The former governor of New Jersey, Jim McGreevey, who was forced to resign from his position in 2004 amid a political and sex scandal, is planning a resurrection of his former life — amassing nearly $2 million for his campaign to be the next mayor of Jersey City.

Mr. McGreevey is even poised to receive the support this weekend of current Governor Murphy, placing him at a significant advantage among a full slate of candidates vying to lead the state’s second-largest city.

Mr. McGreevey also raised the most among the candidates in the non-partisan mayoral election, according to the New Jersey Globe, pocketing more than $1.9 million in donations at the end of 2024. He is competing in a field of five candidates, including City Councilman James Solomon and Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea.

Mr. Solomon has already come out swinging against Mr. McGreevey, with his campaign manager criticizing the mayoral candidate’s financial filings, showing a $11,500 payment for research and polling to McLaughlin and Associates, a firm known for working with President Trump and recently touted in a press release that the firm was “proud” to have worked with him.

“The MAGA/Trump/McLaughlin agenda is going to hurt real people in Jersey City; targeting the vulnerable to help those who already have so much get more,” Solomon campaign manager Stuart Thomas said in a statement to Jersey City Times. “Let’s be clear, campaigns are a test of character, and by surrounding himself with people who support, empower, and adore Donald Trump, Jim McGreevey is failing that character test. Jim McGreevey’s got his priorities all wrong, and it is Jersey City residents who are going to pay the price.”

Mr. McGreevey pulled no punches in his response during an interview with Politico.

“For the past decade, every day of my life, I have worked to assist those returning from addiction treatment, prison, and veterans returning from war. Among the most marginalized persons in our city and state,” he said, adding that the comments were a distraction from the real concerns of voters, including property taxes, rent hikes, and crime. 

“My life’s work and my family has been about serving working families. I have not had the privilege and financial wherewithal gifted to me as has James Solomon.”

Mr. Murphy’s anticipated support of Mr. McGreevey’s bid comes as the city’s current mayor, Steven Fulop, has been christened with the backing from the state’s democratic party for his gubernatorial campaign. 

Mr. Fulop, who has served for three terms in Jersey City, has long had a contentious relationship with Councilman Solomon, who once said on a Reddit AMA that the mayor had run the city as a “Chris Christie-esque triangulator” after he added another local councilman, Rich Boggiano to his re-election team.

“He avoided serious police reforms. He treated Black Lives Matter as a political problem to solve instead of an opportunity for progressive governance. He cynically waited the activists out while pretending to care about their concerns,” Mr. Solomon wrote. “He passed an affordable housing ordinance that’s significantly weaker than all similar ordinances in New Jersey. He embraced ‘reopening’ from COVID instead of following clear public health guidance such as throwing up his hands over the cases during the Thanksgiving holiday. That right-of-center agenda is exactly what Councilman Boggiano supports, so their deal is not a surprise to me.”

It was more than 20 years ago when Mr. McGreevey held a last-minute press conference, flanked by his wife at the time, Dina Matos, to suddenly announce that he was stepping down from his position as governor after it emerged he was having an affair with Israeli National, Golan Cipel, whom he had appointed to the state’s top security position.

“I am a gay American,” Mr. McGreevey said as he stepped down from his post after Mr. Cipel threatened to sue the governor for sexual harassment.

Since leaving office, he separated from Ms. Matos, moved away from politics altogether, earned a degree in divinity from the General Theological Seminary, and applied to be ordained as a priest in the episcopal church but was denied. 

“I thought it was a place where my own sense of shame and embarrassment would be understood. It became an amazing journey. I will be eternally grateful,” Mr. McGreevey said in an interview with the National Catholic Reporter.

Since then, he has returned to his Catholic faith and has spent most of the past two decades working with newly released prisoners to help them acclimate to life back on the outside. He currently serves as the executive director of New Jersey Reentry, a non-profit agency focusing on prisoner rehabilitation.