Source: How the Ward Race Outcomes Impact Jersey City Mayor Fulop
A Jersey City insider broke down the local contest from yesterday, opining that Mayor Steven Fulop should have issued a full-throated endorsement of Rebecca Symes to checkmate James Solomon.
The mayor could have swung that race to her and for whatever reason, he chose not to, the source said.
Now the councilman-elect of the seat Fulop once occupied, Solomon will be a thorn in Fulop’s side in the very same way that Fulop was for former Mayor Jerry Healy, the source said.
“While James says he’ll work with him, he won’t,” the source said. “He’s an automatic no vote.”
The developers and things getting downtown will run through Fulop and they’ll have to finesse their way around Solomon. In Ward A, Denise Ridley will be more of a vocal presence than her predecessor. Mira Prinz-Arey will be a strong voice too for Ward B, likely for more development on the city’s West Side.
In Ward C, Fulop again missed an opportunity to connect on a win, the source said. He didn’t chose an Indian or Latino resident, which hurt. John Hanussak banked on the Indian population to pull him across and they didn’t show up.
Fulop could have had a 9-0 council if he wanted. He left with 6-3.
“That’s not much room for error if [Danny] Rivera, Rolando [Lovarro] or someone else goes off the reservation in an attempt to jockey for 2021,” the source said. “There’s a good chance they will within the next two years. He should have gone with a stronger Ward D candidate too. Ok, so he could have had an 8-1 council. Yun was strong, but now, he has no room to mess around.
“The question is, how loyal will the council remain in term two?”
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I think the endorsements hurt Symes, shifted the perception as an establishment candidate, even though she’s not, and the few that did vote were mostly against the establishment. Ward E is a market setter and the abatement terms there set the terms for other areas.