The jump by the goddaughter of Passaic County Democratic Chairman John Currie to the Coughlin camp caught Currie sideways, and left his regional ally, Bergen County Democratic Committee Chairman Lou Stellato, irritated and demanding answers.

In the name of preserving northern cohesion, Stellato and Currie have been glued at the hip, and have agreed to stick with Speaker Vincent Prieto  in the face of an onslaught by the allies of Assemblyman Craig Coughlin until further notice.

Sumter jumped.

The move stunned Currie, a source told InsiderNJ.

It also shocked Stellato, who wanted to know from his ally why Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter (D-35) would leap in front of the alliance.

Angry at Sumter, Currie said he didn’t know.

Stellato pressed him.

A source told InsiderNJ that Sumter may have been annoyed by Currie’s inability to land her the lieutenant governorship , a duel the Passaic chairman lost to Essex County Democratic Chairman Leroy Jones. For a period of time during the fall, Currie waged a fight to try to land the clerkship of Passaic, even as Sumter floundered.

Her move bothered others in the Passaic-Bergen caucus.

Once thought to be the next speaker and the natural successor to Prieto, Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-36), for example, had dutifully waited out of loyalty to the chairs.

Now he stands on a small island of people left behind by the Coughlin Express.

“Gary Schaer will get a broom closet at the end of this,” a Trenton source said.