New Poll Shows Solomon Leading Jersey City Mayoral Race

A new Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey released October 23 finds James Solomon leading in the race for Jersey City mayor, with early voting set to begin. The poll shows Solomon at 24 percent, followed by Jim McGreevey at 22 percent, Bill O’Dea at 16 percent, and Mussab Ali at 10 percent. Twenty-four percent of respondents remain undecided.

Among voters who said they are certain to cast a ballot, Solomon leads with 26 percent, McGreevey has 21 percent, and O’Dea follows at 18 percent.

The poll also reflects a continued decline in support for McGreevey. His net favorability rating has dropped 14 points since June, from +8 to -6. In a potential runoff scenario, Solomon holds a 20/16 favorable rating among voters supporting other candidates, while McGreevey stands at 15/39.

“This poll confirms what we’ve seen on the doors, in the streets and in the community: James Solomon has all the momentum in this race,” said Solomon campaign manager Stuart Thomas. “James has been focused on the issues that matter like affordability and housing since day one and as we head into early voting, we’re going to continue talking to the voters about them every day.”

This is the latest in a series of internal polls released by campaigns in the final stretch of the race. Earlier this month, the O’Dea campaign released a Hart Research poll showing McGreevey at 23 percent, with Solomon and O’Dea tied at 20 percent. Days prior, the Ali campaign published a Swayable poll that placed Ali in second with 17 percent, ahead of Solomon and O’Dea. Each of the internal polls reflects shifting dynamics as candidates compete to secure a spot in an expected runoff.

In response to the Hart Research poll, the Ali campaign challenged its methodology, calling it a “classic push poll.” In a statement, the campaign said: “It started by asking about McGreevey, O’Dea, and Solomon, and only later mentioned Ali or Watterman, after feeding respondents a series of glowing messages about O’Dea and negative ones about others. Despite that, Mussab Ali is still polling at double O’Dea’s support from his last survey.”