Jersey City Ward E Councilman James Solomon raised $57,647.44 in the first quarter of this year, with $175,245.27 cash on hand, his April 15th report filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJ ELEC) says.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Former Jersey City Board of Education Trustee Ellen Simon gave $1,500, 2021 Ward C council candidate Kevin Bing donated $900, and progressive activist Eleana Little, who ran for Hudson County Executive last year, donated $425, according to the report.
In a similar vein, Alex Valdez, who unsuccessfully ran for Hudson County commissioner in the 9th District last year, gave $500. Solomon had endorsed Bing, Little, and Valdez in their respective races.
Two relatives who live in China donated $5,200 a piece and a Cornell University professor gave $4,000, but otherwise, nearly all of his contributions were $500 or less, including a $250 contribution from former Hoboken 1st Ward Councilman Mike DeFusco.
Solomon also gave himself a $5,000 in-kind contribution for acting as a fundraising consultant.
As far as expenses go, the downtown councilman kept his operation very lean, spending almost exclusively on credit card processing fees for ActBlue and Stripe.
First elected as an independent in 2017 (winning a December runoff) and then again in 2021, where he had the largest margin of victory across all municipal candidates, Solomon is yet to announce his plans for 2025.
While he will almost certainly be on the ballot again, it remains up in the air if he will vie for the mayor’s seat, which is open since incumbent Steven Fulop is running for governor instead of seeking a fourth term, or seek re-election.
In the event Solomon does pursue Jersey City’s top municipal office, his current campaign war chest would place him in the middle of the pack.
Former Jersey City Board of Education President Mussab Ali said he raised $100,000 within the first 24 hours of announcing his candidacy last week and Council President Joyce Watterman has $102,393.97 cash on hand, as HCV first reported.
Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea (D-2) has approximately $650,000 cash on hand, his campaign said, while former Gov. Jim McGreevey leads the way with $1,078,545.41 COH, according to his April 17th ELEC report.
The non-partisan Jersey City municipal elections, which includes the mayoralty and all nine council seats, are on November 3rd, 2025.
