Politics
The Hudson County Top 10 Power List for 2025
Hudson County politics is at a crossroads and this power list reflects that reality.
In 2024, the once mighty Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO) was dealt a major blow after a federal judge ended The Line – a straight column of party-backed candidates that dominated primary elections in New Jersey.
The end of The Line, never-ending feuds in North Hudson, and the hyper-gentrification of Jersey City under Mayor Steven Fulop pose an existential threat to the HCDO as it’s known. The stakes have never been higher in Hudson County and these ten figures will shape the landscape in 2025:
1. Brian Stack
The Mayor of Union City and state Senator for the 33rd Legislative District (LD-33), Brian Stack commands a loyal voter base and consistently ranks as one of the most powerful political figures in all of New Jersey.
Even with the demise of The Line and dark cloud of Sen. Bob Menendez’s trial, Stack was able to muscle Rep. Rob Menendez back to Congress against a well-financed opposition. Conversely, Union City produced 8,000+ votes for Hudson County Executive Craig Guy in 2023, but only 5,600+ votes for Menendez in 2024.
Is Stack’s grip on the top spot in peril?
Without Stack himself on the ballot – as a candidate for state senate – there was a voter participation decrease of 6% in Union City between the 2023 primary for county executive and 2024 primary for the 8th Congressional District (CD-8). Without The Line, there was a 24% drop in vote share from Guy (95%) to Menendez (71%).
To put things in perspective, voter turnout increased by 51% from the 2023 county executive race, while the HCDO’s vote share dropped by 32% in the CD-8 portion of Hudson County.
2. James Solomon
The councilperson for Downtown Jersey City, James Solomon is running for mayor in 2025 and the numbers suggest he has the best chance of supplanting Stack on this list next year. That’s because Solomon’s primed to build on the success of candidates he’s endorsed the past two years.
Let’s start in 2023 when Solomon endorsed Eleana Little for county executive in the primary. Although Guy was victorious countywide (80%-20%), Little decisively won Ward E (60%-40%) and narrowly lost the CD-8 portion of Jersey City (49%-51%).
In 2024, Solomon was an early supporter of Sen. Andy Kim and backed Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla in the CD-8 primary. In the Jersey City portion of CD-8 – voter participation increased 113% from the 2023 county executive primary, Bhalla won 61% of the vote (5,400+ votes), and 70% voted against Menendez (who was supported by the other top contenders for mayor).
The biggest boost to Solomon’s candidacy came in the 2024 Jersey City BOE election when candidates he endorsed defeated the Education Matters team – a teachers union-backed slate that’s dominated the JCBOE for the past decade. The top vote-getter, Matthew Schneider, won with 21,000+ votes and 25,000 votes is probably the number Solomon needs to avoid a run-off election.
Solomon doesn’t produce votes the way Stack does, but he’s the de facto leader of Jersey City’s rapidly growing anti-HCDO voting bloc. Politics is fluid, and while Solomon has vulnerabilities, the trends are certainly in his favor. Will he be able to capitalize on the opportunity or not make the list in 2026?
3. Craig Guy
The Hudson County Executive and HCDO chairperson, Guy wields immense power over county government and decides which candidates get the party endorsement in primaries. The latter has diminished in value with the end of The Line, which led to the HCDO’s vote share dropping by about 28% in CD-8 and CD-9 combined (CD-10 had no primary for comparison).
Guy is pragmatic and politically connected, but the numbers aren’t pretty. His future is threatened by both the gentrification of Hoboken/Jersey City and the feud between Stack and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco.
The good news for Guy? He’s not going anywhere until at least 2027. Getting Rep. Mikie Sherrill the Democratic nomination for governor is Guy’s top priority in 2025, but the battle for assembly in the 31st Legislative District (LD-31) is the HCDO’s most consequential election.
In 2023, Guy crushed Little (75%-25%) in LD-31 (which covers the southwestern half of Jersey City, Bayonne, and Kearny). In 2024, Menendez won the CD-8 portion of LD-31, but he didn’t cross 50% and the HCDO’s vote share dropped 30%. Notably, the late Rep. Bill Pascrell outperformed Guy in the Kearny/CD-9 portion of LD-31 by 22%.
Hudson County has three legislative districts. Stack controls LD-33, covering North Hudson and Secaucus. The HCDO has an uphill battle in LD-32, which covers Hoboken and the northeastern half of Jersey City, but Sherrill might boost the viability of Guy’s assembly candidates.
A dominant HCDO performance in LD-31 would establish Guy’s base and political power, but it might prove difficult if Newark Mayor Ras Baraka’s campaign runs assembly candidates in the district. More importantly, it will make some potential county commissioner candidates think twice about challenging the HCDO in 2026.
All that said, Guy could cement himself at the top of Hudson County’s power structure if he can broker an alliance between Solomon and Stack. A joint endorsement of Sherrill to be the Democratic gubernatorial nominee would be an optimal start.
4. Chief Justice Stuart Rabner
I’m using this space to refer readers to the reporting of New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein. The following three stories are mandatory reading after finishing this power list:
New Hudson assignment judge may have obfuscated truth while under oath
5. Steve Fulop
Solomon may have the best chance of taking the number 1 spot from Stack, but he’s not the only one. By 2026, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop will either be at the top of this list or an honorable mention.
At the start of 2016, the former HCDO Golden Boy was the front-runner to become governor. He had the support of party bosses he now claims to have always abhorred. Then some relatively unknown multimillionaire promised to run a campaign so brutal Fulop couldn’t be reelected mayor of Jersey City.
Eight years later Gov. Phil Murphy is term-limited and Fulop is running to replace him as the anti-establishment candidate. There’s no election data that suggests Fulop will actually win the governor’s race, but you have to respect a campaign that’s raised tons of money and is running assembly candidates in every legislative district.
Some have counted Fulop out, but he’s a political gunslinger who won’t back down without a fight. He’s also the preferred candidate of the establishment media and his administration has been protected by both the New Jersey Office of Attorney General and U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey – which helps when raising tons of money.
6. Nick Sacco
Nick Sacco’s influence has dwindled since legislative redistricting placed North Bergen and Union City in LD-33, forcing him out of his state senate seat. He’s still the mayor of North Bergen, but Sacco could only muster 3,000+ votes for Menendez with a vote share of 64% in 2024.
That might be enough to tip the scales in a countywide race with the right coalition, but is it enough to build a challenge to Stack in LD-33? Can Fulop do anything to boost Sacco in Union City and West New York? Can Stack take over North Bergen with Larry Wainstein as his top ally?
It’s very possible that the end of a legendary political machine is near and Sacco will go down as one of the greatest bosses in Hudson County history.
7. Ravi Bhalla
For now, Bhalla is still the mayor of Hoboken, independent of the HCDO, and able to raise money. Rumor has it he’s eyeing an assembly run in LD-32 instead of seeking reelection. With his Hoboken base and Solomon’s support, Bhalla got 61% of the vote (8,300+ votes) in the LD-32 portion of CD-8 (which covers 87% of the districts in LD-32).
Whether or not that successful combination continues in 2025 remains to be seen. If Bhalla runs for assembly in LD-32 alongside incumbent Jessica Ramirez on Team Fulop, his candidacy will test Solomon’s influence over the Jersey City electorate.
It’s unclear who Solomon will endorse in the gubernatorial primary or whether he’ll split his assembly endorsement (voters pick two per district, but candidates often run in pairs). It seems like he’s backing Katie Brennan for one of the assembly spots, so endorsing Bhalla could be a good hedge in that scenario.
If Bhalla wins, he’ll be in a position to oust LD-32 state Sen. Raj Mukherji in 2027; if he loses or doesn’t run for assembly, he probably won’t be an honorable mention on this list next year.
8. Dr. Norma Fernandez & Ronnie Greco
They may not be attached at the hip these days, but Dr. Norma Fernandez, superintendent of Jersey City Public Schools, and Ronnie Greco, president of the Jersey City Education Association, form a powerful tandem. Together, they make critical decisions impacting thousands of students, educators, and support staff.
That said, voters may be souring on the JCEA brand – evidenced by the Education Matters loss to Solomon-backed candidates in 2024 and Lorenzo Richardson narrowly losing to Dejon Morris in 2023. Furthermore, by going all-in on Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea’s campaign for mayor, the teachers union risks losing control of the Jersey City BOE in 2025 to Solomon’s allies.
Will Greco’s politics result in Fernandez eventually experiencing the same fate as former Superintendent Dr. Marcia Lyles? Probably not, but you never know.
9. Frank Gilmore
Frank “Educational” Gilmore is the independent councilperson for Jersey City’s Ward F and the most sought after candidate by mayoral hopefuls looking to build strong council tickets. That’s because black voters matter in Jersey City and Gilmore holds significant credibility within that community.
Politically speaking – Gilmore might be number 9 on this list, but he’s number 1 in the streets.
Michael Griffin, one of Gilmore’s top political associates, has joined Solomon’s ticket as an at-large candidate. We’ll see how Gilmore ultimately runs his reelection for Ward F, but all signs suggest he’ll be working with Solomon’s camp in some form – which happened when both successfully ran for city council in 2021.
In 2026, Gilmore will be no lower than 5 on this list if Griffin joins him on the council. If that doesn’t happen, he’ll be honorable mention at best. Does Gilmore have the clout to get Solomon across the finish line in Southside neighborhoods that O’Dea and ex-Gov. Jim McGreevey have brand recognition?
10. Mike Russo
If Craig Guy and the HCDO are going to reemerge in Hoboken politics and make inroads into LD-32, it will be because of 3rd Ward Councilperson Michael Russo.
It’s been rumored that Russo is running for mayor in 2025. His campaign could be a model for political cooperation between pre and post gentrification voter groups.
Despite Anthony Romano serving as chairperson of the Hudson County Board of Commissioners, Hoboken hasn’t been truly relevant on the county scene for a long time – something Russo would change if elected mayor.
Honorable Mention
Denise Ridley
It’s a shame that Ward A Councilperson Denise Ridley isn’t in the Top 10, but it turns out her loyalty to Fulop didn’t work out as planned. Instead of finding her way to Trenton, she finds herself in a tangled political web where anything but winning could set her trajectory spiraling downwards.
Team O’Dea had hoped to add Ridley as an at-large candidate, but she wasn’t going to risk her future riding the coattails of O’Dea. Additionally, O’Dea was essentially asking Ridley to pass the Ward A council seat off to activist Pamela Johnson – something that was seen as preposterous.
Ridley is arguably more worthy of becoming mayor than all of the declared candidates, but such things don’t matter in politics. She’ll probably play it safe and run for reelection in Ward A. Will she join Solomon’s ticket? That might be a winning formula, but it’s not a perfect fit and winning as an independent will move her into next year’s Top 10.
Angela McKnight and Raj Mukherji
State Senators Angela McKnight (LD-31) and Raj Mukherji (LD-32) have to win an election without the support of The Line before they can move into the top 10. No reason to think they won’t, but it’s not exactly guaranteed either.
For those wondering who’s more powerful between McKnight and Mukherji, there’s a simple question to ask – whose endorsement means more in the 2025 Jersey City mayoral elections?
Final Mention
Melissa Mathews
Melissa Mathews, the former Bayonne business administrator, has an active lawsuit against Mayor Jimmy Davis’ administration. Money isn’t an issue for her, so avoiding trial may be difficult for Team Davis.
Notably, Mathews claims to be working tirelessly to have federal prosecutors indict individuals she alleges are criminal co-conspirators operating as agents of the City of Bayonne. If the U.S. Attorney doesn’t charge anyone from Bayonne in 2025, she will be getting a dishonorable mention next year and Davis makes the list – maybe as Sheriff?
