Cucci was elected to the Jersey City City Council in 1977 and served a single four-year term. He ran for mayor in 1981, coming in third in the
general election behind
New Jersey State Senator Wally Sheil and eventual winner
Gerald McCann. Cucci again ran for mayor in 1985, coming in first in the general election and forcing a
runoff election with McCann. Cucci won the runoff, and was sworn in as Mayor of Jersey City at one minute after midnight on July 1, 1985. In 1988, Cucci established a
sister city relationship between Jersey City and
Cusco,
Peru. While on a
goodwill visit to Peru, Cucci's wife and the wife of Cusco Mayor Carlos Chacon were killed when the railroad car in which they were riding
derailed and fell 700 feet off an embankment. The crash was suspected to have been caused by
sabotage by either
Maoist Shining Path guerrillas or a nationwide labor strike in Peru at the time. Peruvian authorities determined that the sabotage, a 10-inch steel rod wedged onto the tracks, was the work of guerillas. Shortly after returning from Peru, Cucci announced his intention to seek re-election, Cucci came in fourth in the May 1989 general election behind former mayors
Thomas F.X. Smith and McCann, as well as City Council President
Glenn Dale Cunningham. Cucci was elected to the Jersey City Board of Education in 2000, and served three terms. Cucci was named to the Fashion Foundation of America's Best Dressed list in 1985. ==References==