As first reported by InsiderNJ, Woodcliff Mayor Carlos Rendo now has the decided edge to serve as running mate for Republican gubernatorial candidate Kim Guadagno.

A Republican source this morning told InsiderNJ that Democrat Phil Murphy’s selection of Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver (D-34) all but cemented Guadagno’s preference for Rendo.

InsiderNJ first reported the name of the Woodclif Lake mayor as an LG possibility here.

Cuban American, Rendo grew up in West New York and was very close to the GOP as an active Young Republican. He helped then-Assemblyman Jose Arango (who now serves as chair of the Hudson Republican Party) in the 1980s as a student. A well respected attorney, he was legal counsel in West New York for almost a decade, and operates a private practice in North Bergen. He has a reputation locally as a great immigration attorney who is well know in all the municipalities in North Hudson.

Always cordial, Rendo – now the mayor of Woodcliff Lake, and the former New Jersey head of Marco Rubio for President 2016 – is known as a family man who remains connected to Hudson and is well liked in Democratic circles.