The death of Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) on Wednesday, after an extended hospitalization, will set off a frantic scramble among those interested in filling Pascrell’s seat in Congress to win the favor of party leaders who will, effectively, pick the district’s next member of Congress.

Pascrell, 87, long held strong relationships in the district’s sizable Jewish and Palestinian American communities, though his relationships with the latter community grew strained over his position on Israel since Oct. 7. Paterson in particular has become a hub of anti-Israel activism. Yet, Pascrell handily fended off a primary challenge from Prospect Park Mayor Mohamed Khairullah, whose campaign focused on the war in Gaza.

The New Jersey Democrat, who served 14 terms in the House, was a vocal proponent of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, leading annual letters urging greater funding for the program, which provides grants for religious and nonprofit organizations to enhance their security. Earlier this year, he led an amendment on the House floor to provide a funding boost for the NSGP.

Fellow New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) lauded Pascrell’s efforts on the NSGP in a statement honoring Pascrell’s memory, saying he’d “worked closely” with Pascrell on the issue.

“Just this year, amid the rising tide of antisemitism, Bill led the fight for more funding for the vital Nonprofit Security Grant Program,” Gottheimer said. “Bill worked around the clock and across the aisle to secure that funding. I cannot tell you how much our religious institutions appreciate that investment.”

Jason Shames, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, told Jewish Insider Pascrell was among the first federal officials to reach out to him when he assumed his position and that they had remained in close contact.

“He was one of our biggest advocates with regard to the Homeland Security grants and the safety and security of the local Jewish institutions,” Shames said. “And he was really a real supporter of Israel… After all the redistricting gets done, he doesn’t have that many Jews in his voting district, and yet, here he is, a staunch supporter of the Jewish community. It’s a loss for us.”

He recounted several notable anecdotes, including an hour-long meeting with Pascrell ahead of the November 2023 March for Israel in Washington, a lengthy PowerPoint presentation that Pascrell delivered on his experiences in Israel after visiting with his grandson and their respectful disagreement over the Iran nuclear deal.

“I think the Jewish community is going to miss him a lot,” Shames said. “I think the Jewish community did appreciate him, and I think that his legend is just going to grow.”

Shlomo Schorr, the legislative director of Agudath Israel of America’s New Jersey office, said that Pascrell “was beloved across the district, from Paterson to Passaic, earning the vote and respect of all demographics in a way that only he could.”

Pascrell’s seat is likely to remain open through the November election, but Democratic county board members from the three counties in Pascrell’s district must meet in the next few days, before an Aug. 29 deadline, to pick a candidate to replace Pascrell on the ballot.

The eventual candidate will likely not fall in line with Pascrell’s stances on Israel, but is expected to be “in line with the rest of the Democratic Party, which is doing their best not to talk about it,” Dan Cassino, the executive director of the Fairleigh Dickinson University poll, told JI. Though Israel and the war in Gaza was prominent in the primary against Pascrell, Cassino said he doesn’t anticipate the issue remaining a flashpoint for the district electorally.

“It’s our hope that the next congressional representative in that district would be on page with the Jewish community values with regard to fighting antisemitism, hate and bigotry, as well as supporting Israel’s right to exist in peace,” Shames, of the local Jewish Federation, said. 

Two prominent potential contenders for the seat are Assemblymember Shavonda Sumter, the chair of the legislative Black caucus, and Paterson, N.J., Mayor Andre Sayegh, both of whom considered primary challenges against Pascrell earlier this year, but ultimately declined to run. Assemblymember Benjie Wimberly has also been floated as a potential candidate.

But Cassino suggested that another candidate could emerge — Bergen County Democrats theoretically have the same number of votes in the process as Passaic County Democrats, but a number of Passaic County leadership spots are vacant, meaning that Bergen Democrats could hold the deciding votes.

He named Bergen County Commissioner Tracy Silna Zur and state Sen. Nellie Pou, the majority caucus chair, as potential Bergen County candidates.

“It’s going to come down to the internal politics,” Cassino said. “Is Bergen going to vote as a bloc? Are they going to try to put their own person in charge there?”

The district is safely Democratic.

“It’s just a question of who the county parties feel has the best claim to the seat,” Cassino said. “Perceived loyalty to the party and ability to fundraise are going to matter a whole lot in the calculations.”

Cassino said that party leaders will be “looking for someone who looks like that district,” which has shifted demographically since Pascrell was first elected in 1997 from an Italian-American-dominated district to one with larger Arab, Hispanic, Turkish and other minority populations. “This is very much a changing of the guard.”

Sayegh, whose father is from Lebanon and whose mother is from Syria, was an early and frequent proponent of a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, going back to mid-November 2023. Prior to the war, he was outspoken against Israeli settlements.

Sayegh visited Washington, D.C., in June for an event with the Arab America Foundation, and is seen as a political figure to watch in the Arab American community.

Pressed in a radio interview interview about the chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” at pro-Palestinian rallies, Sayegh said he’s a “strong supporter of a two-state solution,” and doesn’t support the chant.

Sayegh has spoken against antisemitism, including condemning a local store in 2021 for displaying a sign featuring a swastika and an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a Hitler mustache, as well as calling out a Paterson councilman in 2019 for using the phrase “Jew us down” during a city meeting.

Cassino said that Sayegh has won admirers in the state with his post-pandemic governance in Paterson. 

Cassino also described Sumter as “very much a rising star” in state politics and a strong campaigner and fundraiser.

Sumter was one of the first sponsors of a state assembly resolution in December calling for “all parties” in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank to cease hostilities, for the release of hostages, for “cessation of hostilities toward civilians by all parties in this war” and for increased humanitarian aid to Gaza.

“In the name of progress and justice; it is essential that we be courageous at such a time as this and call for an immediate ceasefire and the delivery of critical humanitarian aid,” Sumter said at the time. “Our actions should reflect the immediate needs of safety, medical and food supplies to individuals. We have a moral obligation to fight for peace to ensure vulnerable populations such as women, children and families remain protected.”

The local Jewish Voice for Peace chapter praised the resolution.

Wimberly, during the 2019 antisemitism controversy in Paterson, also condemned the councilman who used an antisemitic phrase, and praised council members who called him out.

“Councilman [Michael] Jackson’s comments send the wrong message to our entire community, especially our children and young adults,” Wimberly told the Paterson Times. “Any hate speech directed towards any segment of our community is an attack on us all.”

Cassino said Pou is “probably the most prominent” Hispanic elected official from the district at the moment, which could make her an attractive choice to party leaders given that New Jersey currently only has one other Hispanic representative. 

Pou, then a state legislator, visited Israel in 2014 on a trip organized by the New Jersey State Associate of Jewish Federations.

“As a Christian and as a person who has only been able to understand Israel by reading and hearing about it through the media, it was a wonderful opportunity to actually be here. It was the best decision ever,” Pou told the Jewish Standard after that trip. “So many people have misconceptions about Israel and don’t know how amazing it is. I’ve learned many things by engaging in it and speaking to people here.”

She also spoke out during the 2019 antisemitism controversy in Paterson and, in her capacity as chair of the Legislative Latino Caucus, issued a joint statement with the leader of the Legislative Black Caucus condemning antisemitism following the 2019 Jersey City shooting at a kosher grocery store.

Zur, a member of the board of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, would likely be the candidate with deepest ties to the Jewish community.In March, she spoke at an event to counter antisemitism, saying afterward, “in a time where it feels like there is nothing but hate, the overwhelming amount of support and unity was so deeply needed. The rise in antisemitism is flat out scary, but this event made me feel hopeful. In difficult times like this, we must all come together in compassion and work to learn, understand, and help one another.”