Jim McGreevey loses Jersey City mayoral runoff to James Solomon

A month after former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was defeated in New York City’s mayoral election by democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, another disgraced former governor seeking political redemption by running for mayor was also defeated by a younger, progressive candidate.

Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey, who was running for mayor of Jersey City, the state’s second-largest city, failed in Tuesday’s runoff election.

McGreevey, 68, was defeated by Councilman James Solomon, 41, according to the Associated Press.

The two candidates, both Democrats, were the top two vote-getters among seven candidates in last month’s nonpartisan general election in the left-leaning city. But with no candidate receiving a majority of votes, McGreevey and Solomon faced off in a runoff election.

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Jersey City mayoral candidate James Solomon, seen speaking to people during a food drive Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025, in Jersey City, N.J., won the city’s runoff election. (Frank Franklin II/AP Photo)

Solomon will succeed Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, whose bid for Garden State governor in 2025 ended in defeat in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in June.

The mayor-elect was first elected to the council in 2017 after serving as an assistant professor in Jersey City. He previously worked in the offices of longtime Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and then Newark Mayor Cory Booker, now a U.S. senator.

MCGREEVEY, SOLOMAN, ADVANCE TO MONITORING THE ELECTIONS

A former state lawmaker, McGreevey was elected governor in 2001. But he resigned in 2004 and came out as gay after he said he participated in an extramarital affair with a male staffer he appointed as New Jersey’s homeland security adviser. The adviser denied having an affair with the governor and claimed he was sexually harassed.

Former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey made his return to Garden State politics this year in his bid to be the next mayor of Jersey City. (Jim Spellman/WireImage)

McGreevey, highlighting his work as executive director of a nonprofit organization that provides services to those adjusting to society after serving in prison, undergoing drug treatment or combat, now describes himself as a “champion of second chances.”

McGreevey’s failed attempt at a second chance at politics follows the failure of Cuomo’s candidacy.

Independent mayoral candidate and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks to the press after voting at a polling station at the High School of Art and Design in the Manhattan borough of New York on November 4, 2025. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid several scandals, ran for mayor of New York this year. But he lost the June Democratic primary to Mamdani.

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The former governor, an independent candidate in last month’s general elections, lost a second time to Mamdani.