Three Hudson mayors tell McGreevey to run in Jersey City

The movement to draft former Gov. James E. McGreevey to run for mayor of Jersey City in 2025 moved forward today with a statement from three influential Hudson County mayors urging him to join the race.

Mayors Jimmy Davis of Bayonne, Albio Sires of West New York, and Richard Turner of Weehawken are now joining Union City Mayor/State Sen. Brian P. Stack in calling for McGreevey to launch a relaunch his political career and run for mayor in New Jersey’s second-largest city.

“Jersey City’s next Mayor must be ready on day one to lead our county’s largest city and one of our state’s largest municipalities. The next Mayor must chart a united course for all neighborhoods and communities in order to tackle the serious challenges ahead. Additionally, the next Mayor must manage development carefully so that Jersey City remains a place where working families can stay and succeed,” Davis, Sires, and Turner said in a joint statement.  “It is clear that Jim McGreevey is ready to lead on day one and is the best foot forward for Jersey City.”

The three mayors bring McGreevey boots on the ground and financial resources as he mulls his options.

The city’s three-term mayor, Steve Fulop, announced early this year that he would not seek re-election.  Later, Fulop said he would be a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2025.

In May, Stack publicly urged McGreevey to run.

“I’ll be there day and night for him to make sure he gets elected,” Stack told the New Jersey Globe.

The 66-year-old McGreevey was elected governor in a landslide 22 years ago against Republican Bret Schundler, a former Jersey City mayor.  He had served as an assemblyman, state senator and mayor of Woodbridge before moving to Jersey City more than a decade ago.

He was born in Jersey City, and his grandfather was a police officer there.

Since leaving office, McGreevey actively sought a path to personal and public redemption.  He earned a divinity degree, worked at an additional Hudson County Correctional Center treatment facility, and wrote a memoir, Confession.   Now he runs the New Jersey Reentry Corporation, a successful non-profit agency that advocates for the removal of barriers for men and women returning from jail or prison.  His work at the non-profit has won him widespread praise from top political leaders from both parties.

McGreevey is widely expected to seek the mayoralty and has been in non-stop campaign mode since Stack’s trial balloon four months ago.

Later this week, McGreevey will formally launch the Jack and Ronnie McGreevey Foundation, a civic association to serve communities in Jersey City and Hudson County.

Possible candidates to run in Jersey City’s November 2025 non-partisan municipal election include Hudson County Commissioners Bill O’Dea and Jerry Walker, City Council President Joyce Watterman, City Councilmen James Solomon, Frank E. Gilmore, and Yousef Salah, and former Board of Education President Mussab Ali.