The latest poll conducted by Hart Research Group for Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea’s (D-2) campaign has a statistical three-way dead heat for Jersey City mayor with 15 days to go.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
A polling memo released by HRG today says former Gov. Jim McGreevey is in the lead at 23 percent, with both O’Dea and Ward E Councilman James Solomon dead even at 20 percent.
Mussab Ali, who released an internal poll last week that had him in second place, was at 12 percent, with Council President Joyce Watterman at 3 percent, with 21 percent of respondents undecided.
“Jersey City voters are breaking away from Jim McGreevey in huge numbers because of the numerous scandals and missteps that have defined his career,” O’Dea campaign media strategist Phil Swibinski said in a statement.
“With McGreevey’s support falling off a cliff and James Solomon not gaining significant traction outside of his Downtown base, Bill O’Dea is in a position to not only make the runoff but finish in first place thanks to his clear record of getting things done for Jersey City residents and the strong grassroots campaign organization he has built over the past year which will be able to turn out our voters.”
325 likely voters were polled between October 14th and 16th, with a 5.4 percent margin of error, the poll memo says, which also noted that O’Dea had the highest favorability at 34 percent.
Solomon comes in at 25 percent favorability, with McGreevey at just 18 percent, Hart research concluded.
The polling memo also notes that just two months ago, McGreevey was at 30 percent, O’Dea was at 18, and Solomon was at 15, as HCV first reported.
McGreevey and his campaign did not return an email seeking comment, but Solomon campaign manager Stuart Thomas wrote the poll off as a desperate political play.
“Its pretty desperate of Bill O’Dea to tout his so-called momentum, when his own internal polling shows James Solomon gaining double what O’Dea has during the same period. We know some internal polls always skew slightly toward the person conducting them,” he said.
“This poll shows us what we already knew to be true. Our campaign has the momentum and energy in this race. James Solomon is heading to a runoff and will be Jersey City’s next Mayor on December 3rd.”
On Monday afternoon, Mayor Steven Fulop, who ran for governor instead of seeking a fourth term, said the poll from O’Dea is in line with what he said about the race on Instagram Sunday.
“This poll reaffirms my sentiment…. I don’t have a horse in the race but I’ll point out Hart Research was the pollster I used for 11 years in Jersey City so they have familiarity with the landscape and they were spot on in the Gubernatorial primary,” he wrote on X.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with a comment from Mayor Steven Fulop.
