Jersey Metropolis Councilman James Solomon and former N.J Gov. Jim McGreevey seem prone to face a runoff election that may decide the subsequent mayor of the state’s second-largest metropolis.
With 85% of the votes counted, Solomon had 28.2% to 25.8% for McGreevey in a seven-candidate race.
A runoff election between the highest two vote-getters will likely be held Dec. 2.
The winner will succeed Jersey Metropolis Mayor Steven Fulop, who didn’t search a fourth time period and misplaced within the Democratic major for governor.
Jersey Metropolis elections are nonpartisan, and a runoff is triggered when no candidate receives greater than 50% of the vote.
“Since day 1, our election has zeroed in on the problems that matter and that’s why we’re advancing to the run-off with an unbelievable quantity of momentum,” Solomon mentioned in a press release.
Chatting with supporters Tuesday night in a voice that often cracked, McGreevey repeatedly took intention at Solomon however prevented mentioning his second-place end.
“Tonight is step one of our subsequent journey,” McGreevey mentioned.
“Life has taught me that issues price combating for aren’t all the time straightforward,” he added, “and a part of the problem right here tonight, and a part of the problem earlier than Jersey Metropolis is, what sort of metropolis do we wish, and how much chief in our mayor do we’d like.”
McGreevey, who raised $5 million for his comeback bid 21 years after resigning as governor, has obtained 13,622, or 25.8% of the votes to this point.
Solomon’s vote rely was 14,900, or 28.2% of votes with 85% of the ballots counted.
5 different candidates had been working within the mayoral race:
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Invoice O’Dea, Hudson County commissioner
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Joyce Watterman, Jersey Metropolis Council President
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Mussab Ali, former college board president
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Christina Freeman, Jersey Metropolis police officer
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Kalki Jayne-Rose, musician
O’Dea positioned third with 11,534 votes, or 21.9%. Ali adopted with 9,724 votes, or 18.4%. Watterman obtained 1,987 votes (3.8%), Freeman 748 (1.4%), and Jayne-Rose 133, the final candidate to enter the race, obtained 0.3% of the vote.
The race for mayor of Jersey Metropolis, the state’s second-largest metropolis, was Tuesday’s most closely-watched municipal election.
5 of the seven candidates had been aligned with all however a handful of the 45 contenders for town’s 9 council seats.
The race was broadly anticipated to move to a runoff, given the crowded subject and lack of a transparent frontrunner.
Seton Corridor College affiliate professor of political science Matthew Hale instructed NJ Advance Media final week there was “zero” likelihood any of the mayoral candidates getting 50% of the vote and successful outright, because of the crowded subject.
Over the weekend, Fulop predicted on X that nobody would attain a majority on Election Evening.
He mentioned Jersey Metropolis ought to think about to a ranked-choice system, through which voters checklist candidates so as of desire in case nobody will get above 50%.
“In hindsight, the runoff system will prob be seen as a mistake. A nonpartisan, ranked-choice election in November can be the perfect mannequin,” wrote Fulop, who will develop into president and CEO of the Partnership for New York Metropolis upon leaving workplace.
McGreevey grew to become New Jersey’s governor in January 2002. He stepped down in 2004 after asserting he’s “a homosexual American” and admitting to having an adulterous affair with a person he placed on the state payroll as a Homeland Safety adviser.
He was the first to announce his candidacy within the Jersey Metropolis mayor race in 2023, a couple of week earlier than O’Dea obtained into the race. He was endorsed by Gov. Phil Murphy in January.
The ex-governor had an almost a 2-to-1 edge over Solomon, his closest fundraising rival.
McGreevey reported elevating $4.997 million via Oct. 21 through two marketing campaign committees — one for himself, the opposite together with his slate of candidates, in keeping with information filed with the New Jersey Election Regulation Enforcement Fee.
Solomon has been a Jersey Metropolis council member since 2017. He represents Ward E, which has the biggest inhabitants of town’s six wards and consists of the downtown waterfront space.
Watterman was elected to the Jersey Metropolis council in 2013 and is in her third time period. She grew to become town’s first Black lady council president in 2020.
Ali was attending Rutgers College in Newark when he was elected to the Jersey Metropolis college board at age 20 — making him the youngest elected official in Jersey Metropolis’s historical past and the first Muslim elected to any metropolis workplace.
O’Dea is in his eighth time period as a Hudson County commissioner, the countywide workplace beforehand often called a freeholder.
Freeman has been a Jersey Metropolis police officer since 2019.
Jayne-Rose was the final of the mayoral candidates to file paperwork, in keeping with town clerk’s workplace. The Jersey Metropolis resident didn’t publicize a marketing campaign web site.
Jersey Metropolis spans 21 sq. miles and has roughly 300,000 residents. The town had 175,246 registered voters as of Aug. 21.
Solomon is a most cancers survivor, father of three and former trainer. He’s identified for pushing progressive insurance policies, together with reasonably priced housing, racial justice and cleaner, safer streets.
Earlier than shifting to Jersey Metropolis, he labored as an aide to the mayor of Boston, the place he used expertise to deal with points resembling potholes and snow removing.
He holds a Grasp’s Diploma in Public Coverage from Harvard College’s Kennedy Faculty of Authorities and a bachelor’s diploma from Pomona Faculty.
McGreevey was born in Jersey Metropolis however grew up in Carteret.
He obtained a regulation diploma from Georgetown College in 1981, labored as a prosecutor and gained a New Jersey Meeting seat in Middlesex County in 1990.
He grew to become mayor of Woodbridge in 1992, was elected to a four-year time period in 1995 — the identical yr he was elected to the state Senate.
McGreevey was elected governor in 2001.
He’s now the manager director of the New Jersey Reentry Company, a nonprofit group that helps individuals leaving jail or dependancy facilities.
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