Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop is backing Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis for re-election, stating “he’s done a good job, he’s been a good partner.”
“Look, I’m a supporter of Jimmy Davis, I’m gonna advocate for him and be involved where I can,” Fulop said in an interview at the Chandelier Restaurant in Bayonne last week where he was headlining an event for the Fund for Quality Leadership.
“I think he’s done a good job, been a good partner, and I think he’s made significant improvements in Bayonne both from a social services standpoint and a development standpoint. Prior to Jimmy Davis … a lot of things happening there today weren’t happening.”
There is some connective tissue between Davis’ campaign and Fulop: for starters his campaign manager is John Minella, the Jersey City mayor’s chief of staff.
Additionally, political operative Mark Meyers has done campaign work for Fulop in recent years and his girlfriend, Jacqueline Weimmer, is running for the Bayonne 2nd Ward council seat.
Davis, who has overseen the development of the former Military Ocean Terminal over the past eight years, has also recently called for a halt on tax breaks for projects being built in residential neighborhoods.
Meanwhile, Jersey City hasn’t granted a tax abatement since 2017 after being a fairly regular tool to spur development during Fulop’s first term.
Furthermore, Vision Media is handling Davis’ campaign PR, as they did last year for Fulop, though they routinely work on a number of incumbent campaigns throughout the state.
Also of note, Fulop backed Mayor Mark Smith against Davis in 2014, the year the latter unseated him in a June runoff.
In the May 10th Bayonne municipal elections, Davis faces his stiffest challenge in Council President Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski, who is running a full slate, with former Board of Education Trustee Michael Alonso and Dr. Mitchell Brown also talking about running for mayor.
The filing deadline in the Peninsula City is this afternoon at 4 p.m.
