Bill Pascrell obit

Bill Pascrell, 14-term congressman and son of Paterson, dies at 87 

He was not on the list.

William J. Pascrell, Jr., a beloved, old-school New Jersey politician who spent 28 years in the U.S. House of Representatives as a scrappy, impassioned advocate for his constituents, a proud liberal, a beacon of integrity, a ferocious advocate of tax fairness, and a fierce critic of former President Donald Trump and Ticketmaster, died today after a month-long illness.  He was 87.

A former high school history teacher who could spend hours talking about the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution – and frequently did – Pascrell had a genuine love of democracy, delighted in finding ways for government to help the people, and steadfastly supported organized labor.  Perhaps the only things he loved more than politics were his family, baseball, and the city where he lived his entire life, Paterson.

“As our United States Representative, Bill fought to his last breath to return to the job he cherished and to the people he loved,” Pascrell’s family said in a short statement on social media. “Bill lived his entire life in Paterson and had an unwavering love for the city he grew up in and served. He is now at peace after a lifetime devoted to our great nation America.”

A self-proclaimed late bloomer, the U.S. Army veteran and grandson of Italian immigrants was 50 when first elected to the New Jersey State Assembly in 1987, 53 when he became mayor of Paterson in 1990, and 59 when he narrowly defeated freshman Rep. Bill Martini (R-Clifton) in 1996.  He was the second-oldest member of the House, and would have become the oldest had he been re-elected this year.

During his nearly three decades as a congressman, Pascrell led a successful mission to designate Paterson’s Great Falls as a component of the National Park System, sponsored the Alternatives to Opioids section of the 2018 Emergency Department Act to fight the epidemic, sponsored the Bring Jobs Home Act to boost the creation of domestic jobs, and was the lead sponsor of a bill to bring the State and Local Tax Deduction (SALT) back.

Pascrell initially served on the House Transportation Committee, securing funding for the Route 46 corridor and New Jersey Transit projects, and was one of the original members of the House Committee on Homeland Security when it was created in June 2002.  He later served as the ranking minority member of the Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee.

He was one of 81 Democrats who voted for the U.S. invasion of Iraq in October 2002.

In 2007, Pascrell became the lone New Jersey member of the House Ways and Means Committee, a powerful, tax-writing panel that oversees Social Security, Medicare, and certain health care policies.  He served as chairman of the House Ways and Means Oversight Committee – he became ranking minority member in 2023 – and chaired the Trade Subcommittee. He served on the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee.

Twelve years ago, he beat back a challenge that nearly ended his political career.  New Jersey lost one of its thirteen congressional seats in 2012, and redistricting put Pascrell and another Democratic incumbent, Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn), into the same district.  Rothman was the favorite, but Pascrell, then 75, refused to back down.  He ran one of the most majestic House primaries in state history and won with 61% of the vote.

Launch of a political career

Pascrell’s career as an activist began in the mid-1960s when the political action committee chairman of the Association of Career Teachers (ACT) was, which represented fellow public school teachers in Paramus.  He led a movement called “Operation Understanding” that sought to foster a relationship between Paramus – then a pre-mall suburb – and urban schools.

In 1969, Pascrell attended a Paterson Democratic executive committee meeting at the old Alexander Hamilton Hotel and attacked party leaders for their “undemocratic” system of anointing candidates for mayor and city commissioner.  He fought to “democratize” the Democratic Party and became part of a grassroots movement to push for non-partisan municipal elections.

He got under the skin of Anthony J. Grossi, the longtime Democratic county chairman.  Grossi, the five feet tall (with his shoes on) former state senator and at the time a member of Gov. Richard Hughes’ cabinet, tried to intimidate Pascrell, repeatedly calling him “Young Bill.”  Pascrell was undeterred.

After Democratic State Chairman Salvatore Bontempo named Grossi to head up a committee to help the party recover from losing the governorship in 1969, Grossi decided to hold hearings across the state to get input from Democratic insiders.  Pascrell decided to troll Grossi, showing up at some of his meetings to criticize him.

Eventually, Grossi, who had the political smarts to recognize Pascrell and his grassroots reform group, Paterson Action Committee, as a threat instead brought the energetic young politico into the organization.

He was elected president of the Democratic Club for Paterson’s 10th Ward.  He became a leader in the city’s fight to curb the use of illegal drugs.

In 1971, the 34-year-old Pascrell wanted to be an assemblyman and sought party support for either as one of two- at-large seats or in a newly drawn district that included Paterson and West Paterson (now Woodland Park).  Instead, Grossi went with Vincent Ozzie Pellecchia and John Sinsimer for the at-large seats, and William H. Hicks, who had been the first Black president of the Paterson City Commission, for the Paterson seat.

Later, Pascrell was appointed to the Passaic County College Board of Trustees.

Pascrell ran for mayor of Paterson after the resignation of Republican Lawrence “Pat” Kramer resigned to join Gov. William Cahill’s cabinet as Commissioner of Community Affairs triggered a November 1972 special election.

Grossi backed State Sen. Joseph Lazzara, who had been elected to the Senate in 1971, but the upset winner was former Paterson Taxpayers Association President Thomas Rooney, who had run a distant third in the 1969 mayor’s race, when Kramer had beaten former Mayor Frank Graves.  Rooney won, 46%-31%, with Cyril Yannarelli, a future freeholder and assemblyman), finishing third with 15%.  Pascrell ran last with just 8% of the vote.  (Lazzara was the father of now-Passaic County Commissioner Sandi Lazzara.)

Pascrell refused attempts by party leaders, including Grossi, to remove him from the race and rally behind Lazzara.

Rooney, with Pascrell’s endorsement, defeated Republican Edwin Englehardt, the future sheriff, in the general election.

In 1973, Pascrell served as Paterson campaign chairman for Brendan Byrne, who was running for governor.

He mulled a second run for mayor in 1974, but Kramer – out of office after Cahill lost renomination in the 1973 Republican primary, decided to run again.  An early poll showed Kramer well ahead of Rooney, with Pascrell at 2%.

Paterson had changed to a non-partisan form of government, and Pascrell became one of his campaign co-chairs.

After Kramer ousted Rooney, he appointed Pascrell as the new director of Public Works. Pascrell immediately launched an investigation into excessive overtime in the department and supported hiring Vietnam War resisters who had been granted amnesty as city employees.

In 1977, Pascrell briefly sought the Democratic nomination for Passaic County sheriff.  The party went with former freeholder Alex Komar, who lost to Englehardt by thirty percentage points.  He later served as Passaic County campaign coordinator for Rep. Robert Roe (D-Wayne), who was challenging Byrne in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.

Kramer later named Pascrell to serve as Paterson’s director of Policy Planning and Management.  After Passaic County Community College President Gustavo Mellander resigned from the Paterson Board of Education, Pascrell was appointed to fill his seat and later became board president.

Early in 1978, when there was speculation that Passaic County Freeholder James Roe, the congressman’s brother, would resign to join the Byrne administration, Pascrell angled for an appointment to succeed him.  But Roe never got the job.

He stepped down from the Passaic County College Board of Trustees in 1979 to focus more attention on his two city posts.  Despite speculation that he would run for freeholder in 1980, Paterson dropped out of the race just before the county Democratic organization began its screening process.

After Democrat Edward O’Byrne resigned from the Passaic County Board of Freeholders in 1981, the GOP majority was unable to agree on a replacement.  Pascrell had been among those considered to replace him.

With Kramer seeking the Republican nomination for governor in 1981 – he was on a path to win before the rules changed and organization lines were eliminated for statewide candidates and term-limited in Paterson – Pascrell began to mull a second run for mayor in 1982 but ultimately chose not to.

The winner of the May 1982 mayoral election was State Sen. Frank X. Graves, who had been mayor from 1961 to 1966 and then lost a comeback bid to Kramer in 1989.  He received 82% of the vote against Councilman Ray Cassetta (10%), and newcomer Mary Oliver (8%), who wanted to become Paterson’s first Black and first woman mayor.  Pascrell backed Graves.

Election as Democratic county chairman and assemblyman

With Graves’ support, Pascrell mounted a bid to unseat Passaic County Democratic Chairman Pat DiIanni.  He won 196 to 135 (49%-34%), with Vice Chair Mary Palmisano finishing third with 71 votes.  Pascrell’s running mate was Rose Nagle, Assemblyman John Girgenti’s legislative aide and fiancé.

Pascrell resigned his school board seat a few weeks after becoming county chairman.  He remained in his city post under Graves.

As county chairman, Pascrell scored an immediate success with a clean sweep at the county level in the 1982 general election.  The wins came despite the presence of two former Democratic freeholders on the ballot as independents.  Businessman Frank Lautenberg, a Paterson native, carried Passaic County by fifteen points against Republican Rep. Millicent Fenwick (R-Bernardsville).

Pellechia, a 71-year-old former professional football player who was facing health problems, decided to retire after eight terms in 1987. Pascrell quickly joined the race for Democratic Assembly candidates, along with Paterson Council President Roy Griffin and Assistant Superintendent of Schools William Kline.  Democrats picked Pascrell to run on their line with Girgenti, and the two were unopposed in the primary.

In the general election, he defeated Republican Martin Barnes, then a Paterson city councilman, by 9,124 votes.

The following week, Pascrell was re-elected to a sixth term as county chairman.

He was re-elected to a second term in 1989 by 15,540 votes.

Paterson voters had changed the city charter to eliminate mayoral term limits and Graves was seeking re-election when he suffered a fatal heart attack at his home on March 4, 1982.

Sixteen days after Graves’ death, Democratic county committee members picked Girgenti, a Hawthorne Democrat, to fill the 35th district Assembly seat.  (The Bergen Record had mistakenly reported that Gov. Jim Florio would appoint Graves’ replacement.)

Girgenti resigned from the Assembly in April to take the Senate seat; Yannarelli, then a city councilman in Paterson, won a special election convention to take the vacant Assembly seat over Eli Burgos, a Paterson school board member and the city’s purchasing director, by a vote of 68-25.  (Yannarelli was indicted for forging voting records five weeks before the November 1990 special election, and Hawthorne attorney Frank Catania won by a 56%-44% margin.)

Anna-Lisa Dopirak, the city business administrator, became acting mayor until after the May non-partisan municipal election.

Along with Pascrell, three others ran for mayor: City Council President Albert Rowe; Passaic County Freeholder Michael Adamo, a Republican; and Griffin.  Pascrell had the backing of Graves’ family, while Adamo was supported by Englehardt.

Pascrell won a decisive victory, outpolling Rowe by 6,199 votes, 51.4% to 24.8%; Adamo received 18.4%, and Griffin took just 5.4%.

Pascrell did not seek re-election as county chairman in June 1990 and was replaced by John Currie.  Rose Nagle Girgenti had strongly considered running.

In 1994, Pascrell won a second term by a closer-than-expected 1,821 votes against Barnes, 46%-37%, with Rooney getting 17% in a comeback bid.

While serving as mayor, Pascrell continued to serve in the State Assembly.

In the 1991 anti-Florio Republican wave, Catana held his seat against Burgos by 628 votes, and Pascrell had run 3,56 votes ahead of Barnes.  Pascrell ran 4,041 votes ahead of Catania in 1993; Catania held his seat by 1,912 votes over Alfred Steele.  Pascrell won a fifth term in 1995; he ran 3,532 votes ahead of Steele, who ousted interim Assemblyman Donald Hayden (R-Paterson) – Catania had resigned to become director of the Division of Gaming Enforcement – by 2,621 votes.  (Steele remained in the Assembly until his indictment in 2007.)

Pascrell served just two years in the Assembly majority and served as minority leader pro-tempore.

On March 30, 1992, Roe, the chairman of the House Public Works and Transportation Committee, unexpectedly announced that he would not seek re-election to the House seat he’d held since 1969; six days later, the Passaic County Democratic organization endorsed Pascrell for Congress.  But three days after that, Pascrell decided not to run, and the line went to former Assemblyman Herb Klein (D-Clifton).  Pascrell said he was torn between going to Congress, which had been his dream, and serving as mayor of Paterson, which had been his great political love.

Klein defeated State Sen. Joseph Bubba (R-Wayne) by six points but lost his seat in the 1994 Clinton midterm by 1,833 votes to Republican Bill Martini (R-Clifton), a Passaic County freeholder and former Clifton councilman.

Flipping a congressional seat

By the end of January 1996, Pascrell decided to take on Martini for the 8th district congressional seat.  Former Commissioner of Education Mary Lee Fitzgerald and West Orange attorney Roger Jacobs had been mulling House bids, and Klein mulled a primary fight against Pascrell for about a week before dropping out and clearing the field.

Martini won the Essex portion of the 8th by 3,338 votes, 51.8% to 47.6%, but Pascrell carried the Passaic part by 9,587 votes, 54%-46%.  That gave Pascrell a 6,249-vote win over Martini, 51%-48%, with less than 1% for Natural Law candidate Jeffrey Levine.

Pascrell was on the ticket with President Bill Clinton, who carried the 8th by a 58%-34% margin over Republican Bob Dole.

Over the next twelve general elections, Pascrell never broke a sweat: he defeated Verona Mayor Matthew Kirnan with 62% in 1998; former Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Anthony Fusco, Jr. with 67% in 2000; Jared Silverman with 67% in 2002; George Ajjan with 69% in 2004; Jose Sandoval with 71% in 2006; Roland Straten with 71% in 2008 and 63% in 2010; Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, an internationally known figure, with 74% in 2012; educator Dierdre Paul with 68% in 2014; perennial candidate Hector Castillo with 70% in 2016; and Eric Fisher with 70% in 2018.

The toughest race of his career came in 2012 when New Jersey lost a congressional seat after the 2010 U.S. Census.  Redistricting placed Pascrell and a longtime friend, Rothman, into a reconfigured 9th district.  Rothman had represented 53% of the new 9th, while Pascrell had been the congressman for 43% of it.

Rothman’s hometown Fair Lawn, had been moved to the 5th district, and some Democrats encouraged him to take on five-term Republican. Scott Garrett (R-Wantage) instead.

An early supporter of Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, Rothman got a prime photo op from the White House of the congressman walking with Obama outside the Oval Office – but no actual endorsement. Pascrell, who had backed Hillary Clinton, did even better: former President Bill Clinton came to the 9th to campaign for him.

Rothman won 73% of the vote in Bergen County with an 8,845-vote plurality and took the small Hudson County portion of the district by 1,114 votes (74%-26%).  With unreal voter turnout, Pascrell cleaned up in Passaic, winning 90% of the vote with a 22,447-vote plurality.  Pascrell turned out nearly 14,000 votes in Paterson.

That gave him 61% overall in a race between friends that turned extremely negative.

In 2020, Pascrell faced Billy Prempeh, a U.S. Air Force veteran, and won 66% of the vote.

In 2022, Pascrell won the closest re-election campaign of his career in a remapped district that was designed to boost the re-election prospects of two neighboring Democratic House members, Josh Gottheimer in the 5th district and Mikie Sherrill in the 11th, by adding several Republican towns to Pascrell’s 9th district.

Pascrell won a rematch with Prempeh by a 55%-44% margin, the lowest re-election percentage of his political career.  He carried the Bergen County portion of the 9th by a narrow 50%-49%, but won Passaic County by 61%-38% and the district’s small part of Hudson County 58%-40%.

The new district went for Joe Biden by 19 points in 2020 and Phil Murphy by eight points in 2021.

At the time of his death, Pascrell was facing Prempeh for the third time.

Born on January 25, 1937, in Paterson, he was the grandson of immigrants from Italy.  His father, born William Joseph Pascrelli, was a traffic manager for the Eric Lackawanna Railroad.  He played baseball at St. John the Baptist High School in Paterson and was class president.

After serving in the U.S. Army, Pascrell received an undergraduate degree in journalism and a master’s degree in philosophy from Fordham University.  He taught in Paterson before taking a job in Paramus, and later at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Pascrell is survived by his wife of 61 years, Elsie, his three sons, and five grandchildren.