Bergen County's sheriff race will be a rematch between Anthony Cureton and Robert Kugler
The Bergen County sheriff's race is set to be a rematch from 2021 between incumbent Democrat Anthony Cureton and Republican Saddle Brook Police Chief Robert Kugler.
Kugler won the coveted party line on Tuesday night at the Bergen County Republican convention, held at the Hasbrouck Heights VFW, where county committee members and Republican elected officials voted for candidates.
Kugler topped recently retired Bergen County sheriff's Capt. Michael Devine by a vote of 364 to 284.
Kugler lost to Cureton in 2021 by fewer than 17,000 votes as he fought against corruption charges that were later thrown out by a judge. Kugler, at the time, accused then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, a Democrat, of interfering in the election as a way to help Cureton win.
During the 2021 race for county sheriff, Grewal announced that Kugler had ordered illegal police escorts for processions leaving his private business, a family-owned funeral home in Saddle Brook.
As a result, Saddle Brook officials suspended Kugler, and the county prosecutor took over the Police Department.
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In 2021, three months after his suspension, the county Prosecutor's Office released a scathing report that said the Saddle Brook Police Department was understaffed, poorly led and using outdated equipment and policies. The report blamed Kugler and said his “absence and inattention” created a leadership void that caused problems in the department of about three dozen officers.
In 2022, almost a year after he lost to Cureton, a state judge dismissed the corruption charges against Kugler. The 56-page decision by state Superior Court Judge Marilyn C. Clark said the township ordinance the chief was said to have violated did not apply to funeral processions, as state investigators alleged.
Clark also said prosecutors left out key pieces of information favorable to Kugler when they made their case to the grand jury. The grand jury's indictment led the state attorney general to charge Kugler with conspiracy, misconduct and corruption of public resources in March 2021.
County Republicans on Tuesday also selected candidates for the "line," or the first position on the ballot, for the 5th and 9th congressional districts and county commissioners.
The "line" is in the spotlight due to a lawsuit filed by Rep. Andy Kim ahead of the June primary where he faces the state's first lady, Tammy Murphy, for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Bob Menendez.
Bergen County Republicans voted for Mary Jo Guinchard to face 5th Congressional District incumbent Rep. Josh Gottheimer. Guinchard is a Ridgewood resident, a former mayor of the village of Tuxedo Park, New York, and a professional singer and actress, who ran for Bergen County commissioner in November.
Billy Prempeh was endorsed to face 9th Congressional District incumbent Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., and Republicans Michael Joseph and Dave Plotkin will be on the ballot for the two county commissioner seats up for election.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen County's race for sheriff will be a rematch of 2021
