Ras Baraka Wins Newark Mayoral Race

South Ward Councilman Ras Baraka, son of the
beat-era poet Amiri Baraka,
won today’s mayoral election in Newark, N.J. today. Baraka ran
against Shavar Jeffries, a former school board president who
campaigned as an education reform advocate. Education played a
major role in the election, which was seen as a
referendum on reform .

Baraka served as principal of Central High School while holding
his city council position, bringing his income into six-figures,
something his opponents have criticized him for. The Newark City
Council as a whole has been
criticized for the high pay and spending involved.

Baraka’s supporters
accused Jeffries, who helped found the TEAM Academy charter
school in Newark, of being supported by the same kind of outside
money that’s helped make the charter school experiment a success in
Newark. Outside groups spent money on
both candidates, a departure from previous election cycles in
the city. Baraka is a
fierce critic of state-led efforts to reform the city’s school
system, and has been criticized for not having an alternative to
charter schools or education reform for Newark’s failing public
schools. He was
endorsed by the Newark Teacher’s Union.

Baraka has organized regular anti-violence protests in Newark
for years. Here’s a video from 2011 shot by my girlfriend at the
time where Baraka spoke about the shooting death of a Virginia
teacher who had bome back home to Newark in the summer. In it he
advocates a kind of vigilanteism toward the young men who commit
the bulk of murders in Newark. Watch below:

Baraka succeeds Luis Quintana, who has been acting mayor of
Newark since the election to the U.S. Senate of Cory Booker.
Booker, a Democrat, bucked party line by supporting school vouchers
when running for mayor in 2006, nurturing charter schools while in
office and using his celebrity star power to promote and bring
money into Newark’s schools. Booker succeeded Sharpe James, who was
mayor of Newark for 20 years before serving two years in jail after
being convicted on corruption-related charges by then U.S. Attorney
Chris Christie. Baraka ran against James in 1994 when he was 24
years old. James was first re-elected in 1990 with no opponents