Jersey City mayoral election: What to know about the 7 candidates

JERSEY CITY, N.J. - There are just a few days until Jersey City elects a new mayor, and there are more than half a dozen candidates for voters to choose from.

The seven candidates include a former New Jersey governor, a long-time Hudson County commissioner, current and former city councilors, two cancer survivors and more.

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Here’s everything you need to know about the candidates for mayor of Jersey City. The candidates are listed in the order they appear on the ballot, which can be found here.

JUMP TO: JOYCE WATTERMAN | MUSSAB ALI | KALKI JAYNE-ROSE | JIM MCGREEVEY | BILL O’DEA | JAMES SOLOMON | CHRISTINA FREEMAN

Joyce Watterman

Joyce Watterman has served as the Jersey City Council president since 2013 and was the first Black woman elected to the role. On her campaign website, Watterman says she’s focused on addressing housing costs, crime and school funding.

Some of her policies include creating small business grants for minority-owned businesses, requiring developers to allocate more units for affordable housing, and updating resources in school classrooms, like technology and new textbooks.

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Mussab Ali

Mussab Ali served most recently as the President of the Jersey City Board of Education. A Pakistani immigrant, Ali came to Jersey City in 1997 with his family. When he was 20, he joined the Jersey City Board of Education, becoming the youngest elected officials in Jersey City history. In 2021, Ali was diagnosed with and later beat Hodgkin lymphoma. 

Ali’s platform includes plans to enforce rent control, a free city bus program, increased school funding and more. Ali also wants to streamline permitting for small businesses, create a mental health crisis team in the Jersey City Police Department, and create a "Safe City Ordinance to codify our resistance to ICE collaboration," among other things.

Kalki Jayne-Rose

Kalki Jayne-Rose is running for mayor. Jayne-Rose does not appear to have a campaign website, but has a Facebook page, where he’s shared several videos about his campaign. In his own words, Jayne-Rose is "running fundamentally to procure the proper leadership for the Democrats and the Democratic Party of the United States."

"If you want someone, a mayor, who can stand up for you guys and protect this city from Trump and the Republicans and their unlawful behavior, then I’m your guy," he said. 

Jim McGreevey

Jim McGreevey has spent decades in New Jersey politics, including a brief stint as governor of the state. McGreevey served as mayor of Woodbridge Township for a decade before serving as a state senator and assemblymember. McGreevey was elected governor in 2001 but resigned just two years into his term after publicly coming out as gay and admitting to having an affair.

On the policy front, McGreevey has campaigned on affordability, vowing to build 1,000 new affordable homes and 500 new affordable rental homes for seniors, and mandating 20% of new developments to be reserved for affordable housing. He also wants to implement "zero-based" budgeting, a system that would require city departments to formulate their annual budget from zero, rather than past years’ spending. 

Bill O’Dea

Bill O’Dea is another long-time New Jersey politician. O’Dea has been a Hudson County Commissioner since 1997, currently in his eighth consecutive term. Before that, he was a Jersey City Councilman from 1985-1989. He’s also served as Executive Director of the Jersey City Democratic Party. 

As mayor, O’Dea wants to invest in upgrading the police and fire departments, specifically building more firehouses. His plans also include enforcing rent control, creating more affordable housing and creating housing specifically for teachers, nurses and first responders.

To address budget concerns, O’Dea has said he would reduce the Mayor’s office’s salary by 20%.

James Solomon

James Solomon represents downtown Jersey City on the City Council and has served in the role since 2017. Before that, he was an aid for the Mayor of Boston. Solomon also battled Hodgkin lymphoma in 2015.

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Solomon is running on a platform aimed at affordable housing, improved public schools and anti-corruption. He wants to create grants and fellowships that support local journalism, increase the police force by 100 officers, create a mental health crisis response team, stop double-digit rent hikes, and more. 

Christina Freeman

Christina Freeman is a Jersey City Police officer and a student at New Jersey City University.

On her website, Freeman says that as mayor, she wants "to be a voice for all of us who feel unheard, overlooked, or left behind."

She has plans to create transitional housing for young adults and the homeless, give assistance to first-time homebuyers and homeowners fighting to stay in their homes, and create a local toll system for non-residents to fund public infrastructure maintenance. 

Jersey City mayor betting odds

Polymarket: McGreevey has a 75% chance of winning the race, followed by Solomon at 19%, Ali at 5% and O'Dea at 4%. All other candidates have a less than 1% chance, according to Polymarket.

Kalshi: McGreevey has a 76% chance to win with Solomon the next best bet at 16%. Ali has a 5% chan O’Dea has a 7% chance to win, followed by Ali at 4%. The remaining candidates have less than a 1% chance, Kalshi predicts.

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