Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, a candidate for governor in 2025, says his campaign will spend $10 million to help candidates down the ballot running for state, county, and local office win.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Eliminating the county line system in New Jersey is just the first step in reform, and until there are real competitive primary elections we will continue to see the kind of entitlement mentality in Trenton and local offices that leads to harmful policy choices like trying to gut OPRA, move backwards on campaign finance, and stand by the county bosses,” Fulop said in a statement.
“Never has it been more clear that New Jersey residents want to change our state’s toxic politics, and the best way to make that happen is to support qualified, diverse candidates with organization and money. We have already demonstrated that we can organize and raise money with the best of New Jersey, and we will use that capacity to implement the kind of change our state needs.”
The campaign has created a candidate recruitment page where candidates can sign up to express their interest, where a screening committee that the mayor is not a part of will screen candidates to run on the ticket.
Fulop pushing back against the political machine has become commonplace in recent months, with his campaign filing an amicus brief in support of keeping the county line system out of New Jersey earlier this month.
To date, the Fulop for governor campaign has been endorsed by 16 current mayors and 23 former mayors from across New Jersey, as well as several other elected officials, labor unions and political leaders.
Including matching funds, he has also raised over $19 million ahead of the June 3rd, 2025 primary, as HCV first reported.
The other declared Democratic candidates for governor thus far are Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and former state Senate President Steve Sweeney, with U.S. Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-5) and Mikie Sherrill (D-11) also widely considered to be in the mix.
