Albio B. Sires (; born January 26, 1951) is a Cuban-born American businessman and politician who has served as the U.S. representative for since 2006. The district, numbered as the from 2006 to 2013, includes most of northern and eastern

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Newark's Latino neighborhoods. Sires is a member of the Democratic Party. On December 19, 2021, it was reported that Sires will not run for reelection to Congress in 2022. On June 3, 2022, it was announced that Sires intends to run for mayor of

West New York West New York is a town in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, situated upon the New Jersey Palisades. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 52,912. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates ...

, a position he held from 1995 to 2006, after his Congressional term ends in 2023. Sires represented district 33 in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

from 2000 to 2006, serving as

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

of the New Jersey House from 2002 to 2006.Albio Sires biography

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

. Accessed June 18, 2007.

Early life

Sires was born on January 26, 1951, in

Bejucal Bejucal is a municipality and town in the Mayabeque Province of Cuba. It was founded in 1713. It is well known as the terminal station of the first railroad built in Cuba and Latin America in 1837. It also hosts one of the most popular and tradit ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

. He immigrated to the United States with his family at age 11 with the help of relatives in the U.S. He eventually settled in

West New York, New Jersey West New York is a town in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, situated upon the New Jersey Palisades. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 52,912. The Census Bureau's Population Estimat ...

; he still lives there, in a town that was 78.08% Hispanic according to the 2010 census. He attended Public School 4, where he and his brother were two of only three Latinos in the school. Sires learned English from a teacher who used flashcards and

phonetics Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

,Schwartz, Art (October 13, 2013
"School renamed for Albio Sires"
. ''

The Hudson Reporter ''The Hudson Reporter'' is a newspaper chain based in Hudson County, New Jersey. ''The Hudson Reporter'' publications mainly focus on local politics and community news. The oldest newspaper in the chain is the '' Hoboken Reporter'', founded in 1983 ...

''. and subsequently attended Memorial High School, where he was a star basketball player, whose skills on the court helped him obtain a basketball scholarship to Saint Peter's College. He received a B.A. in 1974 in Spanish and marketing. He received an M.A. in Spanish from

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all 5 ...

in 1985.

Early career

Teaching and business

Sires worked at Memorial High School as a teacher and coach. He is the owner of A.M. Title Agency Inc.Stainton, Lilo H
"Assembly Speaker Albio Sires, at a glance"
getnj.com. Retrieved January 8, 2014.

New Jersey government

Sires first ran for office as the Republican nominee for

New Jersey's 14th congressional district New Jersey's 14th congressional district in the House of Representatives was eliminated after the 1990 Census. As a result of the congressional apportionment performed after this Census, New Jersey lost one seat and was reduced to thirteen seats ...

. Sires was the first Hispanic mayor of West New York and in 2004 was elected mayor of the year by his fellow mayors. Sires served as the Speaker of the Assembly from 2002 to 2006 and was the first

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

person to serve as New Jersey's Assembly Speaker. He was considered a surprise pick for speaker, since he had only served one term in the Assembly before taking the position. It has been reported that he was elected as speaker after Governor-elect Jim McGreevey decided he did not want then Assembly Minority Leader Joseph Doria, a former speaker, to serve as speaker during his governorship. Sires was an active Democrat in the 1970s and 1980s. He switched to the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

in 1985 and ran for Congress in 1986 against Frank Guarini. Sires lost that election, 71% to 26%. Sires left the Republican Party in 1994 and became a registered independent. Sires rejoined the Democratic Party in 1998. Three years later, he became speaker. During his tenure as speaker, Sires served as acting governor of New Jersey on several occasions, when McGreevey and

Richard Codey Richard James Codey (born November 27, 1946) is an American Democratic Party politician who served as the 53rd governor of New Jersey from 2004 to 2006. He has served in the New Jersey Senate since 1982 and served as the President of the Senat ...

left the state. He was the first Hispanic person to serve as an acting governor of New Jersey. As acting governor, Sires signed several bills into law and performed routine duties of the office. For the 2006–08 legislative session, Sires was given the largely honorary title of Speaker Emeritus. He is a former chair of the Legislative Services Commission. Sires stepped down from his seat in the Assembly, and was replaced by

Silverio Vega Silverio "Sal" A. Vega (4 September 1956 in Cardenas, Matanzas, Cuba) is a Cuban American Democratic Party politician, who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2006 to 2008, where he represented the 33rd legislative district and ser ...

, whom the Democratic district committee chose to replace Sires. Vega was sworn into office on December 11, 2006. Sires was the mayor of West New York, New Jersey, from 1995 to 2006. He was succeeded by Vega, who will retain his mayoral seat while he simultaneously serves in the Assembly, joining three fellow Hudson County mayors— Brian Stack of Union City in the Assembly and

Nicholas Sacco Nicholas J. Sacco (born November 17, 1946) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has been serving in the New Jersey State Senate since 1994, where he represents the 32nd Legislative District. Sacco serves in the Senate as the chair ...

North Bergen North Bergen is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 63,361. The township was founded in 1843. It was much diminished in territory by ...

and Joseph Doria of

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine r ...

in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...

—who serve as both mayors and in the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

. For many years, it was common for New Jersey mayors to serve in the legislature; this practice of "

double dipping A dual mandate is the practice in which elected officials serve in more than one elected or other public position simultaneously. This practice is sometimes known as double jobbing in Britain and ''cumul des mandats'' in France; not to be confused ...

" was abolished in 2006, but who had been in both positions before the February 1, 2008, cutoff date were grandfathered in and could retain both jobs. During the time that Sires served in the Assembly, he was paid $49,000 for his state legislative position and $15,000 annually as mayor.

U.S. House of Representatives

Tenure

Sires has voted with the Democratic Party 93% of the time since joining Congress. Sires is a member of the Congressional Cuba Democracy Caucus. ;Mass transit Sires is seen as a "champion of mass transit". He supports federal funding for public transportation projects, believing they will help his constituents. He was an advocate for a $9 billion "federal, state and locally-funded public transit tunnel from New Jersey to New York that broke ground in June 2009." The project was expected to employ thousands of people. In March 2012, Sires pushed for a two-year bill that would help by funding highways and mass transit. He also pushed to extend the surface transportation bill so the House and Senate could reconcile the differences between the House bill and the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). ;Housing Sires has made affordable housing one of his priorities. Residents of his district pay more for housing—including rent and home prices—than most places in the country. He has supported legislation focused on making housing more affordable. ;Iran deal Sires opposed the nuclear deal with Iran, saying, "I do not feel the agreement will prevent them from acquiring a nuclear weapon." ;Nagorno-Karabakh conflict On October 1, 2020, Sires co-signed a letter to Secretary of State

Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served under President Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2017 to 2018 and as the 70th United State ...

that condemned

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

’s offensive operations against the Armenian-occupied enclave of

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh ( ) is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, within the mountainous range of Karabakh, lying between Lower Karabakh and Syunik, and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains. The region is m ...

and denounced

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

’s role in the

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbaij ...

Committee assignments

* Committee on Foreign Affairs ** Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia ** Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere (Chair) *

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. History The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure was formerly known as the Committee on Public Works a ...

** Subcommittee on Highways and Transit ** Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials * Committee on the Budget

Caucus memberships

* Congressional Arts Caucus * Congressional Hispanic Caucus

Political campaigns

;2006 In 2006, 13-year incumbent Democrat

Bob Menendez Robert Menendez (; born January 1, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from New Jersey, a seat he has held since 2006. Gale (publisher), Gale Biography I ...

moved to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

to fill the seat vacated by

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official r ...

Jon Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006 and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran fo ...

. Sires then entered the race to succeed him. He ran in two Democratic primary elections on June 6, 2006—a special primary for the last two months of Menendez's seventh term, and a regular primary for a full two-year term. In the special primary to fill the remaining two months, Sires won about 90% of the vote, defeating James Geron. This all but assured Sires of being the next congressman from this heavily Democratic, Latino-majority district. Sires beat Assemblyman and Perth Amboy Mayor

Joseph Vas Joseph Vas (born January 18, 1955) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2004 to 2010, where he represented the 19th Legislative District. He did not seek re-election to the assemb ...

in a bitter primary with 68% of the vote, winning in Union, Hudson and Essex Counties, while Vas won Middlesex County. No Republican even filed, assuring Sires of a full term. The 13th was so heavily Democratic that any Republican candidate would have faced nearly impossible odds. Sires faced Republican John Guarini—a salesman and second cousin of former Congressman

Frank J. Guarini Frank Joseph Guarini (born August 20, 1924) is an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician, who represented New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives, where he represented the New Jersey's 14th congress ...

—who was unopposed for the GOP nomination. Vas did not seek the unexpired term seat. After winning the election with 78% of the vote, Sires was sworn into the House on November 13, 2006, to fill the remainder of Menendez's term. ''CQPolitics'' wrote, "Sires’ likely November victories would cap off his ambitions for a House seat, which he first expressed exactly 20 years ago under very different circumstances. He ran that year as the Republican challenger to entrenched incumbent Guarini, but managed only 27 percent of the vote."NJ 13: Sires Goes 2-0, Will Be a Shoo-In for Vacant Seat
''

Congressional Quarterly Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combined ...

'' web site, June 6, 2006. Sires is part of a handful of

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a pers ...

lawmakers serving in the House, though, other than during the lone term served by Florida's

Joe Garcia José Antonio Garcia Jr. (born October 12, 1963), known as Joe Garcia, is an American attorney and politician. Garcia represented in the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2015. A Democrat, Garcia represented most of western Miami-Dade Co ...

from 2013 to 2015, he has been the only Democrat. ;2010 ''The New York Times'' rated the 13th district "solid Democratic" in 2010. Sires was challenged by Republican nominee Henrietta Dwyer; he defeated her with 74% of the vote. ;2012 After New Jersey lost a district in the 2010 census, Sires ran for reelection in the 8th district, essentially a reconfigured version of the old 13th. In the primary election, he faced 25-year-old candidate Michael J. Shurin, whose campaign largely focused on the legalization of marijuana.

Electoral history

Awards and honors

On October 4, 2013, Sires's hometown of

, honored him by renaming its Public School No. 4 the Albio Sires Elementary School. The school, at 6300 Palisade Avenue, is the elementary school Sires attended as a child. In attendance at the ceremony were West New York Mayor Felix Roque and U.S. Senator Robert Menendez.

Personal life

Sires and his wife, Adrienne, live in West New York, New Jersey.

References

External links

Congressman Albio Sires
official U.S. House website
Campaign website
* * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sires, Albio 1951 births 21st-century American politicians American politicians of Cuban descent Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey Cuban emigrants to the United States Hispanic and Latino American mayors in New Jersey Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in New Jersey Living people Mayors of places in New Jersey Memorial High School (West New York, New Jersey) alumni Middlebury College alumni People from Bejucal People from West New York, New Jersey People with acquired American citizenship Saint Peter's University alumni Speakers of the New Jersey General Assembly Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly 20th-century American politicians