# 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, United States. The mayor has the duty to enforce the municipal charter and ordinances; prepare the annual budget; appoint deputy mayors, department heads, and aides; and approve or veto ordinances passed by the City Council. The mayor is popularly elected in a nonpartisan general election. The office is held for a four-year term without term limits, although the current term is a four-and-a-half-year term, due to a change in election dates.
Forty-four individuals have held the office of mayor since the City of Jersey City was chartered on February 22, 1838. Dudley S. Gregory was the inaugural mayor of the city, and served on three separate occasions for a total of five years. The current mayor is Steven Fulop. He defeated former mayor Jerramiah Healy in the May 2013 election and assumed office on July 1, 2013.
Due to a change in election law approved by Jersey City voters at the end of 2016, mayoral elections now take place in November instead of May. Although the mayorship has historically been a four-year term in Jersey City, and law prescribes the mayorship as being a four-year term in the future, due to the calendar change in elections, one mayorship was a four-and-a-half-year term, beginning July 2013 and ending at the end of 2017.

## Duties and powers

The City of Jersey City is organized as a mayor–council form of government under the Faulkner Act (Optional Municipal Charter Law). This provides for a citywide elected mayor serving in an executive role, as well as a city council serving in a legislative role. All of these offices are selected in a nonpartisan municipal election and all terms are four years. Like all mayors under the 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 bonds requiring the approval of the city; negotiate all contracts; and serve as a member, either voting or ex-officio, of all appointive bodies.
Like all mayors under the Faulkner Act's mayor-council provision, Jersey City's mayors vested with very broad executive power. He has the power to appoint department heads with the approval of the City Council; to remove department heads subject to a two-thirds disapproval by the City Council; 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 meetings of the City Council, without a vote, except in the case of a tie on the question to fill a council vacancy.

## Elections

Under the original 1838 charter, mayors were elected citywide for a term of one year. In 1868 the State Legislature extended the term of office to two years. In 1892, the Legislature again changed the term of office, extending it to five years. The city adopted a commission form of government under the Walsh Act in 1913. This form provided for a five-member commission with both executive and legislative powers elected for four years. The Commissioners elected one of their number as mayor. Under this system, the mayor's only specific power was to appoint the school board. Otherwise, he was first among equals, with no powers over and above his fellow commissioners. Jersey City adopted its current mayor-council form of government under the Faulkner Act on May 7, 1961.
Under the non-partisan form of municipal government, elections for mayor are held every four years on the second Tuesday in May. If no candidate receives a majority of votes, a runoff election is held on the fourth Tuesday following the general election. The term of office commences on July 1. The next Jersey City mayoral election is scheduled to be held in 2025.

## Succession

In the event of an absence, disability, or other cause preventing the mayor from performing his duties, the mayor may designate the business administrator or any other department head as acting mayor for up to 60 days. In the event of a vacancy in the office, the President of the City Council becomes acting mayor, and the council has 30 days to name an interim mayor. 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. Prior to 1971, there was no automatic succession law. The office was left vacant for 47 days in 1963 when the City Council failed to reach a decision on appointing an interim mayor.

## Mayors

| # | Mayor | Term start | Term end | Party | Notes |
| 1 | Dudley Sanford Gregory | April 1838 | April 1840 | Whig | This was his first term. Dudley Sanford Gregory was the first mayor of Jersey City. Originally a Whig, Gregory switched to the Republican party in the 1850s. |
| 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 | This was his 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 | This was his 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 | In 1868, the New Jersey State Legislature passed an act changing the term of office from one to two years. Having been elected a few days before that act was passed, O'Neill refused to serve longer than the term to which he was elected and resigned after one year. Clarke was appointed interim mayor by the City Council. |
| 17 | William Clarke | April 11, 1869 | May 1, 1870 | Democratic | Clarke was appointed interim mayor by the City Council when O'Neill refused to extend his term under the new terms of office. |
| 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 | Taussig was the first Jewish Mayor of Jersey City. His rock candy company, Taussig & Hammerschlag, went out of business during his term. In September, Taussig and his partner Moritz Hammerschlag were arrested and charged with fraud. The Havemeyer Sugar Refining Company brought a lawsuit against them claiming they were induced to making a loan based on false financial statements made to Bradstreet's Mercantile Agency by Taussig in April 1883. Taussig and Hammerschlag lost the suit in December 1884. |
| 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 | Hague is the longest-serving mayor of Jersey City. He served for 30 years, 33 days. He retired during his eighth term and asked the City Council to appoint Frank H. Eggers, his nephew. |
| 31 | Frank Hague Eggers | June 17, 1947 | May 16, 1949 | Democratic | He was the nephew of Frank Hague. |
| 32 | John Vincent Kenny | July 1, 1949 | December 15, 1953 | Democratic | Kenny resigned shortly after winning re-election, citing poor health. |
| 33 | Bernard J. Berry | December 15, 1953 | June 30, 1957 | Democratic | |
| 34 | Charles S. Witkowski | July 1, 1957 | June 30, 1961 | Democratic | Witkowski was born in Jersey City, the son of Blanche and Joseph Witkowski, who were Polish immigrants. He was elected police commissioner in 1949, as part of the independent Freedom ticket that led to the election of John V. Kenny as mayor. Witkowski ran and lost in 1953 in his first bid for mayor, and won his single term in office in 1957. |
| 35 | Thomas Gangemi | July 1, 1961 | September 26, 1963 | Democratic | Gangemi resigned from office when it was determined that he was not a United States citizen and was ineligible to serve. Following his resignation, Jersey City was without a mayor for 47 days while the city council failed to reach a consensus on a successor. |
| 36 | Thomas J. Whelan | November 13, 1963 | July 6, 1971 | Democratic | Whelan was removed from office after being convicted of conspiracy and extortion. |
| 37 | Charles Kiva Krieger | August 5, 1971 | November 8, 1971 | Democratic | Krieger was appointed interim mayor by the City Council after Whelan was removed from office. He was the second Jewish Mayor of Jersey City. |
| 38 | Paul T. Jordan | November 9, 1971 | June 30, 1977 | Democratic | When elected in 1971, at age 30, Jordan became the youngest Mayor of Jersey City. |
| 39 | Thomas F.X. Smith | July 1, 1977 | May 12, 1981 | Democratic | Smith resigned from office to seek the nomination for governor, finishing sixth in the gubernatorial Democratic primary. |
| 40 | Gerald McCann | July 1, 1981 | June 30, 1985 | Democratic | When elected in 1981, at age 31, McCann was the second-youngest Mayor of Jersey City. |
| 41 | Anthony R. Cucci | July 1, 1985 | June 30, 1989 | Democratic | Cucci served on the City Council from 1977 to 1981, and was a member of the Jersey City Board of Education from 2000 until 2009. |
| 42 | Gerald McCann | July 1, 1989 | February 13, 1992 | Democratic | McCann was removed from office during his second term after being convicted of bank fraud. |
| 43 | Marilyn Roman | February 14, 1992 | June 30, 1992 | Democratic | As City Council President, Roman became acting mayor, succeeding McCann after his removal from office. She was also the first female mayor of Jersey City. |
| 44 | Joseph Rakowski | July 1, 1992 | November 10, 1992 | Democratic | Acting mayor. He held the office as a result of being President of the City Council at the time of a vacancy. |
| 45 | Bret Schundler | November 11, 1992 | June 30, 2001 | Republican | Schundler was the first Republican elected as Mayor of Jersey City since Fagan was elected in 1913. |
| 46 | Glenn Cunningham | July 1, 2001 | May 25, 2004 | Democratic | Cunningham was the first African American Mayor of Jersey City. He died in office of a heart attack on May 25, 2004. |
| 47 | L. Harvey Smith | May 26, 2004 | November 11, 2004 | Democratic | Acting mayor. He held the office as a result of being President of the City Council at the time of a vacancy. |
| 48 | Jerramiah Healy | November 12, 2004 | June 30, 2013 | Democratic | Healy entered public service as an assistant prosecutor for the Hudson County, New Jersey Prosecutor's Office in 1977. From 1981 to 1991, he maintained a private law practice in Jersey City. He was appointed Chief Judge in the Jersey City Municipal Court in 1991, and was reappointed in 1995. |
| 49 | Steven Fulop | July 1, 2013 | Incumbent | Democratic | Fulop in the current mayor and the third Jewish mayor of Jersey City. |

## Higher offices held

The following is a list of higher public offices held by mayors, before or after their mayoral term(s).
| Mayor | Mayoral term(s) | Other offices held | References |
| Dudley S. Gregory | 1838–1840, 1841–1842, 1858–1860 | U.S. House of Representatives (1847–1849) | |
| Samuel Wescott | 1857–1858 | New Jersey State Senator (1860–1862) | |
| Orestes Cleveland | 1864–1867, 1886–1892 | U.S. House of Representatives (1869–1871) | |
| Peter Farmer Wanser | 1892–1897 | New Jersey General Assemblyman (1882–1883) | |
| Glenn Cunningham | 2001–2004 | New Jersey State Senator (2004) | |
| L. Harvey Smith | 2004 | New Jersey State Senator (2003–2004) New Jersey General Assemblyman (2008–2010) | [41] [42] |