Mayor Cory Booker, by polishing to a shine his national and growing international brand, elevated politicking in the city of Newark to a prominence and into a spotlight it might never have known.
Booker, emerging out of the political fray in 2006 as the resoundingly triumphant mayor, set out to prove that one of America’s toughest and proudest cities could purge the afflictions of urban decay, reverse its fortunes and thrive again.
For his efforts and antics, the media dubbed Booker the “Super Mayor.” There was talk of him taking on the state’s governor and his sparring partner, Chris Christie. Circumstances and fate intervened and the path forward for Booker appears to be poised to join the United States Senate.
Newark, after 10 years in the media as the home and launching pad for the meteoric rise of Cory Booker, finds it has a certain celebratory status of its own.
The city’s entrenched and dramatic posture for political altercations make headlines. So does its persistent violence and social ills even as the city attracts developers and investments. Newark will be watched with interest throughout the mayoral campaign and election, the outcome of which will determine the city’s destiny post-Booker.
The current discussion inside Newark’s distinctive, deep-rooted and often divisive wards is who should follow Booker and why. The question both in and outside the city is who could follow Booker and how?
“Looking at all the candidates, none have the same stature nationally or even within Newark as Cory,” Dr. Andra Gillespie, associate professor of political science at Emory University and author of The New Black Politician: Cory Booker, Newark and Post-Racial America, told theGrio.
“Every one of those candidates will take elements of the Booker legacy and sustain parts of that element,” Dr. Clement Price, distinguished professor of history at Rutgers University, said in his discussions with the Grio. “None of them, whomever succeeds Cory, will be able to bring the kind of media attention Cory managed to bring to himself. None of them has that kind of appetite for notoriety, oratory and celebrity status that Cory displayed over a decade.”
“They all occupy different spaces,” Gillespie further observed. “There are a lot of different personalities. Even the caretakers of the Booker legacy would have to come into their own.” All four candidates have their work cut out for them, in Gillespie’s opinion.
Anibal Ramos, the North Ward Councilman, is said to have a substantial war chest and strong political support and has remained close to the mayor. Ramos would be the first Latino mayor, thus validating the demographic shift with a victory in a majority-black city.
“Anibal is very smart. He is more than Hispanic,” said Price. “I see him all over town. He wants the black community to know he acknowledges their existence.” That message is being heard. African-Americans were present in significant numbers when the two-term councilman announced his run.
Also present and taking a bow was Steve Adubato Sr, who despite shying away from the title “party boss,” is labeled as such. On stage with Ramos was another power broker, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo.
Backroom allegiances and deals with big business is exactly what the second mayoral candidate Ras Baraka, South Ward Councilman and long-time activist, says he is against. Like Booker, Baraka has a brand, albeit a local one, of being diametrically opposed to the Booker style of leadership.
“This election will be won by the people not political bosses, county machines, and not even by big money special interest groups,” Baraka said in an email to David Giambusso of the Star-Ledger.
Focusing on the people’s woes, crime, and economic disparity depressing the South Ward has been the mission and platform of Baraka the activist councilman. Baraka the mayoral contender is tasked with broadening his appeal to stand an equal chance with Ramos and to realize a goal he’s had for years.
“Ras has always had an ambition to be mayor. Long before Booker arrived. But does Ras have the cachet beyond the South Ward? Can Ras expand his base and change his brand? Can he cultivate a crossover?” Gillespie lists Baraka’s challenges if he wants a shot at being Newark’s next leader.
Can an activist easily change his brand?
According to Price, that’s what Baraka is doing. “Ras has had a meeting with local corporate and business leaders. He’s making some effort, with success, to modify his public image.” And Price’s words of advice: “He will have to cobble a coalition that will get him elected. He cannot become mayor by only addressing the African-American community.”
Enter Shavar Jeffries. “Who?” was the collective response when the former assistant state Attorney General and current associate professor of law at Seton Hall said he would like to be the next mayor. And, what does he have going for him?
“[Jeffries] has a strong narrative,” Giambusso pronounced.
Jeffries was the youth who endured a tragic and disadvantaged childhood in the South Ward, where violence killed his mother. Despite overwhelming odds, he graduated from Duke University and Columbia Law School, achieving the successes of the privileged like Cory Booker.
But the question prevails: Who is he? And, which one of the front runners is he a threat to?
“Jeffries might be able to cut into Anibal’s support,” Gillespie suggested. And he is sharpening his attack on Baraka as well, criticizing the councilman, who is also a high school principal, of benefiting from two public jobs.
He’s taken jabs at Baraka’s anti-Booker policy. “[Baraka] is very good at saying no, but you have to say yes to something.”
Jeffries enthusiastic supporters see him as the no-strings-attached candidate, which may weigh in his favor. Politicker NJ noted that “many praised Jeffries for being ‘his own man’ and not having any ties to political bosses of deeply entrenched political families” which they think would make Jeffries “a better candidate and more independent mayor.”
Jeffries platform is crafted to deliver that message. “I’m not going to increase my salary or raise your taxes 40 percent, that’s outrageous. I’m not going to lay off your cops while we have a culture of nepotism in this city, that’s outrageous.”
Central Ward Councilman Darrin Sharif refers to himself as deliberative, which may be why he announced his candidacy months after the other three. However with much of Newark’s business community and economic activity in his ward, Sharif has to be taken as seriously. He references the success of his ward, which he claims will continue under his leadership. “As Newark continues to go through this period of growth I feel confident that I can continue to lead the city on its upward trajectory.”
But the Central Ward is also known for the violent activity in its residential areas, where several of the city’s recent spikes in shootings and homicides occurred.
“We should commit ourselves to creating a culture of respect, high expectations and achievement.” Sharif says on his campaign website. But his primary message seems directed at the business community.
“I want to be the connector, the convener, the facilitator-in-chief, ” the one-term councilman said during an interview with NJ Today. He touted Newark’s potential for partnerships between big business and higher education, carving out a niche in a crowded field of candidates.
As the third African-American entering the race, is Sharif splitting the black vote to Ramos’ advantage? He dismissed that possibility during the interview.
“Darrin Sharif will be drawing votes from the same pool as Ras,” Price observed. And like Baraka, “He has also been critical of Cory Booker.”
So who does Cory Booker back?
“I don’t know if Booker will endorse anyone,” Gillespie says. “He has relationships with all these people.”
Perhaps taking advantage of the attention being paid to the Booker campaign, both Baraka and Ramos have announced their plans for public safety, giving attention to a top concern for both residents and would-be investors.
Baraka proposes a gang intervention program, “Project Chill,” with more police concentration in high-crime wards. Ramos’ plan has no name but is a similar: Community outreach and gang intervention.
Normally candidates for Newark’s next mayor would roll out their campaigns in January and begin stomping in earnest in February. But there is a lot at stake for Newark. And, however they present their platforms, the candidates know this as well as they know they are campaigning in the shadow of Cory Booker.
“None of the people who are poised to succeed [Booker] have that wide a network. The big question is whether or not people who have invested in the city will maintain their commitment. Those with investments, will they stay there because they have an interest in the city if there is an anti-Booker policy?” These are serious considerations for the future mayor and the city itself, according to Gillespie.
“The momentum released by Cory will likely continue, but not at the accelerated pace of Cory,” Price believes. “Cory is leaving the city ripe for a paradigm shift. His successor can do what he did not do. Fill a non-existent power vacuum by building a political machine.”
Mayor Booker is plainly optimistic about the opportunities for his city and his successor.
“The corner is turned,” Booker told Giambusso. “The momentum is set. Whoever is the next mayor is going to have tailwinds,” which is exactly how Booker will takeoff from Newark, whether the citizens of his city are glad or sad to see him go.
“People are critical [of Booker] but take pride in sending him to the Senate,” Gillespie concludes. Referencing her blog entry on NYU’s “From the Square,” Gillespie says even those who were vehemently opposed to Booker as mayor “basked in the glow” of his primary victory.
“They may have fought tooth and nail over local issues, but this organizer had no doubt that he and Booker saw eye to eye on issues of national concern. And it was clear that he perceived some cachet in knowing the man who was poised to be senator.”