Scarinci: Ras Baraka’s Campaign for NJ Governor Will Resonate Across America

Ras Baraka’s potential candidacy for New Jersey governor isn’t generating as much buzz as other potential contenders yet, but it will. As one of the country’s most effective mayors, Baraka is arguably one of the most qualified candidates in the Democratic field. 

Of course, Baraka’s election to New Jersey’s highest office could also make history given that he would be the state’s first African American governor. Diversity, however, is just one asset the Newark mayor brings to the table.

Mayors Leveraging Executive Experience 

Big-city mayors across the country are increasingly seeking higher political office. John Hickenlooper (Denver, Colorado) and Gavin Newsom (San Francisco, California) are two recent examples of mayors who became governors. 

Like his peers, Baraka has much-needed executive leadership skills, including experience with law enforcement, education, infrastructure, and economic development. Equally as important, he understands how to navigate bureaucratic and political roadblocks to get things done.  

In his tenure as mayor of New Jersey’s largest city, Baraka has a long list of achievements. He fought hard for Newark to regain local control of its public schools following more than two decades of state control. Even though a recent poll reveals that Newark residents, like residents in many communities since the pandemic, feel unsafe, crime in Newark is at its lowest levels in five decades.

While fostering revitalization and redevelopment projects across the city, Baraka has also worked to ensure growth is equitable by increasing the city’s supply of affordable housing. Between 2016 and 2021, the Newark Planning and Zoning Boards approved a total of more than 20 million square feet of residential properties in about 33,000 units and over 8.5 million square feet of commercial space in 986 units. 

On the environmental front, Baraka oversaw the replacement of all 23,000 known lead service lines in less than three years at no cost to residents. The city’s plan now serves as a national model. In 2016, Newark enacted the country’s first environmental justice ordinance, paving the way for the state-wide law. 

Diversity Gains Impacting Elections are Critical

While Baraka’s race shouldn’t be what gets him elected, it should not be discounted either. In our country’s long history, only five African Americans have served as governor of one of the 50 states. Despite increasing diversity, the number of Black and Brown political leaders remains disproportionately small compared to the population of America.

New Jersey is one of the most diverse states in the country, coming in at number seven after the 2020 census. Nearly 45 percent of the state’s 8.9 million residents are people of color. These changing demographics are slowly starting to influence elections in New Jersey and across the country. In 2017, Sheila Oliver made history after becoming the first Black to serve as Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey.

“The fact of the matter is, the complexion of this country is changing, which means the complexion of those who show up to the polls is changing,” Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist based in South Carolina, recently told The Hill. “Places where a certain type of candidate was considered the better candidate, I think that model is outdated and it’s changing. As the field of Black and brown candidates continues to grow, in particular Black candidates, you’re going to see a real shock wave to the political ecosystem with candidates who nobody had on their radar emerging to end up being governors.”

Baraka’s Voice Is Needed

Floyd B. McKissick Sr., one of America’s great leaders who hosted the National CORE Convention in Durham, North Carolina in 1965 said that “White Americans then, as now, view the world through white eyes.  They interpreted historical and current events on the basis of their own experience.  They saw an America of opportunity, an America that was good to them.  Seldom did they realize that Black Men saw America through Black eyes; the picture was literally and figuratively much darker.”While Black Americans account for 15 percent of the members of the New Jersey Legislature, and we have various Black mayors, councilman and school board members, there has not been a candidate for governor in recent memory, who has been as strong of an advocate for the community as Ras Baraka. The day he announces will be a historic day in New Jersey and a giant leap forward for all Americans.