For the first time in a decade, Jersey City’s political future will not include Mayor Steve Fulop, who announced two years ago that he would not seek reelection and instead run for governor.

With the filing deadline now passed, seven candidates have thrown their hats in the ring to succeed Fulop: former Gov.  Jim McGreevey, Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea, City Councilman James Solomon, City Council President Joyce Watterman, former Jersey City school board president Mussab Ali, Police Officer Christina Freeman and Kalki Jayne-Rose.

In interviews with NJ Spotlight News, O’Dea and Solomon, two of the front-runners, discussed the race and what they think will drive the electorate. McGreevey, also one of the favorites, was unavailable for an interview.

“A huge difference when you look at the candidates is who’s been giving back to this community their entire life, and who suddenly decided to not only just promote themselves or to give a little something back just to promote themselves,” said O’Dea, referring to the former governor.

One possibility is a runoff election, the chances of which increase with such a large field of candidates.

“We think a runoff is a likely, but not guaranteed outcome,” Solomon said. “But we think we are, by far, the campaign best equipped to win in a runoff. We’ve got that core support, over 1,500 workers and volunteers. No other campaign has even half that.”