After losing out on a spot on the tickets of the three front-runners for mayor in the nonpartisan municipal election in November 2023, Jersey City Councilman Yousef Saleh is anticipated to run for State Assembly in the crowded Democratic field on a slate led by gubernatorial candidate Steve Fulop.
According to information obtained by the New Jersey Globe, Saleh will run alongside freshman Assemblywoman Jessica Ramirez (D-Jersey City). After getting no proposals to run on a council slate, he changed his mind about turning down invitations to run with Fulop and Ramirez twice in recent weeks.
He will compete against four other Democrats: Crystal Fonseca, a manager at the Jersey City Department of Public Safety and a former member of the Newark school board; Jenny Pu, the director of the Hoboken Public Library and a PTA president and community activist in Jersey City; Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla; and Katie Brennan, a former chief of staff at the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency. The Hudson County Democratic organization is supporting Pu and Fonseca in their campaigns.
Bhalla and Brennan are currently running separate campaigns, but Saleh’s participation into the 32nd district election may pave the way for their collaboration.
Saleh, a lawyer and the son of Palestinian immigrants, was left homeless after Bill O. Dea, James Solomon, and James E. McGreevey all enlisted other people to run for the Ward D council seat.
Following Michael Yun’s COVID-19 death in April 2020, he was appointed to the municipal council. After winning a special election in November, he was re-elected in 2021 alongside Fulop, who was voted to a third term as mayor.
Hoboken and a portion of Jersey City are included in the district.
