Metropolis Councilmember James Solomon gained the Dec. 2 Jersey Metropolis runoff mayoral election, defeating former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey greater than 20 years after he resigned from the place in a scandal, in accordance with The New York Occasions.
The unique election befell Nov. 4, however neither candidate obtained greater than 50% of the votes, triggering a runoff. On Tuesday evening, nonetheless, Solomon bested McGreevey with 68% of the votes.
“Tonight is a win for Jersey Metropolis towards the corrupt political machine,” mentioned Solomon in his victory speech. “The victory is about greater than insurance policies and packages; it’s about folks.”
The Democratic candidate, Solomon, 41, ran on the peace of mind of giving residents a pause on the rise of business progress over the previous 20 years, with a promise to “arise towards large builders,” the Occasions reported.
“That is just the start, and collectively, we are going to create a Jersey Metropolis pretty much as good as its folks,” he mentioned.
Solomon has been on the town council in Jersey Metropolis since 2017 and within the preliminary election, he was one in every of seven candidates competing for votes. His platform of affordability echoes these of many politicians across the nation, who want to handle the rising prices of dwelling in America.
“Now the mission is evident, and the work begins tonight,” Solomon mentioned in his victory speech. “And the work now we have to do is making Jersey Metropolis reasonably priced. So I say tonight, an reasonably priced Jersey Metropolis begins now.”
The previous governor, who resigned in 2004 over two intercourse scandals, had backing from different Democrats, spent two years campaigning for the election and raised over $5 million.
After his defeat, McGreevey mentioned, “I need to say, from my coronary heart, I congratulate Councilman — now Mayor-elect — James Solomon.”
The Dec. 2 election noticed low voter turnout, with solely 64,540 out of the 291,000 Jersey Metropolis residents voting.
A census report discovered that 17% of Jersey Metropolis residents stay in poverty, and round 40% are foreign-born.
New Jersey Working Households State Director Antoinette Miles mentioned in an announcement, “Election Day is just not the end line, it’s the beginning line. The NJ Working Households Celebration is able to get to work with James Solomon to ship on the guarantees of a extra reasonably priced Jersey Metropolis. The Working Households wave in Hudson County is simply starting.”
Many in the neighborhood belief Solomon to be the change in Jersey Metropolis.
Dennis Trainor, CWA District 1 Vice President, mentioned, “James Solomon’s imaginative and prescient is for a Jersey Metropolis that works for everybody. His integrity, his grassroots marketing campaign, and his confirmed document of preventing for working folks stand in stark distinction to the institution politics of his opponent.”
– With reporting from the Related Press.
