governor, Currie would have a reanimation narrative locally to build on as he and Murphy try to bulk up a bench of reliable team players, and redefine a base for Murphy amid some arguable organizational turbulence for him in a politically important place like Hudson. They’re less out front this year, less of a mind to chest thump on the heels of past successes than they were in 2014, when bull-horned boos from rival campaigns rained on Currie and U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-9) (whose son’s fundraising for Sayegh) when they attempted to endorse their mayoral candidate on the steps of City Hall. Buoyed then by Pascrell’s 2012 primary win and Currie’s subsequent elevation to the chairmanship of the state party organization and now humbled by Sayegh’s loss and Currie’s ensuing statewide spats with Sweeney, the pair of establishment Passaic Democrats appear content to remain mostly in the shadows, allowing Sayegh to ride point on his own election.

A source at this morning’s St. Joseph’s Hospital event beamed Paterson anarchic devilishness as he considered the designs the county organization has on the race and the broader political implications.

“They better be prepared if they think Andre’s going to be an automaton in City Hall,” the source said deviously. “He’s his own man.”