Newark Mayoral Candidates Report Raising Nearly $1 Million

Acting Newark Municipal Council President Anibal Ramos so far is the top fundraiser among the three declared candidates running for mayor of Newark next year, according to quarterly reports submitted by the campaigns to the state Election Law Enforcement Commission earlier this month.

Coming in at a close second in the race for dollars is Shavar Jeffries, a former assistant state attorney general and schools advisory board member, followed by Ras Baraka, who represents the South Ward on the municipal council.

The election will be held May 2014.

Ramos, who would be the city’s first Latino mayor, has raised a total of $253,000, including $75,000 in small donations of less than $300. Under state law, the identities of those small-sum contributors do not have to be disclosed. The reports filed this month do contain information on contributors who gave more than $300.

In addition, Ramos has $120,000 from previous campaigns, leaving a total cash-on-hand for his mayoral bid of $373,000 as of June 30.

Ramos also filed a separate report, related to Ramos’ council candidacy, which listed about $105,000 in campaign-related spending between April 1 and June 30. That report also reflects the $120,000 shifted to his mayoral campaign. 

Ramos’ contributors include Sheila Oliver, the speaker of the state Assembly, the International Longshoremen’s Association, the Superior Officers Association of Newark, NJ, and Calandra’s Bakery, a longtime North Ward business.

Although the mayoral race is nonpartisan, Ramos also has the backing of an Essex County Democratic Party machine that includes the county executive, Joseph DiVincenzo, and Steve Adubato, the founder of the North Ward education center and a political power broker with statewide influence.

Jeffries, a professor at Seton Hall University’s law school and attorney at the Gibbons law firm in Newark, has raised $365,000 as of last month, which includes donations of under $300 totaling about $32,000. After expenses, the campaign had $260,000 remaining on June 30.

The bulk of Jeffries’ large donors listed in his most recent campaign finance report come from outside Newark, including contributors who live or work throughout the state and in New York City, Washington, DC, California and elsewhere. 

Among them is Anne Milgram, for whom Jeffries worked when she was the state’s attorney general.  Another is the Thorpe-Mackay 2002 Trust of Saratoga Springs, NY, which gave the campaign $10,000.

Baraka, who quietly announced his campaign last year, has raised about $117,000, more than half of that, $64,000, from donations of under $300. He had $76,000 on hand after expenses as of June 30, according to the most recent report filed by his campaign. Baraka’s campaign also submitted other versions of the report and an amendment.   

Baraka, the principal of Central High School, also has received support from large swathes of the city’s educational establishment. Among his listed contributors are the Newark Teachers Union and Marion Bolden, the widely respected former superintendent of the Newark Public Schools.

Baraka has also received contributions from SEIU Local 617, a Newark-based labor union, and Keith Kinard, the executive director of the Newark Housing Authority, according to the ELEC filing.