In May 2005, Fulop was an upset winner against an incumbent councilman in Jersey City, NJ.
When Fulop was sworn into office at 28 years old, he was the youngest member of the city
council by more than 17 years and the third youngest in the nearly 200 year existence of the
city. However, as noted by the New York Times, the most significant difference between Fulop
and every elected official in Jersey City, (and most in Hudson County) is that he won the
election with no establishment support, beating an incumbent with the backing of the powerful
Senator Robert Menendez, Mayor Jerramiah Healy of Jersey City, and the Hudson County Democratic
Organization.
Fulop was outspent by more than 2-1 during the campaign but several tactical innovations that were
highlighted in the Newark Star Ledger, New York Times, and Jersey Journal helped move the campaign
forward despite stiff opposition.
Steven Fulop is a first generation American who grew up in an immigrant family in Edison,
New Jersey. His father owned a delicatessen in Newark, New Jersey, where Fulop often worked,
and his mother, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, worked in an immigration services office
helping others gain citizenship.
Steven is a graduated from Binghamton University in 1999 and in 2006 completed both his Masters in
Business Administration at the New York University Stern School of Business and his Masters in Public
Administration at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). While attending
Binghamton University, he spent time abroad studying at Oxford University in England.
Upon graduating from college, Fulop joined Goldman Sachs, the investment banking firm, first working in
Chicago and later in downtown Manhattan as well as in Jersey City. After working on Wall Street for several
years in downtown NY and seeing first hand the effects of 9/11, he decided take put his career at Goldman
Sachs on hold and join the United States Marine Corps as a reservist.
Shortly after completion of Marine Corps boot camp, on January 14, 2003 his Reserve Unit was
activated and Fulop was deployed to Iraq, where he served as part of the 6th Engineer Support
Battalion for a period of 6 months. He traveled into Baghdad in the early weeks of the war. The
battalion focused on engineering, logistics, water purification, and fuel. He and his unit were
recipients of numerous awards and recognition for service including the Overseas Deployment Ribbon,
Meritorious Masts, and the Presidential Unit Citation. His unit was part of the support and infrastructure
that allowed the swift movement through Iraq. His unit was written about in numerous periodicals during the
war which highlighted the company's movements, their contributions to the war, and the challenges that they
encountered. The New Jersey Star Ledger highlighted Fulop on several occasions as a result of his choice to
leave the comforts of Wall Street to serve his country. After his service in Iraq, Fulop returned to Goldman
Sachs.
In 2004, Steven Fulop was drafted for an unsuccessful challenge to incumbent Congressman Robert Menendez for his
seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In early 2006, Fulop left Goldman Sachs to take an opportunity at another large financial institution and completed
his service to the Marine Corps Reserve with a rank of Corporal.
Steven Fulop is on the Board of Directors for the Learning Community Charter School which
has distinguished itself with superior academic performance for children throughout Jersey
City. Steven is also the first councilman in Jersey City who has not taken a salary for his
role on the Jersey City Muncipal Council, but instead the would-be salary was donated to the
York Street Project, a non-profit that helps single women with education and skill training.
Most recently, in 2006, Steven Fulop tied his passion for long distance running with his
civic involvement by racing in the New York City Marathon to raise money for the Hudson
Country Child Abuse Prevention Center. Fulop raised $16,000 running his first marathon in
3:44 with an average pace of 8:33 per mile.
Prior to his election on the municipal council, Steven Fulop served in two positions within
the community: he is past president of the Downtown Coalition of Neighborhood Associations
(DCNA) in Jersey City, and also, he is past president of The Historic Paulus Hook Association.