A former New Jersey governor, Jim McGreevey’s, bid for a political comeback fell short Tuesday night, as voters in Jersey City decisively rejected his campaign for mayor of the state’s second most populous city.

Longtime city councilman James Solomon won the runoff election in a landslide, capturing more than 67 percent of the vote while Mr. McGreevey managed just 32 percent — a margin that left little doubt in a race that had gained national attention due to the former governor’s candidacy.

“There’s nothing I would change in this campaign,” Mr. McGreevey said at a watch party, adding that he had walked every block of the city to connect with voters. “Thank you for your trust. Thank you for your welcome. And thank you for your hospitality.”

Mr. Solomon, who has served on the city council since 2017, emerged victorious in Tuesday’s runoff after both he and Mr. McGreevey advanced from a crowded November 4 primary that featured seven candidates vying for the position. Though the race was officially nonpartisan, both finalists are Democrats.

Mr. Solomon, who ran on a platform similar to Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani across the Hudson in New York City, said he will target the high rental housing costs in Jersey City.

“Now the mission is clear, and the work begins tonight. And the work we have to do is making Jersey City affordable,” he said at his campaign’s watch party after results came in. “So I say tonight, an affordable Jersey City starts now.”

Like Mr. Mamdani, Jersey City’s mayor-elect is calling for a rent freeze and a mandate that 20 percent of new units be capped at $1,500 per month rent. On the campaign trail and in debates, he pledged to “turn the page on the corrupt politics of the past,” vowing to eliminate tax breaks handed to developers constructing luxury housing. Mr. McGreevey also ran on a platform of affordability.

The runoff election played out eerily similar to the mayoral race last month in New York City — a test of progressive vs. establishment Democratic politics and a generational gap between both candidates.

Mr. McGreevey was once considered a trailblazer — closing the state’s $14 billion budget gap in his first two years as governor and launching a massive school construction project. But his political career came to an abrupt end in 2004 when the married governor publicly came out as gay and revealed a consensual affair with a male advisor who had accused him of sexual harassment.

After years in political exile — marked by a tell-all memoir and an HBO documentary chronicling his downfall — the nonprofit executive returned to the campaign trail with a roster of establishment Democrats behind him, including Governor Phil Murphy, Hudson County Executive Craig Guy, and Jersey City Council President Joyce Watterman, who also competed in the November 4 contest.

His strategy hinged on leveraging the establishment’s traditional dominance in Jersey City while simultaneously attempting to paint Mr. Solomon as the true insider but ultimately failed to sway voters.