Councilman James Solomon Defeats Ex-Gov. Jim McGreevey In Jersey City Mayor's Race

By Sophie Nieto-Munoz, New Jersey Monitor

December 5, 2025

Jersey City Councilman James Solomon handily won election as Jersey City’s mayor Tuesday, fending off a challenge from former Gov. Jim McGreevey that had been McGreevey’s attempt to resurrect his political career.

Solomon’s victory comes four weeks after he and McGreevey finished in the top two slots after the first round of balloting in the city’s seven-person campaign for mayor, and nearly a decade after Solomon first rose to political prominence in New Jersey’s second biggest city.

With 93% of votes in for Tuesday’s runoff election, Solomon beat McGreevey 68%-32%. About 33,000 voters cast ballots in the race.

In a statement, Solomon called the results a “win for Jersey City against the corrupt political machine.”

“Together, we’re going to build a more affordable Jersey City, where everyone has a chance to thrive and where the people are put first, not developers and special interests. My promise to Jersey City is simple: I will be a mayor for you,” he said.

Solomon will succeed the incumbent mayor, Steve Fulop, in January. Fulop, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nod for governor in June, is stepping down after three terms to take a job running a business advocacy group.

Solomon, 41, was first elected to the city council in 2017 to represent an area of Jersey City that includes its tony downtown and waterfront neighborhoods. He said in a debate last month that as mayor, he wants to improve the city’s schools, implement new rent controls, and oversee the development of more affordable housing.

Tuesday’s runoff was triggered when neither Solomon nor McGreevey won more than 50% of the vote on Election Day. They were the two top vote getters then, with Solomon winning 29% of the vote and McGreevey, 25%. Both are men are Democrats.

The contest had been seen as a fight between Jersey City’s Democratic establishment and the party’s progressive base. When McGreevey launched his bid for mayor, he had the backing of Hudson County’s political bosses, who largely abandoned him after his second-place finish on Election Day, while Solomon picked up the support of most of the mayoral candidates who failed to make it to the runoff.

The race had also been seen as a test of McGreevey’s political viability. A Jersey City native who later became a state assemblyman and Woodbridge mayor, McGreevey was elected governor in 2001 and resigned in 2004 after admitting to an extramarital affair with a man he had hired as an aide.

He returned to Jersey City more than a decade ago to manage a prison reentry program there.

This year marked the first time in over two decades that McGreevey’s name was on the ballot in New Jersey.

New Jersey Monitor, the Garden State’s newest news site, provides fair and tough reporting on the issues affecting New Jersey, from political corruption to education to criminal and social justice. The Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers.