Jersey City Election 2021 Results: Get The Latest

JERSEY CITY, NJ — Polls are officially closed, and unofficial results are in: Steven Fulop claimed victory in the mayoral race and is the first third-term mayor in Jersey City since the 1940s. In the hotly contested Ward F race, challenger Frank Gilmore defeated incumbent Jermaine Robinson.

Jersey City has 24 candidates who filed and made it onto November's ballot. There are nine open spots on the City Council and the race of Mayor. For the school board race, eight other candidates will fight for three open seats.

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The unofficial results for the following races are here, projected winners are in bold:

Mayoral Race:

• Steven Fulop: 67.68%
• Lewis Spears: 31.88%

City Council

Council At-Large:

• Joyce Watterman: 20.61%
• Daniel Rivera: 19.98%
• Amy DeGuise: 19.40%
• Chris Gadsen: 11.86%
• June Jones: 10.20%
• Elvin Dominici: 8.36%
• Rolando Lavarro Jr.: 9.30%

Ward A

• Denise Ridley: 64.43%
• Kristen Zadroga-Hart: 35.20%

Ward B

• Mira Prinz-Arey: 57.48%
• Joel Brooks: 47.77%

Ward C

• Kevin Bing: 29.57%
• Tom Zuppa: 25.78%
• Richard Boggiano: 44.46%

Ward D

• Danielle Freire: 37.25%
• John V. Salierno: 7.13%
• Yousef Saleh: 55.31%

Ward E

• James Solomon: 67.90%
• Jake Hudnut: 31.84%

Ward F

• Frank E. Gilmore: 55.51%
• Vernon Richardson: 10.62%
• Jermaine Robinson: 33.68%

School Board:

• PAULA J. JONES: 23.52%
• YOUNASS MOHAMED BARKOUCH: 20.17%
• NATALIA IOFFE: 19.99%
• DORIS TONI ERVIN: 8.77%

• AFAF MUHAMMAD: 4.43%
• VISHESH MODI: 4.97%
• THYSON T. HALLEY: 8.13%
• ERIKA BAEZ: 9.62%

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop declared victory at 9 p.m., tweeting a thank you to voters. The win represents the first third-term win since former mayor Frank Hague in the 1940s.

Fulop dedicated his win to his late brother Dan and thanked his family and voters. In his victory speech, Fulop stated in part:

"My commitment to all of you is that we will continue over the next four years is that we will make you proud every day."

He went on to congratulate the council candidates that ran on his ticket, tweeting: "Great news for the team and thank you Jersey City for the trust in our leadership. It’s looking like even better results on the city council election than 4 years ago where we won 6 council seats in 2017. This election (if results hold) looking like 6 plus a runoff. Amazing!"

"There were many great candidates that ran against us who love the city and I’m going to do my best to find ways to leverage their ideas and energy for a better Jersey City over the next 4 years."

Spears issued a concession statement as follows:

"I want to thank the people of Jersey City for showing up for themselves and for all of us, and for hearing me when I said that we deserve to be here. I am so proud to live in a city where so many people truly care about the place where they live. I know that if that energy is harnessed we can build the city we want, a city where every resident is seen and heard. I want to thank every independent candidate running for office this year. We made this city shake. I am so proud to have campaigned with each of you. I congratulate you because our city government will never look the same after this election. Frank Gilmore, congratulations on your victory tonight! I hope that Mayor Fulop has heard the people of Jersey City. We were loud today. We want and need change, and we demand to be heard. Congratulations to all the candidates tonight, but the people of Jersey City are paying attention, now more than ever."

In the city's school board race, there are two slates: Education Matters and Change for Children. The Education Matters slate is endorsed by the teachers’ union, the Jersey City Education Association. Two candidates, Afaf Muhammad and Vishesh Modi are running without a slate. Three of the board's incumbents, Board President Mussab Ali, Marilyn Roman and Joan Terrell-Paige are not running for re-election

A key point in the school board race is the $250 million in state aid that the board is losing, as well as a COVID-19 response and prevention plan.

In Jersey City's mayoral race, two-term incumbent Steven Fulop defended his seat against challenger Lewis Spears. Spears made history when he certified his campaign papers in August, becoming the fourth, and the youngest, African American man in 200 years to do so in the city.

Spears' campaign raised far less money and started months later than Fulop's, but still gained 30 percent of the vote.

Fulop has used his success in growing the city over his past two terms to bolster his campaign, saying in August, "Jersey City residents recognize the progress our community has made over the past eight years and support our vision of continuing the work to make it the best mid-size city in America."

Spears has used his insight of growing up in the city and watching it change as a foundation in his campaign, telling Patch in an interview, "Jersey City does a really good job of bringing people in, and there's no problem with that per se — I'm trying to bring that oneness. That one Jersey City back."

In the race for city council, all nine incumbents for each ward and at-large seats ran for re-election, with challengers in each race. There are two slates, many of the incumbent councilors are running on Fulop's ticket, except for Ward E councilman James Solomon and Councilor at-large Rolando Lavarro. There are 14 candidates who ran on an "independent" slate.