Marques-Aquil Lewis
Marques-Aquil Lewis is a former at-large member of the Newark Public Schools Advisory Board in New Jersey. When he was first elected to the board in 2009, 21-year old Lewis was the youngest member in its history.[1] Lewis won re-election to a second term in 2011 and a third in the general election on April 21, 2015.
In 2015, Mayor Ras J. Baraka endorsed a slate of candidates called the "Children First Team" (CFT), which includes Lewis, Dashay Carter and Crystal Fonseca.[2] Lewis received Baraka's backing as part of the CFT slate in 2011, as well.
While the school board is a nonpartisan political body, Lewis is a self-identified Democrat. He was also a 2014 candidate for an at-large seat on the Newark City Council, but he was defeated in the election on May 12, 2014.
Biography
Lewis' father was killed when he was nine years old. As an adolescent, Lewis became involved with gang activity, including selling drugs and fighting for the Crips. He described his entrance into gang life saying, "I got into it how we all get into it — searching for love, looking for love — and I found love in the wrong place. I glorified the gang life."[1]
In 2005, Lewis was arrested following a brawl between Crips and Bloods and was kicked out his home by his mother. Sixteen years old at the time, he moved in with an uncle and went on to graduate from Arts High School in 2007. He became a parking enforcement officer and has since become a minister.[1]
Elections
2015
- See also: Newark Public Schools elections (2015)
Three of the nine seats on the Newark Advisory Board were up for election on April 21, 2015. Only one incumbent, Marques-Aquil Lewis, filed to run for re-election. He faced the following seven challengers on the general election ballot: Natasha Alvarado, Veronica Branch, Dashay Carter, Crystal Fonseca, Ronnie Kellam, Charles Love III, and Sheila Montague. Lewis, Carter, and Fonseca were chosen for Mayor Ras J. Barak's "Children First Team" slate.[2]
Michael Diaz and Ivan Holmes also filed to run in this election but did not appear on the ballot. Holmes withdrew from the race and Diaz was disqualified.[3]
The Baraka-backed candidates Lewis, Carter, and Fonseca, won the three seat up for election.
Results
| Newark Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Crystal Fonseca |
21.9% | 3,745 | |
| Nonpartisan | Marques-Aquil Lewis Incumbent |
21.8% | 3,729 | |
| Nonpartisan | Dashay Carter |
19.4% | 3,311 | |
| Nonpartisan | Charles Love III | 11.4% | 1,955 | |
| Nonpartisan | Sheila Montague | 10.1% | 1,729 | |
| Nonpartisan | Veronica Branch | 9.6% | 1,637 | |
| Nonpartisan | Natasha Alvarado | 3.4% | 584 | |
| Nonpartisan | Ronnie Kellam | 2% | 347 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.4% | 63 | |
| Total Votes | 17,100 | |||
| Source: Essex County Clerk, "2015 School Board Election," April 27, 2015 | ||||
Funding
Lewis began the race with an existing account balance of $220.00 from his previous campaign. He reported $7,920.00 in contributions and $808.81 in expenditures to New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, which left his campaign with $7,331.19 on hand as of March 27, 2015. Lewis also ran as part of the the Children First Team, which reported a $4,000.00 transfer from the slate's prior campaign, plus $16,050.00 in contributions and $3,111.20 in expenditures to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission as of April 7, 2015.[4]
Endorsements
Lewis was endorsed by Mayor Ras J. Baraka. Baraka endorsed a slate of candidates called the "Children First Team," which includes Lewis, Dashay Carter and Crystal Fonseca.[2]
2014
Elections for the city council of Newark, New Jersey took place on May 12, 2014. Four at-large seats were up for election. Incumbents Carlos M. Gonzalez and Mildred C. Crump faced Louis Shockley, Patrick Council, Juan Arias, Kassimou Dosso, Calvin Wayde Souder, Marques Aquil Lewis, Alturrick Kenney, William Ramos, Wilfredo Caraballo, Carlos Cruz Jimenez, Terrance L. Bankston, Lynda Lloyd, Cesar A. Vizcaino, Luis Quintana, Carlotta Hall and Edward Osborne for the four at-large positions. Crump, Gonzalez, Quintana and Osborne won the four seats.[5][6][7]
| Newark City Council, At-large, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Mildred C. Crump Incumbent |
16.2% | 16,065 | |
| Carlos M. Gonzalez Incumbent |
10.4% | 10,355 | |
| Luis Quintana |
14.3% | 14,223 | |
| Edward Osborne |
10.4% | 10,305 | |
| Louis Shockley | 1.4% | 1,356 | |
| Patrick Council | 9.5% | 9,399 | |
| Juan Arias | 1.5% | 1,482 | |
| Dosso Kassimou | 1.2% | 1,164 | |
| Calvin Wayde Souder | 2% | 1,949 | |
| Marques Aquil Lewis | 1.5% | 1,518 | |
| Alturrick Kenney | 2.2% | 2,219 | |
| William Ramos | 3.7% | 3,705 | |
| Wilfredo Caraballo | 8.8% | 8,736 | |
| Carlos Cruz Jimenez | 1.7% | 1,697 | |
| Terrance L. Bankston | 2.6% | 2,615 | |
| Lynda Lloyd | 8.8% | 8,681 | |
| Cesar A. Vizcaino | 1.4% | 1,392 | |
| Carlotta Hall | 2.2% | 2,222 | |
| Write-in | 0.1% | 97 | |
| Total Votes | 52,304 | ||
| Source: Essex County Clerk's Office - 2014 Election Results | |||
2012
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | DeNiqua Matias |
21.3% | 5,721 | |
| Nonpartisan | Marques-Aquil Lewis Incumbent |
15.8% | 4,237 | |
| Nonpartisan | Rashied McCreary |
13.8% | 3,720 | |
| Nonpartisan | Ariagna Perello | 13.5% | 3,628 | |
| Nonpartisan | Tara Williams | 11.7% | 3,151 | |
| Nonpartisan | Masiel Valentin | 10.1% | 2,712 | |
| Nonpartisan | Philip C. Seelinger Jr. | 6.3% | 1,701 | |
| Nonpartisan | Rafael A. Brito | 3.7% | 983 | |
| Nonpartisan | Rashon Kashif Hasan | 2.9% | 788 | |
| Nonpartisan | Swapan Basu | 0.7% | 182 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.2% | 45 | |
| Total Votes | 26,868 | |||
| Source: Essex County, New Jersey, "2012 School Board Election," accessed February 18, 2014 | ||||
Campaign themes
2015
The following statement was provided on the Children First Team's slate Facebook campaign page:
| “ | The Children First Team (CFT) is for the uplifting of our people through cooperative gain, not selfish, self-serving agendas; CFT is for the restoration of our community through hard-work and perserverance, not short-cuts and scapegoats; CFT is for EQUALITY & JUSTICE as evidenced by an equitable distribution of resources not seemingly arbitrary and inconsistent policies and practices; CFT is for building capacity amongst stakeholders, sharing best practices, eliminating "pockets of success" and supporting a common instructional practice that breeds EXCELLENCE for ALL; CFT is for making ALL schools incubators of excellence by focusing on the most critical mechanics of academic achievement--Teaching & Learning. CFT is ready, willing and able to stand with anyone who shares in this mission for Justice and Salvation.[8] | ” |
| —Children First Team Facebook campaign page (2015)[9] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Marques Aquil Lewis Newark Public Schools. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Newark Public Schools, New Jersey
- Newark Public Schools elections (2015)
- Newark, New Jersey
- Newark, New Jersey city council elections, 2014
- United States municipal elections, 2014
- Baraka-backed "Children First Team" dominates Newark's school election (April 22, 2015)
External links
- Newark Public Schools
- Office website
- 2015 advisory board campaign website
- Children First Team 2015 slate campaign Facebook page
- 2014 campaign website for Newark City Council
- Official 2014 city council candidate list
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 NJ.com, "Newark's 21-year-old school board member works to keep students off gang-heavy streets," December 4, 2009
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 NJ.com, "Ten candidates sign up for Newark school board race," March 4, 2015
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Martha A. Jones, Newark Public Schools," April 14, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "View a Candidate or Election Related Committee Report," accessed April 17, 2015
- ↑ City of Newark, "Candidate list" accessed March 18, 2014
- ↑ nj.com, "Newark election 2014: Run-off races to be held in Central and West wards," May 13, 2014
- ↑ City of Newark, "Official election results," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Facebook, "Children First Team: About," accessed April 2, 2015
| 2015 Newark Public Schools Elections | |
| Essex County, New Jersey | |
| Election date: | April 21, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Incumbent, Marques-Aquil Lewis • Natasha Alvarado • Veronica Branch • Dashay Carter • Michael Diaz • Crystal Fonsica • Ivan Holmes • Ronnie Kellam • Charles Love III • Sheila Montague |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
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