Ras J. Baraka

Ras Baraka

Democratic Party

Candidate, Governor of New Jersey

Mayor of Newark

Tenure

2014 - Present

Term ends

2026

Years in position

10

Predecessor

Luis Quintana

Prior offices

Newark City Council South Ward

---

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

May 10, 2022

Next election

June 10, 2025

Education

Bachelor's

Howard University

Graduate

St. Peter's University

Contact

Official website

Official Facebook

Official Twitter

Official Instagram

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Personal Instagram

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) is running for election for Governor of New Jersey. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on June 10, 2025.^[source]

Mayoral elections in Newark are nonpartisan. Baraka is affiliated with the Democratic Party.

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.

He first ran for the office of Mayor in 1994.

Biography

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.

Baraka obtained a B.A. in political science from Howard University and an M.A. in education from St. Peters University.

2025 battleground election

See also: New Jersey gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2025 (June 10 Democratic primary)

Ballotpedia identified the June 10 Democratic primary as a battleground race. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, found here.

Six candidates are running in the Democratic primary for governor of New Jersey on June 10, 2025. Those candidates are: Ras Baraka (D), Steve Fulop (D), Josh Gottheimer (D), Mikie Sherrill (D), Sean Spiller (D), and Stephen Sweeney (D). Incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy (D) is term-limited.

Fairleigh Dickinson University's Dan Cassino said the primary is "really wide open for any of the candidates, and that’s really unusual, to have a whole bunch of candidates who have a plausible path forward. It’s likely to lead to higher voter turnout in the primary, because we actually have a meaningful choice."

In a February episode of On the Ballot, our weekly podcast, Politico’s Matthew Friedman said fiscal issues will play a significant role in the elections: “Property taxes [in New Jersey] have historically been high and a huge issue. We're going to have a really tough budget this year. Even though revenues are on pace, compared to where they usually are…the inflationary pressures I think are starting to hit a lot of the costs.”

On the Ballot takes an early look at 2025's gubernatorial elections.

Baraka was elected mayor of Newark in 2014. He previously served on the Newark City Council and worked as a high school teacher and principal. Baraka’s campaign website said, “By prioritizing economic growth, educational advancement, housing accessibility, and inclusive policies, he seeks to empower every resident to thrive and contribute to the state’s prosperity.”

Fulop was elected mayor of Jersey City in 2013. He previously served on the Jersey City Council and worked in finance. Fulop also served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Fulop said, “New Jersey isn’t just where I’m from — it’s the place that shaped who I am. Our state deserves a leader who truly understands the struggles and aspirations of its families, and I’m ready to fight every day to deliver the future they deserve.”

Gottheimer was elected to represent New Jersey's 5th Congressional District in 2016. He previously worked as a speechwriter for President Bill Clinton (D) and as a Microsoft strategist. Gottheimer said he is “running as the ‘Lower Taxes, Lower Costs Governor.’ My No. 1 priority is to bring down taxes and make life more affordable.”

Sherrill was elected to represent New Jersey's 11th Congressional District in 2018. She previously worked as a lawyer in private practice and the U.S. Attorney's office for the District of New Jersey. Sherrill also served in the U.S. Navy. Sherrill said, “Let's be the state that builds more housing, let's fix the economy, let's make life more affordable for hardworking New Jerseyans, from health care to groceries to childcare.”

Spiller has been the president of the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) since 2021. He previously served as the mayor of Montclair and on the Montclair City Council. Spiller also worked as a teacher. Spiller said he would build off his work as mayor by "[continuing] investing in public education, [making] New Jersey a more affordable place to live, and [ensuring] that the economy works for the working class."

Sweeney is a former ironworker who represented District 3 in the New Jersey Senate from 2002 to 2022. He served as Senate president for 12 of those years. Sweeney also served on the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders. Sweeney is running on his experience, saying in a campaign advertisement, "I will always put New Jersey's kids, working families, and seniors first. You know that's who I'll fight for because that's who I've always fought for."

Leading up to the primary, the county Democratic Parties are holding conventions to decide which candidates to endorse. Politico's Madison Fernandez wrote, "There are undoubtedly some benefits to having the backing of a county party. Some of the counties provide valuable resources, like on-the-ground organizing. A win can also establish momentum for the candidates." However, this will be the first gubernatorial election in which county endorsements do not determine a candidate's placement on the ballot. As of March 7, 2025, Sherrill has won the endorsements of nine counties, Sweeney has won the endorsements of six, and Gottheimer has won the endorsement of two. Two other counties decided not to endorse a candidate, and another endorsed multiple candidates. For more information on the county endorsement process, click here.

As of March 18, 2025, The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections have rated the general election as Lean Democratic. The last Republican governor was Chris Christie, who left office in 2018.

Elections

2025

See also: New Jersey gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2025

General election

The primary will occur on June 10, 2025. The general election will occur on November 4, 2025. Additional general election candidates will be added here following the primary.

General election for Governor of New Jersey

Stephen Zielinski, Gerardo Cedrone, Joanne Kuniansky, and Karen Zaletel are running in the general election for Governor of New Jersey on November 4, 2025.

		Candidate
		Stephen Zielinski (G)
	Submit photo	Gerardo Cedrone (Independent)
	Submit photo	Joanne Kuniansky (Independent)
	Submit photo	Karen Zaletel (Independent)

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= 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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of New Jersey

The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for Governor of New Jersey on June 10, 2025.

		Candidate
		Ras Baraka
		Steve Fulop
		Josh Gottheimer
		Mikie Sherrill
		Sean Spiller
		Stephen Sweeney

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= 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 are running in the Republican primary for Governor of New Jersey on June 10, 2025.

		Candidate
		Roger Bacon
		Justin Barbera
		Jon Bramnick
	Submit photo	Monica Brinson
		Robert Canfield
		Jack Ciattarelli
		Edward R. Durr
	Submit photo	James Fazzone
		Hans Herberg
	Submit photo	Mario Kranjac
		Bill Spadea

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= 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.

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

Polls are conducted with a variety of methodologies and have margins of error or credibility intervals. The Pew Research Center wrote, "A margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level means that if we fielded the same survey 100 times, we would expect the result to be within 3 percentage points of the true population value 95 of those times." For tips on reading polls from FiveThirtyEight, click here. For tips from Pew, click here.

Below we provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, when available. Click here to read about FiveThirtyEight's criteria for including polls in its aggregation. We only report polls for which we can find a margin of error or credibility interval.

New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2025: Democratic primary election polls
Poll	Date	Baraka	Fulop	Gottheimer	Sherrill	Spiller	Sweeney	Undecided/Other	Margin of error	Sample size	Sponsor
MDW Communications	Feb. 10, 2025	10%	5%	5%	16%	10%	3%	51%	± 3.0	789 LV	Ras Baraka
Public Policy Polling	Jan. 22-23, 2025	9%	9%	5%	16%	11%	9%	41%	± 4.0	615 LV	Working New Jersey (PAC)
Emerson College Polling	Jan. 18-21, 2025	8%	4%	7%	10%	8%	7%	56%	± 4.6	437 LV	Nexstar, WPIX (New York)
Upswing Research & Strategy	Nov. 23-27, 2024	13%	8%	10%	25%	7%	8%	29%	± 3.46	803 LV	Laborers’ International Union of North America
Global Strategy Group	Nov. 20-24, 2024	9%	4%	9%	24%	5%	11%	38%	± 3.5	800 LV	Mikie Sherrill
Renaissance Campaign Strategies	July 13-14, 2024	12%	7%	8%	18%	2%	8%	45%	± 3.46	802 LV	One New Jersey (PAC)
GQR	March 7-12, 2024	20%	9%	5%	23%	-	12%	31%	± 4.0	603 LV	Principled Veterans Fund (PAC)

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from candidates submitted to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. Click here to access the reports.

Satellite spending

See also: Satellite spending

Satellite spending, commonly referred to as outside spending, describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.

This section lists satellite spending in this race reported by news outlets in alphabetical order. If you are aware of spending that should be included, please email us.

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)

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

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	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

See also: Mayoral election in Newark, New Jersey (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.

"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."

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."

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.

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:

• 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.

2014

See also: Newark, New Jersey mayoral election, 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.

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 has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Ras Baraka asking him to fill out the survey. If you are Ras Baraka, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.

Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?

Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for.  More than 21,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.

You can ask Ras Baraka to fill out this survey by using the buttons below or emailing info@rasforgovernor.com.

Campaign advertisements

View more ads here:

• Facebook

2022

Ras Baraka did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Noteworthy events

Tested positive for coronavirus on December 23, 2021

See also: Government official, politician, and candidate deaths, diagnoses, and quarantines due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020-2021

Coronavirus pandemic
Select a topic from the dropdown below to learn more. Political responses overviewState reopening plansDocumenting America's Path to RecoveryElection changesChanges to vote-by-mail and absentee voting proceduresFederal responsesState responsesState executive ordersStay-at-home ordersMultistate agreementsNon-governmental reopening plansEvictions and foreclosures policiesTravel restrictionsEnacted state legislationState legislative session changesSchool closuresState court closuresInmate releasesLocal government responsesDiagnosed or quarantined politiciansBallot measure changesArguments about government responsesThe 1918 influenza pandemicPandemic Response Accountability CommitteeUnemployment filingsLawsuitsBallotpedia's polling on the coronavirus pandemicSubmit

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.

Events and activity following the death of George Floyd

See also: Events following the death of George Floyd and responses in select cities from May 29-31, 2020

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. 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.

On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officers arrested Floyd, a Black man, after receiving a call that he had made a purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd died after Derek Chauvin, a white officer, arrived at the scene and pressed his knee onto Floyd's neck as Floyd laid face-down on the street in handcuffs. Both the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and an independent autopsy conducted by Floyd's family ruled Floyd's death as a homicide stemming from the incident. The medical examiner's report, prepared by Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson, said that it was "not a legal determination of culpability or intent, and should not be used to usurp the judicial process." On April 20, 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in relation to Floyd's death. Floyd's death was filmed and shared widely, leading to activity regarding racism, civil rights, and police use of force. The first events took place in Minneapolis-St. Paul on May 26. An event in Chicago organized by Chance the Rapper and Rev. Michael Pfleger took place the same day, making it the first major city outside of Minneapolis to host an event in response to Floyd's death.

See also

2025 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel Union Station

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

Governor of New Jersey

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Officeholder

Mayor of Newark

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Personal

Instagram

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Luis Quintana	Mayor of Newark 2014-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	Newark City Council South Ward 2010-2014	Succeeded by -