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Ras J. Baraka
2014 - Present
2026
11
Ras Baraka is the Mayor of Newark in New Jersey. He assumed office on July 1, 2014. His current term ends on June 30, 2026.
Baraka (Democratic Party) ran for election for Governor of New Jersey. He lost in the Democratic primary on June 10, 2025.
Mayoral elections in Newark are nonpartisan. Baraka is affiliated with the Democratic Party.[1][2][3]
Biography
Baraka earned a bachelor's degree from Howard University and a graduate degree from St. Peter's University. Before becoming mayor, Baraka was a member of the Newark City Council, representing the South Ward from 2010 to 2014. Before that, he was an at-large council member from 2002 to 2005, during which time he also served as deputy mayor of Newark under former Newark Mayor Sharp James. In 2005, he was appointed to serve the remainder of former councilman Donald Tucker's term, who passed away earlier that year. Baraka held the seat until 2006.[4]
Elections
2025
See also: New Jersey gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2025
General election
General election for Governor of New Jersey
Mikie Sherrill, Jack Ciattarelli, Vic Kaplan, and Joanne Kuniansky are running in the general election for Governor of New Jersey on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
 | Mikie Sherrill (D) | |
 | Jack Ciattarelli (R) | |
 | Vic Kaplan (L) | |
| Joanne Kuniansky (Socialist Workers Party) | ||
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Karen Zaletel (Independent)
- Lily Benavides (G)
- Stephen Zielinski (G)
- Gerardo Cedrone (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of New Jersey
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Governor of New Jersey on June 10, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mikie Sherrill | 34.0 | 286,244 |
 | Ras Baraka | 20.7 | 173,951 | |
 | Steve Fulop | 16.0 | 134,573 | |
 | Josh Gottheimer | 11.6 | 97,384 | |
 | Sean Spiller | 10.6 | 89,472 | |
 | Stephen Sweeney | 7.1 | 59,811 | |
| Total votes: 841,435 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of New Jersey
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of New Jersey on June 10, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jack Ciattarelli | 67.8 | 316,283 |
 | Bill Spadea | 21.7 | 101,408 | |
 | Jon Bramnick | 6.2 | 29,130 | |
 | Mario Kranjac | 2.7 | 12,782 | |
 | Justin Barbera | 1.4 | 6,743 | |
 | Hans Herberg (Write-in) | 0.0 | 0 | |
| Total votes: 466,346 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- James Fazzone (R)
- Roger Bacon (R)
- Monica Brinson (R)
- Robert Canfield (R)
- Edward R. Durr (R)
Endorsements
Baraka received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
- U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D)
- U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver (D)
- Working Families Party
- SEIU 32BJ
- Collective PAC
- Emgage Action
- Good Government Coalition of New Jersey
- Mercer County Democratic Progressive Caucus
- New Jersey Citizen Action
- Rutgers American Association of University Professors (AAUP)-American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
- Service Employees International Union (SEIU) BJ32
- Service Employees International Union (SEIU) New Jersey State Council
- Workers United Laundry, Distribution and Food Service Joint Board
2022
See also: Mayoral election in Newark, New Jersey (2022)
General election
General election for Mayor of Newark
Incumbent Ras Baraka defeated Sheila Montague in the general election for Mayor of Newark on May 10, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ras Baraka (Nonpartisan) | 83.1 | 14,777 |
 | Sheila Montague (Nonpartisan) | 16.9 | 3,007 | |
| Total votes: 17,784 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
The city of Newark, New Jersey, held a general election for mayor on May 8, 2018. Incumbent Ras J. Baraka defeated Newark City Councilwoman Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins to secure a second term as Mayor.
Chaneyfield Jenkins backed Baraka's 2014 mayoral bid, running as part of his slate of candidates. She later broke with the mayor.[5]
"When Ras Baraka said during the 2014 campaign 'When I become mayor, we become mayor,' he didn't mean all of us," she said. "He meant him and his brother. When he talks about a Newark we can believe in, many Newarkers don't believe in what he's doing. I took off my rose-colored glasses long ago."[6]
A Baraka campaign statement referred to Chaneyfield Jenkins only as a challenger, saying "Elections are a democratic process in which anyone can participate. The Mayor's focus remains set on moving Newark forward."[7]
The candidates differed on issues like development and education. Chaneyfield Jenkins opposed a Baraka-backed proposal mandating a number of low-income housing units in new residential developments. She was also against a state moratorium on charter school expansion that had Baraka's support.[8][9][10]
| Newark Mayor, General Election, 2018 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Ras Baraka Incumbent |
77.00% | 22,094 |
| Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins | 22.69% | 6,510 |
| Write-in votes | 0.31% | 90 |
| Total Votes | 28,694 | |
| Source: Essex County, "Official Results," accessed May 25, 2018 | ||
Endorsements
Baraka received endorsements from the following in 2018:[11]
- Gov. Phil Murphy
- New Jersey Democratic Party Chair John Currie
- Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo
- Newark City Council President Mildred C. Crump
- Newark City Councilman Augusto Amador
- Newark City Councilman Carlos M. Gonzalez
- Newark City Councilman John S. James
- Newark City Councilman Joseph A. McCallum, Jr.
- Newark City Councilman Eddie Osborne
- Newark City Councilman Luis Quintana
- Newark City Councilman Anibal Ramos, Jr.
Campaign finance
Baraka reported $699,527.21 in contributions and $243,056.65 in expenditures to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, leaving his campaign with $456,470.56 cash on hand as of October 15, 2017.[12]
2014
Elections for Mayor of Newark, New Jersey took place on May 12, 2014. Incumbent Luis Quintana did not seek re-election. Ras J. Baraka defeated Shavar D. Jeffries in the general election.[13][14]
| Newark Mayoral General Election, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Ras J. Baraka |
54.1% | 24,358 | |
| Shavar D. Jeffries | 45.7% | 20,593 | |
| Write-in | 0.2% | 106 | |
| Total Votes | 45,057 | ||
| Source: Essex County Clerk's Office - 2014 Election Results | |||
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Ras Baraka did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Ras Baraka did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Noteworthy events
ICE detention center protest and arrest (2025)
On May 9, 2025, Baraka was arrested by federal police and charged with trespassing after he participated in a protest outside of an ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey.[15][16] On May 19, 2025, the Justice Department dropped the charges against Baraka.[17]
In a post on X, Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba said, “The Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey this afternoon. He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this state. He has been taken into custody. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.”[18]
In response to his arrest, Baraka stated, "I was there for over an hour in that space, and nobody ever told me to move … not a single person, not an officer from ICE, not any of the security guards, nobody told me to leave that place." He added, "I was there as the mayor of the city exercising my right and duty as an elected official, supporting our Congress people, preparing for a press conference. I did not enter that place unlawfully; I did not break any laws ..."[19]
Baraka and congressional Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D), LaMonica McIver (D), and Rob Menendez (D) were gathered at Delaney Hall to protest its re-opening as a detention center. In April 2025, the city of Newark filed a lawsuit against the center's private operator, GEO Group, alleging that the company lacked the necessary permits to operate the facility as a detention center. GEO Group denied the allegations.[20][21][22]
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| Coronavirus pandemic |
| Select a topic from the dropdown below to learn more.
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Baraka announced on December 23, 2021, that he tested positive for COVID-19. He said he was vaccinated at the time he contracted the virus.[23]
Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
Baraka was mayor of Newark during the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, when events and activity took place in cities across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd. Events in Newark, New Jersey, began on Saturday, May 30, 2020, at the city's historic courthouse.[24] No curfews were issued. The national guard was not deployed.
| To read more about the death of George Floyd and subsequent events, click [show] to the right. | |||
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See also
2025 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Governor of New Jersey |
Officeholder Mayor of Newark |
Footnotes
- ↑ NJ.com, "Ras Baraka win in Newark changes political landscape in Essex and beyond," May 18, 2014
- ↑ Observer, "In hard political terms, can Ras Baraka wield influence as Sharpe James did?" June 17, 2014
- ↑ Observer, "Baraka Announces 2018 Re-election Campaign With Support of NJ Democrats," June 22, 2017
- ↑ Ras J. Baraka, "About," accessed October 20, 2014
- ↑ Essex County Politics, "Baraka pressures Quintana, rolls out council slate in Newark mayoral race," March 8, 2014
- ↑ TAP into Newark, "Chaneyfield Jenkins launches bid to unseat Baraka," January 9, 2018
- ↑ Ras J. Baraka, "Mayor Ras Baraka's re-election campaign response to new challenger entering 2018 mayoral race," January 9, 2018
- ↑ TAP into Newark, "Baraka, Chaneyfield Jenkins battle over inclusionary zoning at council meeting," August 2, 2017
- ↑ Anibal Ramos Jr., "Newark City Council passes resolution opposing state legislation limiting charter school growth," May 12, 2015
- ↑ The Newark Report, "The plight of students in Newark's public school system," December 30, 2015
- ↑ Observer, "Baraka announces 2018 re-election campaign with support of NJ Democrats," June 22, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "Candidate and Election Related Committee Listing," accessed March 28, 2018
- ↑ City of Newark, "Candidate list" accessed March 18, 2014
- ↑ City of Newark, "Unofficial election results," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ Insider NJ "Baraka Arrested for Trespassing at Controversial Immigrant Detention Facility" accessed May 9, 2025
- ↑ CBS News, "Newark Mayor Ras Baraka due in court Thursday to face trespassing charge at ICE detention facility," May 12, 2025
- ↑ X "Post by U.S. Attorney Alina Habba" accessed May 20, 2025
- ↑ X, "Alina Habba on X" accessed May 9, 2025
- ↑ Newsweek, "Ras Baraka Blasts Alina Habba After Arrest: 'Get Better Information'," May 10, 2025
- ↑ New Jersey Monitor, "City of Newark v. GEO Group," accessed May 9, 2025
- ↑ Politico, "New Jersey Mayor Ras Baraka arrested at ICE facility," accessed May 9, 2025
- ↑ New Jersey Monitor, "Newark lawsuit aims to ‘cripple’ immigrant enforcement, prison company alleges," April 10, 2025
- ↑ Tap into Newark, "Newark Mayor Tests Positive for COVID, Credits Vaccine for Lack of Symptoms," December 23, 2021
- ↑ NJ.com, "George Floyd police brutality protest starts peacefully in Newark, with chants of ‘I can’t breathe’," May 30, 2020
- ↑ Washington Post, "The death of George Floyd: What video and other records show about his final minutes," May 30, 2020
- ↑ The New York Times, "8 Minutes and 46 Seconds: How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody," May 31, 2020
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 USA Today, "Medical examiner and family-commissioned autopsy agree: George Floyd's death was a homicide," June 1, 2020
- ↑ Associated Press, "Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death," April 20, 2021
- ↑ CNN, "Protests across America after George Floyd's death," accessed June 2, 2020
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Luis Quintana |
Mayor of Newark 2014-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Newark City Council South Ward 2010-2014 |
Succeeded by - |
 |
State of New Jersey Trenton (capital) |
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