JERSEY CITY -- The results of today's four council runoffs are mixed news for Mayor Steve Fulop, whose team defeated one of his council critics on the West Side while another potential political adversary won a closely watched contest in the Downtown.

Still, Fulop will retain control of the nine-member body when his new term begins in January and there was a celebratory mood tonight at Zeppelin Hall tonight, where his team gathered.

"We ran a good campaign," said Fulop, who was re-elected last month. "I'm looking forward to working with those that ran with us and those than ran against us."

In Ward A, Ridley, 34, won 1,639 votes to opponent Joe Conte's 808 in the race to succeed Fulop ally Councilman Frank Gajewski. Prinz-Arey, 45, nabbed 1,555 votes, defeating incumbent Ward B Councilman Chris Gadsden, a Fulop critic who received 986 votes, early results show.

The councilwomen-elect are both first-time candidates. Ridley will be the first black council person for Ward A.

In Ward C, Councilman Rich Boggiano won a second term, grabbing 1,675 votes to challenger (and Fulop ally) John Hanussak's 1,104, according to preliminary results. Boggiano, 74, is friendly with Fulop but has opposed many of the mayor's major initiatives.

In the heated and expensive Ward E council race to succeed Fulop ally Councilwoman Candice Osborne, James Solomon stunned everyone by defeating Rebecca Symes 2,178 to 1,929. On Election Day, Solomon, 33, came in more than 700 votes behind Symes, who had most of the Hudson County political machine and a well-funded pro-labor group behind her for the runoff.

The mood at Solomon's victory party at Gia Gelato & Cafe on Newark Avenue was joyous, with some of his supporters still shocked an hour after Symes conceded.

"The rebel alliance won!" one supporter said.

Though Solomon, another first-time candidate, was often sharply critical of Fulop on the campaign trail, he said he doesn't envision that he will be a mayoral rival the way Fulop was during his own two terms on the council representing Ward E.

"What I commit to is to do two things simultaneously: to be a productive, constructive council person, and that requires working with the full council and the mayor," he said. "And the other commitment is to remain independent, to not become part of the sort of machine."

James Solomon poses for a selfie with friends outside his victory party on Newark Avenue.

At Fulop's party, Ridley said she is going to create a committee of Ward A residents to help guide her during her first term.

"I'm excited," she said. "I'm just ready to get to work."

Prinz-Arey echoed Ridley.

"I'm very excited to just get to work and continue some of the stuff I've been doing and build on that," she said.

In a statement from Boggiano's campaign that is missing the councilman's customary brusqueness, he said, "Today the people of Ward C showed that they wanted a strong independent on the City Council. I look forward to working with the mayor and plan to keep fighting for affordability, clean government and basic quality-of-life improvements throughout the city. "

Fulop, 40, won a first-ballot victory last month, nabbing 77 percent of the vote against one challenger, Bill Matsikoudis. No other mayor in the last half-century won re-election with a larger share of the vote.

Four council members also won outright on Election Day: all three at-large members, Rolando Lavarro, Daniel Rivera and Joyce Watterman; Ward D Councilman Michael Yun and Ward F Councilman Jermaine Robinson. It's a second full term for all of them except Robinson, who was appointed to the council in January.

Today's runoffs, the first the city has held in December instead of May, attracted far fewer voters than the first round on Nov. 7. One voter, Mary, 55, who lives near Saint Peter's University and votes at School 11, said she forgot about the election until she was walking home from work and a car blasting a message to vote for Boggiano drove by her.

Mary, who declined to give her last name, confessed she was not very knowledgeable about the local election. She could not name the person she voted for -- it was Gadsden -- but called her vote a protest against Fulop.

"I think it's just too much development here in Jersey City. There's not enough room," she said. "It's just too much. There's no parking, there's space on the trains."

Fulop and all nine council members begin their new terms on Jan. 1. Council terms run four years.

An earlier version of this story should have said no Jersey City mayor in the last 50 years has won re-election with a larger share of the vote than Fulop did this year.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.