Mussab Ali
Mussab Ali was an at-large member of the Jersey City Public Schools Board of Education in New Jersey. He assumed office on January 9, 2018. He left office on January 5, 2022.
Ali ran for election for Mayor of Jersey City in New Jersey. He lost in the general election on November 4, 2025.
Ali previously ran for a seat on the board and was defeated in the general election on November 8, 2016. He was part of the Fix It Now slate of candidates.
Biography
As of the 2017 school board election, Ali was a student at Rutgers University and had been named New Jersey's only Truman Scholar. He was appointed to the Immigration Affairs Commission and has served as the Secretary of the Hudson County Young Democrats. Ali graduated from McNair Academic High School.[1]
Elections
2025
See also: Mayoral election in Jersey City, New Jersey (2025)
General runoff election
General runoff election for Mayor of Jersey City
James McGreevey and James Solomon are running in the general runoff election for Mayor of Jersey City on December 2, 2025.
Candidate | ||
 | James McGreevey (Nonpartisan) | |
 | James Solomon (Nonpartisan) | |
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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General election
General election for Mayor of Jersey City
The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Jersey City on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | James Solomon (Nonpartisan) | 29.1 | 17,200 |
| ✔ | | James McGreevey (Nonpartisan) | 25.4 | 15,042 |
| William O'Dea (Nonpartisan) | 21.6 | 12,750 | ||
 | Mussab Ali (Nonpartisan) | 18.3 | 10,843 | |
 | Joyce Watterman (Nonpartisan) | 3.9 | 2,282 | |
 | Christina Freeman (Nonpartisan) | 1.5 | 865 | |
| Kalki Jayne-Rose (Nonpartisan) | 0.3 | 151 | ||
| Total votes: 59,133 | |||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2018
General election
General election for Jersey City Public Schools Board of Education At-large (3 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Jersey City Public Schools Board of Education At-large on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Marilyn Roman (Nonpartisan) | 21.9 | 26,161 |
| ✔ | | Mussab Ali (Nonpartisan) | 19.0 | 22,667 |
| ✔ | Joan Terrell-Paige (Nonpartisan) | 17.2 | 20,573 | |
 | Vidya Gangadin (Nonpartisan) | 11.2 | 13,379 | |
| Dominique Smith (Nonpartisan) | 11.0 | 13,100 | ||
| Neil Abadie (Nonpartisan) | 9.1 | 10,875 | ||
 | Natalia Ioffe (Nonpartisan) | 5.7 | 6,801 | |
 | Asmaa Abdalla (Nonpartisan) | 4.8 | 5,698 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 241 | ||
| Total votes: 119,495 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- John Hanussak (Nonpartisan)
- Yousef Saleh (Nonpartisan)
2017
In the first election following the return of local control to the district, four of the nine seats on the Jersey City Public Schools Board of Education in New Jersey were up for at-large general election on November 7, 2017. Three seats were up for regular three-year terms and one seat was up for a one-year unexpired term after former board member John Reichart resigned from the board.
Board members Amy DeGise and Lorenzo Richardson won additional three-year terms on the board and were joined in their victory by Matthew Schapiro. They defeated incumbent Gerald Lyons and challenger Yousef Saleh. Mussab Ali took the one-year term, defeating David Miranda.[2]
Results
| Jersey City Public Schools, At-large General Election, 1-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Mussab Ali |
50.15% | 9,388 |
| David Miranda | 49.78% | 9,320 |
| Write-in votes | 0.07% | 13 |
| Total Votes | 18,721 | |
| Source: Hudson County Clerk's Office, "General Election 2017," accessed March 22, 2018 | ||
Funding
Ali did not report campaign contributions or expenditures in this election as of October 23, 2017, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.[3]
Endorsements
Ali received an official endorsement from the Jersey City Education Association.[4]
2016
Three of the nine seats on the Jersey City Public Schools Board of Education were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. No incumbents filed for re-election. Ten candidates filed in the race, including former candidate Gina Verdibello and former board member Angel Valentin. They faced eight newcomers: Asmaa Abdalla, Mussab Ali, Luis Fernandez, Kimberly Goycochea, Natalia Ioffe, Mark Rowan, Sudhan Thomas, and Matthew Schapiro. Valentin, Fernandez, and Thomas won in the general election. Three candidates filed in the race but withdrew their candidacy and did not appear on the ballot: Dominique Lee, DeJon Morris, and Jose Vasquez.[5][6]
Results
| Jersey City Public Schools, At-large General Election, 3-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Angel Valentin |
15.96% | 16,308 |
| Sudhan Thomas |
15.69% | 16,033 |
| Luis Fernandez |
13.24% | 13,534 |
| Gina Verdibello | 12.54% | 12,815 |
| Matthew Schapiro | 12.34% | 12,615 |
| Asmaa Abdalla | 11.01% | 11,252 |
| Mussab Ali | 6.15% | 6,290 |
| Natalia Ioffe | 5.27% | 5,389 |
| Mark Rowan | 4.14% | 4,231 |
| Kimberly Goycochea | 3.66% | 3,736 |
| Total Votes | 102,203 | |
| Source: NJ.com, "Hudson County real-time election results 2016," November 8, 2016 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||
Endorsements
Ali was endorsed in the election by Dwayne Baskerville, founder of Go Get My Kids, Inc.—a nonprofit youth organization.[7]
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Mussab Ali did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.
2017
Ali highlighted the following themes in his 2017 campaign:
| “ | Our children need safe spaces that allow them the flexibility to build positive relationships and learn. I will work to establish those safe places. Our city has long touted its diversity, but ESL parents are regularly left out of the loop at schools. I will work to create a more inclusive environment for immigrant families. We live in a digital age, but many children in our school system have yet to take courses in computer science. I will work to provide a more effective 21st century education.[8] | ” |
| —Mussab Ali (2017)[1] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Mussab Ali Jersey City Public Schools Board of Education. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Mayor of Jersey City |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Insider NJ, "Mussab Ali Announces Historic Run for Jersey City Board of Education," July 26, 2017
- ↑ Elisabeth Moore, "Email exchange with Hilda Rosario, Hudson County Supervisor of Elections," August 7, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "Filings," accessed October 23, 2017
- ↑ Jersey City Education Association, "Board of Education Endorsement," August 12, 2017
- ↑ Mandy Gillip, "Phone conversation with district business administration office," August 2, 2016
- ↑ Hudson County View, "Newark BRICK Academy Schools CEO withdraws from Jersey City BOE race," September 7, 2016
- ↑ New Jersey, "Schools need upgrades; Go Get My Kids founder makes endorsement for JCBOE; Support Lib ticket | Hudson Voices," September 16, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Jersey City Public Schools elections in 2018 | |
| Hudson County, New Jersey | |
| Election date: | November 6, 2018 |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
