Elect Women NJ announced that Jersey City Council President Joyce Watterman will be honored with the 2025 Sheila Y. Oliver Trailblazer Award. The award is named for the late lieutenant governor of New Jersey.
The award will be presented at Elect Women NJ’s annual gala on September 20 at 6 p.m. at Gran Centurions in Clark, Union County. The gala will gather leaders, advocates, and supporters to celebrate women making history in New Jersey and to support efforts to build a strong pipeline of women in public office.
Watterman is the first African American woman to serve as Jersey City Council president. She was elected to the city council in 2013 and became council president in 2020. She is now a candidate for mayor of Jersey City and is one of two Black women in the race, alongside Jersey City Police Officer Christina Freeman.
- Elect Women NJ will present Council President Joyce Watterman with the 2025 Sheila Y. Oliver Trailblazer Award on September 20 at Gran Centurions in Clark.
- Seven candidates, including Watterman, Christina Freeman, and former Gov. Jim McGreevey, are officially running for mayor of Jersey City in the November 4 election.
- The election requires a candidate to win more than 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff between the top two finishers.
Seven Candidates Certified for November 4 Election
The Jersey City clerk’s office certified seven candidates to appear on the ballot for mayor following the deadline for submitting nominating petitions on Thursday at 4 p.m. The nonpartisan election will take place on November 4.
The candidates are:
- Mussab Ali, former Jersey City Board of Education president.
- Christina Freeman, Jersey City police officer.
- Kalki Jayne-Rose, Jersey City resident.
- James E. McGreevey, former New Jersey governor.
- Bill O’Dea, Hudson County Commissioner.
- James Solomon, Jersey City Councilman representing Ward E.
- Joyce Watterman, Jersey City Council President.
The winner of the election must receive more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate achieves this, a runoff election will be held between the two highest vote-getters.
As of the deadline, Jersey City had 175,246 registered voters, according to City Clerk Sean Gallagher.
Endorsements Announced in Competitive Field
Campaigns have begun announcing endorsements. While Watterman received recognition from Elect Women NJ, Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea was endorsed by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 59, and Councilman James Solomon was endorsed by the Health Professionals and Allied Employees union.
Elect Women NJ stated that Watterman was chosen for the Sheila Y. Oliver Trailblazer Award in recognition of her leadership, public service, and commitment to breaking barriers for women in politics and government.
Candidate Backgrounds and Experience
The seven candidates bring varied political and professional experience.
- James E. McGreevey served as governor of New Jersey before resigning in 2004. At that time, he announced he was “a gay American” and admitted to an affair with a man he had placed on the state payroll as a Homeland Security adviser. McGreevey is currently the executive director of the New Jersey Reentry Corporation, a nonprofit organization that supports people leaving prison or addiction centers.
- Bill O’Dea has served as a Hudson County Commissioner since 1997, when the position was known as a freeholder.
- James Solomon was elected to the Jersey City Council in 2017 and represents Ward E. Before moving to Jersey City, he worked as a mayoral aide in Boston.
- Mussab Ali was elected to the Jersey City school board in 2017 at the age of 20, becoming the youngest person to serve on that board and the first Muslim elected to office in Jersey City.
- Christina Freeman serves as a police officer in Jersey City and is one of two Black women candidates for mayor.
- Kalki Jayne-Rose is identified as a Jersey City resident running for mayor.
- Joyce Watterman, elected to the council in 2013 and council president since 2020, is the first African American woman to serve in that role.
Steven Fulop Will Not Seek Fourth Term
The election will determine a successor to Mayor Steven Fulop, who has served three terms. Fulop is Jersey City’s first three-term mayor since Frank Hague, who led the city from 1917 to 1947.
Fulop had the option of seeking a fourth term but chose not to run. In 2023, he announced a campaign for governor. He finished third in the June 2024 Democratic primary, which was won by U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill.
On the day of the mayoral filing deadline, Fulop explained in a Facebook post why he was not entering the race. He stated that he would not treat the mayor’s office as a fallback after his run for governor and said that the next chapter of leadership for Jersey City would begin with the candidates running in the upcoming election.
Fulop was first elected to the Jersey City Council in 2005, re-elected in 2009, and elected mayor in 2013. He announced that it was a “weird feeling” not to be running again, but he looked forward to seeing the visions of the new candidates.
