NJ progressive James Solomon defeats ex-gov Jim McGreevey in Jersey City mayoral race

Progressive James Solomon defeated sex-scandal scarred former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey in the race to become the next mayor of Jersey City.

Solomon, a 41-year-old two-term downtown Dem councilman, was leading with 68% of the vote shortly after polls closed on Tuesday evening, according to The Associated Press. 

Tuesday’s election to oversee the state’s second biggest city eerily echoed young lefty mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s New York City victory over scandal-ridden former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo last month. 

“Now, the mission is clear. The work begins tonight. And the work that we have to do is make Jersey City affordable,” Solomon told a cheering crowd after his win. 

Solomon’s platform largely ran on cost-of-living issues driven by new developments catering to affluent Big Apple commuters. 

He painted himself as the anti-establishment candidate who rallied his base by promising to take on developers who’ve reshaped the city’s skyline and capping rents.

“Excuse my French, but New York City’s gotta get its s–t together,” Solomon said about the housing crisis across the Hudson River that’s pushed renters out of even pricier New York City and into Jersey City.

“We’ve built a ton of housing. But we are basically sucking up the demand that New York City has failed to build housing.”

The mayor-elect has said he plans to hire 100 new police officers and supports creating a civilian complaint review board for Jersey City, akin to the police oversight agency in New York City.

McGreevey, a Democrat, came out of his over 20-year-long political retirement for the race after he was forced to resign in disgrace over a gay sex saga.

The 68-year-old’s exit from politics was driven in part by controversy over his decision to hire a man he said was his lover, former Israeli naval officer Golan Cipel, as the state’s homeland security adviser in 2002 despite Cipel’s lack of qualifications and inability to obtain necessary security clearances.

“I want to say, from my heart, I congratulate Councilman — now Mayor-elect — James Solomon,” McGreevey said in a concession speech. 

McGreevery argued he could deliver with his past political experience and pledged fiscal responsibility, as did Cuomo. 

But his reputation fell short of earning him the seat.

Solomon has argued that McGreevey represents the “politics of the past” and that while the ex-governor touted his experience, “it’s experience we don’t want.”

“There were just scandal after scandal after scandal,” Solomon said in a recent interview. “That, to me, is disqualifying.”

Neither man received more than 50% of the Nov. 4 vote, sending the contest to an extra round.

Solomon grew up in nearby Millburn and earned his master’s degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He was an aide to former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.

He moved to Jersey City in 2013 and is a married father of three.

In 2015, about a month after his wedding, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Now in full remission, he said that the challenge inspired him to run for public office.

“I had one of these life-is-short moments, Solomon said. ”I was like, ‘you know, I think I can do something I can give back to Jersey City, because Jersey City really had my back during my toughest time.’”

After the race narrowed to a runoff, he received endorsements from three of the other candidates — and was backed by US Sen. Andy Kim and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.

With Post wires