Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop formally announced Tuesday morning he is running for New Jersey governor in the 2025 election, making the Democrat the first of likely several candidates to officially enter the race to succeed Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy more than 2 1/2 years from now.
Fulop, a 46-year-old U.S. Marine veteran who has served three terms at the helm of the state’s second-largest city, filed paperwork to open a campaign committee to seek the Democratic nomination 25 months before voters begin casting ballots in the primary. That’s a significantly earlier move than most candidates make.
In a statement, Fulop said he “has always been guided by a strong desire to take on difficult challenges and find solutions that help improve peoples’ lives.”
“And now I’m running for governor to bring those same values to Trenton,” he added. “I’m launching my campaign now because I believe that New Jersey can become an even better place for all of us, and I will be sharing my vision over the coming months for how we will make it happen.”
Though early, the decision was not unexpected. It ended months — and years — of speculation. When Fulop announced in January he wouldn’t seek a fourth term as mayor, it was seen as a sign he was prepping a gubernatorial bid.
This also comes five years after Fulop, then a rising political star, was considered a likely contender for governor in 2017. The thought was he’d be part of a bruising three-way race for the Democratic nomination to succeed Republican Chris Christie, along with then-little-known Murphy and then-state Senate President Stephen Sweeney.
Ultimately, Fulop announced he wouldn’t not run and endorsed Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs executive with deep pockets. Sweeney later did the same. Murphy ended up winning.
A half-decade later, Fulop has joined the contest to take over for term-limited Murphy, who is barred by the state Constitution from seeking a third consecutive term as governor.
Fulop, who grew up in Edison, also released a video Tuesday highlighting his backstory: How he left a job on Wall Street — at investment banking firm Goldman Sachs — to enlist in the Marines after the Sept. 11 attacks and later served in Iraq. The clip includes images of 9/11 and interviews with soldiers who served with Fulop.
A political career followed when Fulop returned home. At age 27, Fulop waged an unsuccessful Democratic primary bid for Congress against now-U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez. Then, at 28, Fulop ran against the local political machine and won a seat on the Jersey City council in 2005.
Fulop then ousted incumbent Mayor Jeremiah Healy in 2013 to take over as the city’s leader.
The video also includes interviews with residents of Jersey City and nods to his achievements in the growing metropolis just across the Hudson River from Manhattan.
“I believe leadership is about standing up for what you believe in, even when it’s not popular, and then fighting successfully to get it done,” Fulop says at the end of the clip, with the Jersey City skyline behind him. “Now I’m running for governor to bring that same energy and fight to Trenton.”
Should he win, Fulop would become the first mayor to become New Jersey’s governor since Woodbridge’s Jim McGreevey in 2002 and only the third in history. He would also be the first-ever mayor of one of the state’s two biggest cities — Newark and Jersey City — to become governor.
Murphy had a similar early start to his first campaign, announcing he was running in 2016 a year and a half before Election Day.
Matthew Hale, a political science professor at Seton Hall University, said it appears Fulop’s goal is to “get in there first and stake his claim that anybody who wants to be governor has to go through me.”
“I think he learned from the last time he’s got to earn it — knock on the doors of county chairs, walk around with people,” said Hale, also a Democratic member of the Highland Park council. “That takes time.”
“He’s gonna have competition,” Hale added.
Indeed. Fulop would first have to win the Democratic nomination against what could be a crowded primary field vying for an open seat.
Sweeney has openly said he is mulling a campaign despite having been ousted from the Senate in 2021. U.S. Reps. Mikie Sherrill and Josh Gottheimer, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, and former state Assemblyman John Wisniewski, among others, are considered potential Democratic candidates, as well.
Asked his reaction to Fulop’s announcement Tuesday, Sweeney said: “Is that a surprise? It was anticipated, expected.”
The move has “no impact on me,” Sweeney added.
“When the time comes for me to make a decision, I will,” he told NJ Advance Media in a phone interview. “Obviously, I’m looking at it.”
On the Republican side, former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, who lost a closer-than-expected governor’s race to Murphy in 2021, already said he plans to run again in 2025. State Sens. Jon Bramnick, Declan O’Scanlon, Holly Schepisi, Doug Steinhardt, and Mike Testa, state party chairman Bob Hugin, and radio host Bill Spadea, among others, are also considered contenders for the GOP nod.
A Fairleigh Dickinson University poll last month found Fulop had the sixth-most name recognition (34%) and favorability (17%) among possible 2025 Democratic hopefuls.
The early entry means Fulop will get a head start on campaigning, but it also could cause him to use up campaign funds more quickly. A spokesman said Fulop will participate in the state’s matching funds program, which means he can spend only $7.3 million before the June 2025 primary.
Meanwhile, Coalition for Progress, a super PAC tied to Fulop, has $6.2 million on hand that could boost his bid.
In his video, Fulop said over the coming months he’ll release “detailed proposals for how we can make a great state even better for every family.”
“I hope you’re with me because we have a lot to do,” the now-gubernatorial candidate added.
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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him at @johnsb01.