In May 2005, Fulop was the winner against an incumbent councilman in Jersey City's Ward E, representing the downtown area. 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 Senator Robert Menendez, Mayor Jerramiah Healy of Jersey City, and the Hudson County Democratic organization.
