Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, in search of fourth term, to face 7 challengers in municipal election
To say there is a crowded field in the races for Newark mayor and City Council is putting it mildly.
Incumbent Mayor Ras Baraka, a progressive Democrat, will face seven challengers, and 19 candidates will vie for four at-large council seats when voters go to the polls Tuesday.
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Baraka has been mayor for more than a decade
Baraka, 56, will be looking to secure his fourth four-year term as the leader of New Jersey's most populous city. If he's successful, he will tie Kenneth Gibson, the city's first Black mayor, for second-longest running mayor, behind Sharpe James, who ruled from 1986-2006.
Newark, which has had 40 mayors since being incorporated as a city in 1836, has no mayoral term limit.
Among Baraka's achievements, he is credited with restoring local control of schools and instituting public safety reform, and has overseen the city's significant economic growth and the extensive replacement of lead pipes.
He's had a turbulent 12 months leading into the race.
Nearly one year ago, he was arrested at a protest outside a federal immigration detention center. Those charges were later dropped.
Baraka then ran for governor, placing second in the Democratic primary behind Mikie Sherrill, who went on to win the general election.
The mayoral candidates
Baraka's challengers are: Debra Salters, Douglas Davis, Jhamar Youngblood, Noble Milton, Tanisha Garner, Nasheedah Singleton, and Sheila Montague, who ran against Baraka in the 2022 mayoral race.
Montague, a longtime educator, and Salters each ran in the special election to fill the seat of late-Rep. Donald Payne Jr., in July 2024, a race ultimately won by LaMonica McIver.
Montague also ran against Baraka in 2022, but came in a distant second with just 17% of the vote.
If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, the top two candidates will advance to a runoff election.
The City Council candidates
Of the four seats up for grabs, three are currently held by incumbents -- Louise Scott-Rountree, Luis Quintana, and C. Lawrence Crump. Carlos Gonzalez, the fourth incumbent, is not seeking re-election
The other candidates are Joanette Hinnant, Donna Jackson, Nadirah Brown, Pablo Olivera, Malik Cooper, Yusuf Shabazz, Lamont Vaughn, Rasheen Peppers, Altarik White, Alonzo Herran Jr., Christina Cherry, Maria Lebron, Lynda Lloyd, Khalil Kettles, Josephine Garcia, and Edden Rivera.
