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By: Ellen Cans
Democratic Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop fired an aide who would not disavow his Republican sister during her controversial run for political office.
As reported by the NY Post, Jonathan Gomez-Noriega was employed for six years as an aide to Fulop, working on the city’s LGBTQ+ Task Force. His sister, firebrand conservative Valentina Gomez, was outspoken in the news during her failed bid last Tuesday to become the GOP nominee for Missouri’s secretary of state. Granted, she is a firebrand, cursing in some campaign ads and famously quoted encouraging Americans not to be “weak and gay.” In one anti-woke episode, she had even used a flamethrower to burn a pile of sexually suggestive LGBTQ+-themed books she said was being used to indoctrinated children.
The trouble for Gomez-Noriega started when Fulop learned that his aide had contributed an unspecified amount in July to his notorious sister’s MAGA campaign. The Post reported, Fulop demanded the staffer renounce his sister online— directed him on what exactly to say. Fulop suggested he make a statement saying: “I love her as a sister but I don’t condone her actions that have become progressively more vile over the last few months,” per a text messages the mayor shared on X. Gomez-Noriega, however, refused to make such a statement and said he was intent on supporting his sister.
To further complicate things, Gomez-Noriega traveled to Missouri on Monday to campaign for his sister. This was the final straw for Fulop. On Wednesday, Gomez-Noriega was fired. The mayor said the primary aide position entailed “dealing with a lot of the diversity issues around Jersey City,” and that “He can no longer fulfill that job because of lack of trust.”
Gomez-Noriega wrote a lengthy post on X saying: “Let me be clear: I do not support any hateful remarks directed toward the LGBTQ+ community or any individual. I am formally stepping down from the Mayor’s LGBTQ+ Task Force and look forward to continue serving the people of Jersey City, focusing on a future where meritocracy and results matter most,” he wrote. “My life is a testimony of philanthropy, dedication, and excellence. I may not agree with everything my sister says, but I love her. It’s this kind of boldness—stepping up for my family and maintaining our relationship—that makes our country strong. Political differences should not destroy families.”
Gomez, who is a real estate investor and who finished sixth in Tuesday’s GOP race, ripped her brother’s dismissal as “straight out of Nazi Germany.” “This proves that Democrats think you should be unemployed if you don’t denounce your family members,” Gomez told The Post, adding that her family is planning to sue the mayor and the city.
A Garden State GOP operative compared the firing “to the great purge in Mao’s China.” “Fulop made a very political calculation with this, that he’s going to trade taxpayer dollars — because he knows this is going to become a lawsuit — for political capital in his race for governor,” the GOP operative told the Post on the condition of anonymity. He’s willing “to show that he’s this progressive warrior that will stop at nothing to rid the world of MAGA and anything affiliated with it — even siblings,” the operative added.
Fulop, 47, has been mayor of Jersey City since 2013, being re-elected twice. He previously served as the Councilman for Jersey City’s Ward E., since 2005.
