Mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey

The Mayor of the City of Jersey City is the head of the executive branch of the government of Jersey City, New Jersey. The mayor has the duty to enforce the municipal charter and local ordinances, prepare the annual budget, appoint deputy mayors and department heads, and approve or veto ordinances passed by the Municipal Council. The mayor is popularly elected in a nonpartisan general election. The office is held for a four-year term without term limits.

Mayor of the City of Jersey City
Flag of Jersey City
Incumbent Steven Fulop since July 1, 2013
Type	Mayor–council
Status	Active
Seat	Jersey City City Hall
Term length	Four years
Formation	February 22, 1838 (1838-02-22)
First holder	Dudley S. Gregory
Deputy	Vivian Brady-Phillips Marcos Vigil
Website	www.jerseycitynj.gov

Since the city was chartered on February 22, 1838, forty-four individuals have held the office of mayor. Dudley S. Gregory was the city's inaugural mayor and served on three separate occasions for a total of five years. The current mayor is Steven Fulop, who assumed office on July 1, 2013, after defeating the incumbent, Jerramiah Healy, in the May 2013 election.

Duties and powers

The City of Jersey City is organized as a mayor–council government under the Faulkner Act. This provides for a citywide elected mayor serving in an executive role and a Municipal Council serving in a legislative role. All of these offices are selected in a nonpartisan municipal election, and all terms are four years.^[1]

Under state law, the mayor has the duty to enforce the charter and ordinances of the city and all applicable state laws; report annually to the council and the public on the state of the city; supervise and control all departments of the government; prepare and submit to the council annual operating and capital budgets; supervise all city property, institutions, and agencies; sign all contracts and municipal bonds requiring the approval of the city; negotiate all contracts; and serve as a member, either voting or ex officio, of all appointive bodies.^[2]

The mayor has the power to appoint department heads with the Municipal Council's approval and can remove department heads, subject to a two-thirds disapproval by the council. The mayor may also approve or veto ordinances, subject to an override vote of two-thirds of the council, and appoint deputy mayors. The mayor is permitted to attend and participate in Municipal Council meetings without a vote, except in the case of a tie on the question to fill a council vacancy.^[2]

Elections

See also: 2001 Jersey City mayoral election, 2004 Jersey City mayoral special election, 2005 Jersey City mayoral election, 2009 Jersey City mayoral election, 2013 Jersey City mayoral election, 2017 Jersey City mayoral election, and 2025 Jersey City mayoral election

Under the original 1838 charter, mayors were elected citywide for a one-year term. In 1868, the New Jersey Legislature extended the term of office to two years.^[3] In 1892, the legislature again changed the term to five years.^[4] The city adopted a commission form of government under the Walsh Act in 1913.^[5] This form provided for a five-member commission with both executive and legislative powers, elected for four years. The commissioners elected one of their members as mayor. Under this system, the mayor's only specific power was to appoint the school board; otherwise, he was first among equals. Jersey City adopted its current mayor-council form of government on May 7, 1961.^[6]

Elections for mayor are held every four years on the second Tuesday in May.^[7] If no candidate receives a majority of votes, a runoff election is held on the fourth Tuesday following the general election.^[8] The term of office commences on July 1.^[9] The next Jersey City mayoral election is scheduled to be held in 2025.^[10]

Succession

If the mayor is absent, disabled, or otherwise prevented from performing their duties, the mayor may designate the business administrator or any other department head as acting mayor for up to 60 days.^[2] In the event of a vacancy, the President of the Municipal Council becomes acting mayor, and the council has 30 days to name an interim mayor.^[11] If no interim mayor is named, the Council President continues as acting mayor until a successor is elected or the council reorganizes and selects a new president.^[11] Prior to 1971, there was no automatic succession law.^[12] The office was left vacant for 47 days in 1963 when the city council failed to reach a decision on appointing an interim mayor.^[13]

Mayors

Dudley S. Gregory, 1st mayor of Jersey City

Robert Gilchrist, 8th mayor of Jersey City

James Gopsill, 15th mayor of Jersey City

Frank Hague, 30th mayor of Jersey City

Jerramiah Healy, 48th mayor of Jersey City

#	Mayor	Term start	Term end	Party		Notes
1	Dudley Sanford Gregory	April 1838	April 1840		Whig	First term. Gregory was the first mayor of Jersey City. Originally a Whig, he switched to the Republican Party in the 1850s.[14]
2	Peter McMartin	April 1840	April 1841		Unknown	No source has been found to verify a party affiliation.
3	Dudley Sanford Gregory	April 1841	April 1842		Whig	Second term.
4	Thomas A. Alexander	April 1842	April 1843		Unknown	No source has been found to verify a party affiliation.
5	Peter Bentley	April 1843	April 1844		Democratic
6	Phineas Cook Dummer	April 1844	April 20, 1848		Whig
7	Henry Taylor	April 21, 1848	April 18, 1850		Whig
8	Robert Gilchrist	April 19, 1850	May 2, 1852		Whig
9	David Stout Manners	May 3, 1852	May 3, 1857		Whig
10	Samuel Wescott	May 4, 1857	May 2, 1858		Democratic
11	Dudley Sanford Gregory	May 3, 1858	May 6, 1860		Republican	Third term.
12	Cornelius Van Vorst	May 7, 1860	May 4, 1862		Democratic
13	John B. Romar	May 5, 1861	May 1, 1864		Democratic
14	Orestes Cleveland	May 2, 1864	May 5, 1867		Democratic
15	James Gopsill	May 6, 1867	May 3, 1868		Republican
16	Charles H. O'Neill	May 4, 1868	April 10, 1869		Democratic	O'Neill resigned after one year, refusing to serve the new two-year term mandated by the legislature. William Clarke was appointed interim mayor.[3]
17	William Clarke	April 11, 1869	May 1, 1870		Democratic	Appointed interim mayor by the Municipal Council.
18	Charles H. O'Neill	May 2, 1870	May 3, 1874		Democratic
19	Henry Traphagen	May 4, 1874	April 30, 1876		Democratic
20	Charles Siedler	May 1, 1876	May 5, 1878		Republican
21	Henry J. Hopper	May 6, 1878	May 2, 1880		Democratic
22	Isaac William Taussig	May 3, 1880	May 4, 1884		Democratic	First Jewish mayor of Jersey City.[15] His rock candy company went bankrupt during his term, and he and his partner were arrested and successfully sued for fraud.[16][17]
23	Gilbert Collins	May 5, 1884	May 2, 1886		Republican
24	Orestes Cleveland	May 3, 1886	May 1, 1892		Democratic
25	Peter Farmer Wanser	May 2, 1892	May 2, 1897		Republican
26	Edward Hoos	May 3, 1897	December 31, 1901		Democratic
27	Mark M. Fagan	January 1, 1902	December 31, 1907		Republican
28	H. Otto Wittpenn	January 1, 1908	June 16, 1913		Democratic
29	Mark M. Fagan	June 17, 1913	May 14, 1917		Republican
30	Frank Hague	May 15, 1917	June 17, 1947		Democratic	Longest-serving mayor of Jersey City, having served for 30 years, 33 days. He retired during his eighth term.[18][19]
31	Frank Hague Eggers	June 17, 1947	May 16, 1949		Democratic	Nephew of Frank Hague.
32	John Vincent Kenny	July 1, 1949	December 15, 1953		Democratic	Resigned shortly after winning re-election, citing poor health.[20]
33	Bernard J. Berry	December 15, 1953	June 30, 1957		Democratic
34	Charles S. Witkowski	July 1, 1957	June 30, 1961		Democratic	First elected as police commissioner in 1949 on the independent "Freedom Ticket" that elected John V. Kenny as mayor. Witkowski lost his first bid for mayor in 1953 before winning a single term in 1957.[21]
35	Thomas Gangemi	July 1, 1961	September 26, 1963		Democratic	Resigned from office when it was revealed that he was not a United States citizen and was ineligible to serve. Jersey City was without a mayor for 47 days while the city council failed to reach a consensus on a successor.[22][13]
36	Thomas J. Whelan	November 13, 1963	July 6, 1971		Democratic	Removed from office after being convicted of conspiracy and extortion.[23]
37	Charles Kiva Krieger	August 5, 1971	November 8, 1971		Democratic	Appointed interim mayor by the Municipal Council. Second Jewish Mayor of Jersey City.[15][24]
38	Paul T. Jordan	November 9, 1971	June 30, 1977		Democratic	At age 30, Jordan became the youngest mayor of Jersey City.[25][26]
39	Thomas F.X. Smith	July 1, 1977	May 12, 1981		Democratic	Resigned to run for governor, finishing sixth in the Democratic primary.[27]
40	Gerald McCann	July 1, 1981	June 30, 1985		Democratic	At age 31, McCann was the second-youngest mayor of Jersey City.[28]
41	Anthony R. Cucci	July 1, 1985	June 30, 1989		Democratic	Served on the Municipal Council from 1977 to 1981 and the Jersey City Board of Education from 2000 to 2009.[29][30]
42	Gerald McCann	July 1, 1989	February 13, 1992		Democratic	Removed from office during his second term after being convicted of bank fraud.[31][28]
43	Marilyn Roman	February 14, 1992	June 30, 1992		Democratic	First female mayor of Jersey City. As Council President, she became acting mayor following McCann's removal.[32]
44	Joseph Rakowski	July 1, 1992	November 10, 1992		Democratic	Acting mayor, serving as Council President at the time of a vacancy.
45	Bret Schundler	November 11, 1992	June 30, 2001		Republican	First Republican elected mayor since Mark Fagan in 1913.
46	Glenn Cunningham	July 1, 2001	May 25, 2004		Democratic	First African-American mayor of Jersey City. Died in office of a heart attack.[33]
47	L. Harvey Smith	May 26, 2004	November 11, 2004		Democratic	Acting mayor, serving as Council President at the time of a vacancy.
48	Jerramiah Healy	November 12, 2004	June 30, 2013		Democratic	Served as an assistant prosecutor for the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office and was appointed Chief Judge in the Jersey City Municipal Court in 1991.[34]
49	Steven Fulop	July 1, 2013	Incumbent		Democratic	Third Jewish mayor of Jersey City.[15]

Higher offices held

The following is a list of higher public offices held by mayors, before or after their mayoral terms.

Mayor	Mayoral term(s)	Other offices held	References
Dudley S. Gregory	1838–1840, 1841–1842, 1858–1860	U.S. Representative (1847–1849)	[35]
Samuel Wescott	1857–1858	New Jersey State Senator (1860–1862)	[36]
Orestes Cleveland	1864–1867, 1886–1892	U.S. Representative (1869–1871)	[37]
Peter Farmer Wanser	1892–1897	New Jersey General Assemblyman (1882–1883)	[38]
Glenn Cunningham	2001–2004	New Jersey State Senator (2004)	[39]
L. Harvey Smith	2004	New Jersey State Senator (2003–2004) New Jersey General Assemblyman (2008–2010)	[40] [41]

See also

• Timeline of Jersey City, New Jersey