Ras Baraka
Ras Jua Baraka is an American politician, author, and educator. A member of the Democratic Party, Baraka is the 40th and current mayor of Newark, New Jersey. First elected in the 2014 election, he was sworn into office on July 1, 2014, and was reelected in 2018 and 2022.
Prior to his election as mayor, he served on the Municipal Council of Newark and as principal of the city's Central High School. Baraka sought the Democratic nomination for governor of New Jersey in the 2025 election, but lost in the primary to Mikie Sherrill.
Early life and education
A Newark native, Baraka is the son of poet and activist Amiri Baraka, and poet and actress Amina Baraka.Baraka was educated in the Newark Public Schools, attending University High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Howard University in Washington, DC; and a Master of Arts degree in education supervision from Saint Peter's University in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Career in education
Baraka was the principal of Central High School from 2007 until 2013. Before he was principal, he was a school teacher.Poetry, spoken word, and hip-hop
Baraka edited the 1992 book In the Tradition: An Anthology of Young Black Writers.Baraka was featured on singer Lauryn Hill's 1998 The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, as the narrator of several interludes on the album. He also recorded the intro to The Score, the Fugees' second album. Baraka and Hill recorded an unreleased single together titled "Hot Beverage in the Winter", which later featured on his spoken-word album Shorty for Mayor.
Baraka dedicated his collection of poems Black Girls Learn Love Hard to the life of his late sister, Shani Baraka, who had been fatally shot in 2003.
He had read as part of the city's Dodge Poetry Festival.
Baraka has participated in the National Political Hip-Hop Convention. In 2019, Baraka released the spoken word video What We Want.
In 2025, an audio recording of Baraka's poem American Poem, which he performed on Def Poetry Jam on HBO in 2003, was featured in singer Beyonce's Cowboy Carter tour.
Early political career
Between 2002 and 2006 Baraka was Newark Municipal Council member and in 2002 was appointed deputy mayor, and served that position until 2005. In November 2005, Baraka was voted to complete the term vacated by the deceased Councilmember-at-Large Donald Kofi Tucker.In May 2010 he defeated then-councilman Oscar James II in a highly contested election, on a platform critical of Mayor Cory Booker. The election was documented on the Sundance TV reality television series Brick City, which stars Booker, Baraka and other Newark political and residential figures.
Mayor of Newark
Elections
Baraka ran his first campaign for mayor when he was 24 years old, in 1994.Baraka ran in the 2014 Newark mayoral election against former Assistant State Attorney General Shavar Jeffries, after fellow council members Anibal Ramos, Jr. and Darrin Sharif dropped out of the race. In August 2013, fellow council members Mildred C. Crump and Ronald C. Rice issued statements formally backing Baraka's candidacy. Baraka's slate for the municipal council included John Sharpe James, Mildred C. Crump, Alturrick Kenney, Patrick Council and Joe McCallum.
In December 2013, the Communications Workers of America endorsed Baraka. In February 2014 he received the endorsement of former New Jersey governor Richard Codey and Jersey City mayor Steven Fulop. In March he was endorsed by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.
On May 13, 2014, Baraka was elected mayor of Newark. Official results show that of 44,951 ballots cast, he received 24,358 to Jeffries' 20,593. He succeeded Luis A. Quintana, who was completing the term of Cory Booker, who had resigned after being elected to the United States Senate in October 2013. Baraka was sworn in as the city's 40th mayor by former governor of New Jersey Richard Codey at ceremonies at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on July 1, 2014, for a four-year term.
Baraka was re-elected in 2018 and 2022.
Transition
Soon after winning the 2014 election, Baraka initiated meetings with Cory Booker on May 19 with Governor Chris Christie, and Essex County executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. on May 21.On May 28, 2014, Baraka announced his transition team, headed by former mayor Kenneth Gibson.
Baraka appointed his brother, Amiri "Middy" Baraka, Jr. as his chief of staff.
Tenure
Politico has described Baraka as "one of the most progressive Democrats in New Jersey, and possibly the nation".During his tenure as mayor, Baraka has earned praise for improving Newark's economic prospects.
Newark schools
The Newark Public Schools system was placed under state control in 1994. Newark is one of 31 Abbott districts. The state is required to cover all costs for school building and renovation projects in these districts under the supervision of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority.In 2010, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, donated $100 million of his personal fortune through his foundation StartUp Education to the Newark school system. Release of the funds required matching funds, which were mostly raised through the Foundation for Newark's Future and have largely been spent, though funds remain.
Teams of consultants have suggested numerous management reforms from the top down, but according to Baraka, echoing concerns of many residents, they have ignored the community and the needs of children and wishes of families in the neighborhoods. A restructuring program called One Newark calls for the closure of some public schools and the opening of more charter schools.
The reorganization, spearheaded by state-appointed superintendent Cami Anderson, would relocate, consolidate or close one quarter of the district's schools that she has determined are underutilized. The plan has met with stiff resistance from large segments of Newark's population, with critics saying there was no evidence it will increase student performance. The plan would also include teacher lay-offs. While there is some agreement with many of the policies being implemented in the program, the disregard for community input and the pace of change has drawn criticism. The plan will require some students to leave their neighborhoods and travel across the city, with many parents fearing for their safety.
Baraka ran for election with a campaign to take back local control of the schools. In May 2014, Newark, which already had control of operations, was granted local powers over budget and finance, giving the local advisory board its first formal vote on the district's nearly $1 billion in annual spending. The state retains the right to veto any action of the local board and has the final say in appointing the superintendent of the district. Baraka, as an outspoken advocate of returning control of Newark's schools to local authority, has called for the ouster of state-appointed Superintendent Anderson. Anderson's contract was renewed in June 2014.
A discrimination complaint filed on behalf of Newark parents and the Newark branch of New Jersey's Parents Unified for Local School Education claims that 86 percent of the students affected by "One Newark" changes are African American, while African-American students make up 51 percent of the entire district. The allegation is being investigated by the United States Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.
Baraka has called for the resignation of Cami Anderson, the state-appointed superintendent. Anderson resigned in June 2015. While Anderson's resignation made the situation less politically volatile, Baraka opposes the creation of more charter schools, and believes they come at the expense of public schools.
Crime and gang violence
In October 2013 Baraka introduced his program to deal with crime and gang violence in the city, the Ras Baraka Blueprint to Reduce Crime and Violence in Newark. It includes "Project Chill", which incorporates elements similar to Boston's Operation Ceasefire and other engagement with gang members and intervention programs. As of June 30 there had been 43 homicides in 2014. In 2013 through June 30, the city recorded 41 homicides. A surge of violence in the second half of 2013 pushed the homicide total to 111, the most since 1990. In 2019 and 2020 the city had 51 homicides.In Fall 2014, Baraka started the Model Neighborhood initiative, which increased police presence in troubled neighborhoods.
In 2020, Baraka created the Office of Violence Prevention & Trauma Recovery to steer resources to the root causes of violence, while ensuring that the many organizations contributing to public safety are working in alignment. The city has now achieved a historic 60-year low in violence.
Underwater mortgages and eminent domain
Between 2008 and mid-2013, 6,810 homes were foreclosed in Newark, and citywide, and homeowners in the city and lost roughly $1.8 billion in home values. At that time about 9,000 Newark residents were "underwater", where payment balances are higher than the fair market value of the property. In May 2014, Baraka introduced a resolution adopted by the municipal council that would affect an estimated one thousand Newark homeowners threatened with foreclosure, giving the city legal authority to purchase home with underwater mortgages through eminent domain and refinancing them. it is estimated that more than 50% of Newark homes are financed by underwater mortgages, partially as a result of the 2010 United States foreclosure crisis.Newark Watershed
The Newark Watershed comprises 35,000 acres of reservoirs and water treatment and supply systems for more than 500,000 customers in northern New Jersey including Newark and neighboring Belleville, Elizabeth, Bloomfield and Nutley. It is considered one of the city's greatest assets. A New Jersey State Comptroller report issued in February 2014 revealed irregularities and corruption within the Newark Watershed and Development Corporation, which is the process of being dismantled after being taken over by the city. In March 2014, Baraka called for a forensic audit of the agency. Despite protestations from the city council, in April 2014 a Superior Court judge ruled that the city must continue to fund the agency during the process.In 2016 Newark officials were informed that the chemical, sodium silicate, that they added twenty years ago to prevent corrosion and the leaching of lead from service line pipes into the water had stopped working. Based on public records, in 2015, the city had increased the acidity of the water to lower possible carcinogens in the supply. As a result, the acidity lessened the benefit of the sodium silicate. Water testing by the city showed elevated levels of lead at roughly half of the schools in Newark. City and state officials blamed poor internal plumbing and maintenance as the cause. In July 2017, Newark's water showed elevated levels of lead and Baraka later stated that extensive testing had begun as required by state law but claimed the city did not know how widespread the issue was so there was no need to take further action.
In January 2018, results from a second consecutive test showed continued elevated levels of lead from Newark. Baraka continued to dismiss the warnings and had the city tell residents that the lead issue was only in older homes in the city's annual water quality mailing. Comparisons to the Flint water crisis were rejected by Baraka and called those comparisons "absolutely and outrageously false statements" via a message on the city's website that was later deleted. In December 2018, in order to combat the negative publicity of the lead contamination, Newark hired Mercury Public Affairs, the same public relations firms that the former Governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, hired during the water crisis in Flint, for $225,000.00. Baraka later called the allegations that he deliberately misled residents "BS" stating "we weren't saying that the water coming out of your tap was safe... it said the source water is fine. After that, we explained what the problem is. It's misleading to tell people that the water is contaminated."
In 2019, the Baraka administration began a massive effort to replace lead water pipes that were causing lead in drinking water to exceed federal limits. By spring of 2021, local officials had removed more than 20,000 lead service lines.
In 2022, Vice President Kamala Harris called Newark “the national model” for lead line replacement. The replacement of over 23,000 lines in the city, which was estimated to take eight years, was completed in just under three years.
In February 2024, officials announced that they found three properties with faulty service line replacements by a then un-named third party. The city had those lines replaced same day. In October 2024, it was announced that the company hired to replace a portion of the city's lead service lines, JAS Group Enterprise, Inc., lied and never performed the replacement work at 1,500 sites. Those sites were later replaced with the proper materials.