Jersey City Ward E Councilman James Solomon, along with three declared mayoral candidates, weighed in on the significance of the local data from the 8th District congressional race.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“My district – Ward E – showed up the strongest for Mayor Bhalla with a +41% margin, winning all but two precincts. But Mayor Bhalla ran up strong margins in *every* Jersey City ward,” Solomon began in a thread on X.
“Notably, in Wards C and D, which have not historically been progressive voting bases in Jersey City, he won 61% and 76% of the precincts, respectively. Overall the numbers were 61.4% – 29.9% – 8.2% for Ravi, Rob, and Kyle. Mayor Bhalla’s JC vote gain was bigger than the margin in every municipality other than Union City, including North Bergen, Hoboken, WNY, Bayonne, etc.”
Unofficial tallies show Bhalla securing 5,273 votes out of Jersey City, compared to 2,537 for U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez and 727 for Kyle Jasey.
While Menendez won re-election handily, just shy of 20 points, he ran up the score in North Hudson and Newark, losing Jersey City and Hoboken.
Solomon, a potential mayoral candidate who endorsed Bhalla this election cycle, concluded that the implications for 2025 are clear.
“What does this mean for Jersey City in future elections? The answer is simple: the abolition of the line led to incredible progressive turnout in the city, and that progressive base is only going to grow.”
Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea (D-2) said Tuesday’s results in Jersey City were not surprising, given Solomon’s strong base downtown and Mayor Steven Fulop, a gubernatorial candidate, denouncing Menendez despite not formally backing either candidate.
“Whether Fulop was publicly endorsing Ravi or not, he was with Ravi. Having said that, I would have called it 60-40 Ravi in Jersey City. I would attribute their margin to a good vote-by-mail operation, that’s the thing that impressed me the most. That’s the strongest part of the city from the more progressive side of things and when Solomon and Fulop are in the same camp, you’ll see success,” he said.
“Anyone running for mayor cannot ignore issues that are important to progressive communities. The Jersey City numbers shows that the HCDO lags far behind there. I also think that they purposely did not try to get out the vote aggressively since they knew it wasn’t going to be a favorable result. Every election is different. The motivation to come out and vote for this election is so much less than it is for mayor.”
He continued that in a mayoral race, people are considering issues that impact every day life, something that is less prevalent in a congressional contest, as well as that a negative campaign suppresses the vote.
Former Gov. Jim McGreevey, the HCDO-backed mayoral candidate in the field for the non-partisan November 4th, 2025 contest, said he thought the Jersey City numbers from Tuesday don’t have strong implications for next year from his point of view.
“I think a mayoral race is profoundly different as the mayor’s race will impact property taxes, the MUA, by extension school board costs, as well as municipal operations ranging from 911 responsively to affordability and housing rents,” he explained.
The mayor’s race, by definition, is much more impactful, immediate, both in terms of the wallet, as well as out quality of life – cleanliness, functionality, crime, schools, affordability. The mayor’s race more immediately cuts across all demographic lines. By definition, it has more of a direct impact on the pocketbooks, the education, and the quality of life of Jersey City families, that will drive greater performance, and greater outcomes for those hoping for a healthy, positive change.”
Another mayoral hopeful, former Board of Education President Mussab Ali, said the takeaway should be that the HCDO endorsement doesn’t mean much in Jersey City these days.
“I think the most important thing here is what effect does the HCDO endorsement matter? The fact is here, it didn’t matter at all. Jersey City voters rejected Menendez, despite endorsements from everyone up to Gov. Murphy. That is a statement in terms of the what is the HCDO’s influence here in Jersey City,” he said.
“Of course every election has unique dynamics, but if you can’t see the clear progressive trend in Jersey City, than I don’t know what to tell you,” Solomon told HCV this evening.
The fourth declared candidate in the race, Council President Joyce Watterman – who also endorsed Bhalla in the congressional race – did not return a call seeking comment on Thursday.
What no one is talking about is that Menendez didn’t even bother to campaign hard in these areas. The real story here is that a sitting Mayor couldn’t even get his own town of Hoboken to produce more than 3500 votes.
Let’s not be distracted by the smoke and mirrors—Mayor Bhalla spent millions and couldn’t even get 40% of the vote. This isn’t a win in any sense; it’s a lesson in how to sell damaged goods to donors.
Bhalla and his brother would crush it selling used cars.
Hoboken is a Republican town now.