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Tom Zuppa

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Tom Zuppa
Nonpartisan
Jersey City Council Ward C
Tenure
2026 - Present
Term ends
2029
Years in position
0
Elections and appointments
Last election
December 2, 2025
Education
Bachelor's
Fordham University, 2009
Law
Seton Hall University School of Law, 2012
Personal
Profession
Lawyer
Contact
Campaign website
Campaign Facebook
Personal Facebook

Tom Zuppa is a member of the Jersey City Council in New Jersey, representing Ward C. He assumed office on January 1, 2026. His current term ends on December 31, 2029.

Zuppa ran for election to the Jersey City Council to represent Ward C in New Jersey. He won in the general runoff election on December 2, 2025.

Biography

Tom Zuppa was born in Edison, New Jersey. He earned a bachelor's degree from Fordham University in 2009 and a J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law in 2012. His professional experience includes working as a private practice lawyer licensed in New Jersey, New York, and the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Zuppa previously worked as a prosecutor for Hudson County from 2013 to 2017. He has been affiliated with the Block by Block Community Initiative, Friends of the Five Corners Library, the Journal Square Community Association, the Golden Door Rotary Club of Jersey City, the Jersey City Theater Center, The Kennedy Dancers, Inc., the United Children's Music Project, the Hudson County Bar Association, and the New Jersey State Bar Association.[1]

Elections

2025

See also: City elections in Jersey City, New Jersey (2025)

General runoff election

General runoff election for Jersey City Council Ward C

Tom Zuppa defeated incumbent Rich Boggiano in the general runoff election for Jersey City Council Ward C on December 2, 2025.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Tom Zuppa
Tom Zuppa (Nonpartisan)
 
66.7
 
3,393
Image of Rich Boggiano
Rich Boggiano (Nonpartisan)
 
33.3
 
1,696

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. Source

Total votes: 5,089
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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General election

General election for Jersey City Council Ward C

Incumbent Rich Boggiano and Tom Zuppa advanced to a runoff. They defeated Shahab Khan and Dawn Giambalvo in the general election for Jersey City Council Ward C on November 4, 2025.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rich Boggiano
Rich Boggiano (Nonpartisan)
 
26.6
 
2,251
✔
Image of Tom Zuppa
Tom Zuppa (Nonpartisan)
 
26.0
 
2,200
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Shahab Khan (Nonpartisan)
 
25.0
 
2,108
Image of Dawn Giambalvo
Dawn Giambalvo (Nonpartisan)
 
22.0
 
1,859
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.3
 
29

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 8,447
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Zuppa in this election.

2021

See also: City elections in Jersey City, New Jersey (2021)

General runoff election

General runoff election for Jersey City Council Ward C

Incumbent Rich Boggiano defeated Kevin Bing in the general runoff election for Jersey City Council Ward C on December 7, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rich Boggiano
Rich Boggiano (Nonpartisan)
 
58.5
 
1,897
Image of Kevin Bing
Kevin Bing (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
41.5
 
1,347

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 3,244
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

General election

General election for Jersey City Council Ward C

Incumbent Rich Boggiano and Kevin Bing advanced to a runoff. They defeated Tom Zuppa in the general election for Jersey City Council Ward C on November 2, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rich Boggiano
Rich Boggiano (Nonpartisan)
 
43.8
 
2,175
✔
Image of Kevin Bing
Kevin Bing (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
29.7
 
1,473
Image of Tom Zuppa
Tom Zuppa (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
26.4
 
1,309
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2
 
9

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 4,966
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Tom Zuppa did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.

2021

Candidate Connection

Tom Zuppa completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Zuppa's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am a fourth generation Jersey City residents and son, grandson, and great-grandson of educators, small business owners, and community leaders. I am an attorney who was a former Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor, and am now in private practice as a civil litigator. I am a community activist who started the Block by Block Community Initiative to address neighborhood concerns by bringing people together and making positive changes one day and one block at a time. I am also President of the Friends of the Five Corners Library. I am running for office to fight for my neighbors who have been left behind and to bring A New Day for Ward C, focused on uniting our community, highlighting our diversity, and bringing positive change to the Ward.
  • I am running to bring positive change to our community on issues of cleaner & safer streets, a commitment to affordability, and better maintaining and creating more open, green space for our community.
  • Ward C is left behind on issues of quality of life, allocation of City resources, and the quality of those resources because we do not have a strong, effective advocate.
  • I am running as the independent voice for Ward C because our residents deserve someone who will fight for them on issues directly affecting our Ward.
Community Question Featured local question
Ward C lacks accountability and access to information. I will hold regular community meetings with a virtual option, as well as send regular updates to our residents so that they have the most updated information on proposed developments, community events, and issues within the Ward and City.

Ward C needs an independent voice that will fight for our residents on Ward C issues, including quality of life issues that have gone ignored, including having safer and cleaner streets, a commitment to affordable housing, creating and better maintaining our open, green space, and increasing recreation opportunities. We also need to work with the Board of Education to fully fund our public schools so that our children have access to world-class education and facilities.
Community Question Featured local question
The City is thriving and it is important for Ward C's representative to address rising taxes with the decline in quality of life of our residents. The Pompidou Museum, for example, will increase the tax burden on Jersey City's residents, so while Journal Square deserves to have big vision projects the way other parts of the City do, we must budget for necessary improvements in our Ward's public buildings and street and sidewalk repairs. We must also ensure that the Museum employs Jersey City residents and improves the Ward C economy for local businesses.
Community Question Featured local question
Ward C, including Journal Square, has millions of dollars of investment and development planned for it. The proposed projects all lack affordable housing. Someone living in a 1-2 family home that is slated for demolition and to become a high rise will be displaced and unable to afford living in the same neighborhood they call home. That is unacceptable and requires an inclusionary zoning ordinance that will mandate on-site affordable housing.

Our Ward also have several affordable housing complexes that were built by the City over the past several decades. They are in need of substantial attention from the City for repairs, a commitment to improving quality of life, and ensuring that the sites remain affordable for their current residents.
Community Question Featured local question
As a former prosecutor, I am best equipped to lead the conversation between community leaders and law enforcement on modern-day policing, including robust community policing, de-escalation training, and increased mental health services. Ward C often experiences slower response times to calls for service. I am working towards having walking posts in our communities, including but not limited to, the Journal Square PATH Plaza, along with a partnership between the Jersey City Police Department and Port Authority Police Department to ensure quality of life crimes are addressed and individuals experiencing homelessness are connected with social workers and services rather than being incarcerated.
Community Question Featured local question
The City's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, in terms of opening testing and later, vaccine sites, was positive. At the outset, Hudson County's vaccine sites were not accessible to residents who did not own a car, so a more central location should have been selected in each Ward.

Our business community, renters, and landlords also should have been better informed about City, state, and federal grants and assistance programs to address financial difficulties caused by the pandemic. The City's rent freeze is appropriate and properly coincided with the State's moratorium on evictions for lack of rent payments. We cannot leave residents out in the cold during this ongoing difficult time.
1) Safer and Cleaner Streets, including road and sidewalk improvements

2) Ending Chronic Homelessness

3) A Commitment to Affordable Housing

4) Public Transit Infrastructure Plan

5) Creation and Maintaining of Open, Green Space
The Councilperson for Ward C possesses a tremendous ability to make life better for residents of the Ward by taking a back to basics approach to improve quality of life. Residents of the Ward should be able to readily access their representative, receive a response, and observe immediate action on local issues, such as street cleanliness, street and traffic safety, and public recreation opportunities.
My grandmothers were role models of mine. They have both passed but their legacy of weathering terrible moments of loss in their lives and still maintaining strength and independence for our family sticks with me. Family is very important to me and sets the example of what leadership and service look like for me.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington starring James Stewart as the wide-eyed and idealistic Senator whose sole mission is to serve his constituents. I have never been afraid of speaking truth to power, even against seemingly insurmountable odds. Having that integrity and political courage to make difficult, albeit unpopular decisions is a core characteristic of a leader. I believe government exists to serve and improve the lives of its residents.
I would like to be remembered as someone who dedicated his life to his family and to public service, leaving our community in a better place than how I found it.
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, about the individuals from different backgrounds and political leanings brought together by President Lincoln to serve their country at a tumultuous time in our history. The book remains relevant to today's politics, as our elected officials need to remember that they are beholden to the people who elected them and responsible for working together for the common good.
No. An understanding of how our system operates is necessary, but in Ward C, we have a representative with 8 years of experience on the Council, and decades of experience as a government employee, yet issues that faced the Ward the past 8 years persist today with no improvements. When that occurs, it is time for a change and a new voice with a fresh perspective.
The ability to perform a critical analysis of issues before the Council is essential. It has been suggested by the incumbent that there is not enough time to review information that is provided a week before a scheduled vote and quantified as being approximately 500 pages. As an attorney, I am accustomed to reviewing voluminous documents expediently, conducting analysis, and reaching a conclusion. While not the only profession capable of such analysis, being a lawyer and litigator makes me uniquely qualified in this election to successfully serve Ward C.
Why doesn't a teddy bear want to eat? Because it's already stuffed. -- Courtesy of my 6 year old Godson

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Note: Community Questions were submitted by the public and chosen for inclusion by a volunteer advisory board. The chosen questions were modified by staff to adhere to Ballotpedia’s neutrality standards. To learn more about Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection Expansion Project, click here.

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External links

Candidate

Jersey City Council Ward C
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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 14, 2021

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