Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, the runner-up in June’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, endorsed Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) for governor on Wednesday.
At the Zion Hill Baptist Church in Newark, Sherrill and Baraka were joined by state Democratic Chairman LeRoy Jones Jr., Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo Jr., and a small crowd of other Democratic officials from the county and state. Baraka, the primary’s most progressive candidate, said he still disagrees with Sherrill on some policies but said Sherrill still represents an opportunity for progress.
“The congresswoman represents our best chance, our best hope, our best opportunity, our best pathway to get to what we want to get to, to get to the place we need to be at,” the mayor told the crowd.
Sherrill and Baraka met for some time before the event, where they discussed Black maternal health, the racial wealth gap, housing issues, and investments into Black and Brown businesses in New Jersey. He said neither Black voters nor the Democratic Party are monolithic, and politics is about ironing out the policy disagreements.
Baraka specifically addressed an observation from Politico’s Matt Friedman about differences in policy preferences between the mayor and the congresswoman. For example, the two disagree on how much authority civilian complaint review boards should possess in reviewing allegations of police misconduct: Baraka has pushed to give the groups subpoena power, while Sherrill has said she’s against giving CCRBs that power.
Baraka said disagreements like that can and should be worked out among Democrats, but also said focus must be placed on defeating Republicans, who he said would govern in a manner antithetical to how Democrats think the state should operate.
“I’d rather argue with the congresswoman about CCRBs than debate about whether the National Guard should be on our streets,” he said. “I would rather have a discourse about very specific issues that I think are important to me, than them thinking that the police should have the ability to do whatever they want, whenever they want, to whomever they want.”
When asked whether their conversations changed her mind on any policy issues, Sherrill said she wants to explore new ways of improving Black maternal health, but didn’t mention making any concessions or policy changes over the course of their discussions.
“He has big policy positions and has studied many of these issues as well, and so they’re really good conversations about some of the key ways in which we can move forward,” she said.
GOP nominee and former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli hasn’t received the same support from the runner-up in his primary. Conservative radio host Bill Spadea returned to the microphone at 101.5 this week, and he made clear last week he believes Ciattarelli is “wrong for New Jersey.” Ciattarelli defeated Spadea by more than 40 percentage points.
Baraka attacked Ciattarelli, arguing that while the Republican is confident and “smooth,” his record in the Legislature was poor.
“How are you going to help Black businesses when you didn’t help them when you went to the Legislature in the first place?” Baraka said to cheers in the church basement. “How are you going to improve the minimum wage when you voted against increasing the minimum wage when you were a legislator in the first place?”
Turnout in Essex County, especially among Black voters, could be key for Democrats come November, making Baraka’s endorsement key. Baraka defeated Sherrill in Essex County, winning about 40% of the vote and nearly 38,000 votes.
“We need to produce a huge plurality here in Essex County,” Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo Jr. said. “So those other counties, [if] somebody screws up, we have enough to win the election.”
“I know that the only way we lose this race in New Jersey is if Democrats don’t vote in New Jersey,” Sherrill said. “If we get divided, if we are not together, if we don’t stand up for the things we believe in, the communities we want to serve, that’s the only way we lose.”
Democrats, especially Black voters, have made clear they do not want to be left behind if Sherrill wins the election. On Wednesday, Baraka promised not to let his support be taken for granted.
“I pledge to get out here and fight and organize so that she can become a governor,” Baraka said. “And I pledge that when she is the governor, that she will not see the last of me.”
