From Resignation to Redemption? Former Governor of New Jersey, Jim McGreevey, Seeking Second Chance as Next Mayor of Jersey City

Former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey believes America was built on second chances.“It’s one of the defining elements of who we are,” he said in an interview with the Sun. “Why do people come to America? They come to America for a second chance. They want something better for themselves, for their family, for their loved ones.”The one-time state leader knows a thing or two about second chances, since announcing he was gay 20 years ago and resigning as governor. Now he’s decided to throw his hat back into the political arena, running to become the next mayor of Jersey City, the state’s second largest city (it’s a close second to troubled Newark). Mr. McGreevey is quick to say that he doesn’t consider this his second chance but admits that he seeks to cap off his legacy on what he sees as a positive note.“I think my true second chance was giving unconditional support to men and women who needed a second chance,” he says of his recent role as an advocate for reformed prisoners and helping them get acclimated to life after incarceration. “But I’m running because it’s also about your legacy. It’s what you’ll do. It’s what you’re leaving behind.”(L-R) Jacqueline Matos McGreevey and Jim McGreevey attend “Navalny” New York Screening at Museum of Modern Art on January 30, 2025 in New York City. Jamie McCarthy/Getty ImagesMr. McGreevey was last in the public eye in 2004 when he resigned under pressure from his position as the 51st Governor of New Jersey. He left his post after questions of his sexuality surfaced amid the threat of a sexual harassment lawsuit from the state’s former homeland security advisor, Golan Cipel, whose appointment had raised eyebrows in Trenton. Mr. McGreevey, who was a married father of two at the time. “My truth is that I am a gay American,” he said in a press conference at the state house at Trenton in August of that year where he also admitted that he was involved in an extramarital affair. His aides confirmed his dalliance was with Mr. Cipel, who claims he is straight, and was sexually harassed and sexually assaulted by Mr. McGreevey. He never filed his lawsuit.Mr. McGreevey’s announcement was a bombshell, making him the first openly gay Governor in U.S. history until he left office that November. The shocking admission and subsequent resignation effectively ended his political career at the time. Yet, he expresses no regrets about the outcome.“I think it was the most important thing that happened in my life,” he says. “If you had asked me in 2004, I don’t know that I would have said this…I think the most important thing that happened to Jim McGreevey was his resignation. I think that was the greatest blessing of my life.”A newspaper box announcing the resignation of NJ Gov. Jim McGreevey stands in front of the NJ State House August 13, 2004 in New York City. Chris Hondros/Getty Images“It was a clarifying moment to understand what was important, and what was important to me was my faith, my family, and what I would call broadly, fellowship.”Soon after leaving Trenton, Mr. McGreevey pursued a new path, earning a master’s degree in divinity from the General Theological Seminary in New York City with the goal of ordination in the Episcopal Church, an application that was ultimately declined.He credits fieldwork in Harlem during seminary training as the foundation for his work over the past decade as executive director of the NGO New Jersey Reentry. The organization assists formerly incarcerated individuals in readapting to life outside prison.“The seminary had sent me up to Harlem to work for one of the first Exodus programs at the time,” he says. “It was a second chance grant program, and the people who were coming back home…they didn’t have any identification. They didn’t have Medicaid. They didn’t have a birth certificate. All they had was their DOC card.”Israeli Golan Cipel, 33, former security adviser of Democratic governor of New Jersey Jim McGreevey, walks around his parents’ hometown August 18, 2004 in the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Letzion, Israel. Uriel Sinai/Getty Images“They had to reestablish themselves in a world increasingly driven by documentation, and many of them could not access that documentation. It was a Herculean feat for them.”This experience led to his 2013 appointment as executive director of Jersey City’s Employment and Training Program, which also offered re-entry coaching. However, he was removed in 2019 amid allegations that millions in funding were missing, potentially diverted to NJ Reentry Corp.The former Governor vehemently denied the allegations at the time, labeling the city hall forensic audit “political larceny to deflect that they destroyed an excellent program — chicanery at its worst.” He claimed it was a political attack orchestrated by Jersey City’s Democratic mayor, Steven Fulop.“Sadly, Fulop is once again being guided by his own political self-interests. This is the oldest trick in the political book,”he said to the Star-Ledger.Jim McGreevey, the former governor of New Jersey. Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for HBOMr. Fulop will be leaving office at the end of the current term, opting to run for Governor in the upcoming elections to replace the outgoing Phil Murphy, who will vacate the office due to term limits.Earlier this year, Mr. Murphy endorsed Mr. McGreevey in the mayoral race, and political insiders saw his support as a thumbing of his nose towards Mr. Fulop after the mayor his endorsement of his wife, Tammy Murphy, to replace ousted Senator Bob Menendez.Mr. McGreevey has been rapidly gaining traction in the non-partisan election, leading in polls and significantly outpacing his five opponents in fundraising with a war chest exceeding $2 million.His sizable lead has raised the ire of opponent James Solomon, a city councilman representing Ward E, who recently attacked Mr. McGreevey after reports surfaced that the Democrat had accepted donations from Republican donors. He took liberties with the former Governor’s comments about “actively courting MAGA money.”Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, her daughter, filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, and former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey at the premiere of the HBO documentary Fall to Grace. Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for HBOMr. McGreevey “was asked about it, do you know what he said?” Mr. Solomon wrote in an email sent to his constituents in Jersey City last month. “He said: Yup, I sure did — and I did it so I could ask Trump to send JC money. It’s pay to play!”“Jim McGreevey is ACTIVELY admitting to selling us out to Trumpworld.”The former governor admitted to courting Republicans to pull in federal funding for Jersey City should he win the election and become mayor. While originally rebutting Mr. Solomon’s comments, Mr. McGreevey says he’s trying to move away from political mudslinging as elections draw near.“I actually think James is a very decent fellow,” he said. “But some of the young guys in this campaign are more, you know, fire and brimstone. I just try in good conscience to treat everybody respectfully.”Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop speaks during a news conference announcing Obama administration ambassador Phil Murphy’s bid in next year’s gubernatorial elections, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016, in Jersey City, N.J. AP Photo/Julio Cortez“But after 35 years, you get to know people on both sides of the aisle, and because of our working history, they have donated, and candidly, I’m grateful.”Mr. McGreevey says this campaign is the final stop for him. He says he has no intentions of seeking higher office down the road, calling his current candidacy the swan song of his political career.“It may sound corny, but this is the circle of life,” he says. “In many respects, it is coming home and it’s good because I can do, God willing, what I think is the right thing without any concern for higher office or those political calculations that younger men and women inevitably have. As Winston Churchill would say, ‘That young man in a hurry.'”“I’m not in a hurry to go anywhere.”

From Resignation to Redemption? Former Governor of New Jersey, Jim McGreevey, Seeking Second Chance as Next Mayor of Jersey City

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