The election of Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, as Mayor of New York was not a fluke. Progressive Democrats and Democratic Socialists are cheering the election of City Councilor James Solomon for Mayor of Jersey City, the second largest city in New Jersey. As a result the three largest cities in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area (including Newark) are governed by Progressive Democrats who identify with and are endorsed by the Democratic Socialist wing of the Democratic Party.

Solomon easily won in a landslide election as Jersey City’s mayor, fending off a challenge from former Governor Jim McGreevey that had been McGreevey’s attempt to resurrect his political career. The race had been seen as a test of McGreevey’s political viability. 

A Jersey City native who later became a state assemblyman and Woodbridge mayor, McGreevey was elected governor in 2001 and resigned in 2004 after admitting to an extramarital affair with a man he had hired as an aide. 

The contest had been seen as a fight between Jersey City’s Democratic establishment and the party’s progressive base. When McGreevey launched his bid for mayor, he had the backing of Hudson County’s political bosses. He also had the financial support of major corporations and large businesses as well as prominent real estate developers. 

Unlike McGreevey, Solomon has refused donations from real estate developers, who are primarily responsible for driving up rents and homeowner taxes in Jersey City. 

McGreevey received nearly $210,000 from the real-estate industry, including $31,200 from Charles Kushner, whose son Jared Kushner is Trump’s son-in-law, and his wife Seryl. Kushner is a real-estate billionaire and Trump backer who is part of the Trump administration. 

More than 200 Trump and MAGA donors have supported McGreevey, who has not made any criticism of Trump. Both have some deep pocket donors. But those of McGreevey’s are much deeper, and Solomon has more grassroots donations. As of Nov. 4, Solomon’s average donation was $725. McGreevey’s was $2,358. 

In a statement, Solomon called the results a “win for Jersey City against the corrupt political machine.” 

“Together, we’re going to build a more affordable Jersey City, where everyone has a chance to thrive and where the people are put first, not developers and special interests. My promise to Jersey City is simple: I will be a mayor for you,” he said. 

Solomon was first elected to the city council in 2017 to represent an affluent area of Jersey City that includes its wealthy downtown district and waterfront neighborhoods. He said in a debate that as mayor, he will improve the city’s schools, implement new rent controls, and oversee the development of more affordable housing 

Solomon will succeed the incumbent mayor Steve Fulop, who like McGreevey is a corporate Democrat who had the support of real estate developers and big business. Fulop, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination as governor, is stepping down after three terms to take a job running a business advocacy group. 

Along with James Solomon two more advocates of democratic socialism were successful in snagging council seats in Jersey City’s runoff election just a month after Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City mayoral race.

Supporters say the wins—marking the first time a democratic socialist has been elected to public office in New Jersey in over a century—represent more than a moment. They signal a trend. And many in the movement, which rejects capitalism in favor of community ownership, have their eyes set on higher office. 

“This is watershed for us, absolutely,” said Jake Ephros, who was elected to Jersey City’s council along with fellow democratic socialist Joel Brooks. 

The movement’s activists have worked for years to build a bench of electable democratic socialist candidates, relying on labor unions to help grow grassroots support and taking lessons from prominent politicians who identify as democratic socialists including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), a national organizer said. 

But the growing resentments of the working class, backlash against corporate-funded Democratic incumbents, and frustration with President Donald Trump’s policies coalesced to ensure a banner year for the Democratic Socialists of America, said Chanpreet Singh, a national electoral organizer with the group. 

Voters elected more than half of the 21 democratic socialist candidates the group endorsed and funded across the country this year, including Ephros and Brooks, Singh said. 

The group’s fundraising slogan: “Socialist cash takes out capitalist trash.”

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