Sharpe James, former Newark mayor and state senator, dies at 89

Sharpe James, a colorful, passionate, and controversial New Jersey politician who championed the city of Newark, where he served as mayor for twenty years, died today after a series of illnesses.  He was 89.

The Rascal King of Newark politics, where people either loved or vilified him, enjoyed a political career that lasted nearly 40 years, ending, sort of, after a 33-count federal corruption indictment led to a conviction and a 27-month sentence in prison.

His last mayoral campaign, the “Street Fight” with Cory Booker, then a young city councilman.  He won by 3,494 votes, 53%-46%.

As Kenneth Gibson was launching his second bid for mayor of Newark in 1970, James, from his perch as president of the Weequahic Community Council, sought a South Ward city council seat.  He secured the support of the Black and Puerto Rican Convention, where Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-New York) was the keynote speaker.  The convention was a big deal, with national Black leaders, including Amiri Baraka, John Conyers, Percy Sutton, Ossie Davis, and Whitney M. Young, Jr. in attendance.

He teamed up with Gibson, who was challenging indicted incumbent Hugh Addonizio in what would become a successful run to become the first Black mayor of the state’s largest city.

James faced the incumbent, Rev. Horace Sharper, who had won the South Ward seat in 1969 after leading a successful recall election of Councilman Lee Bernstein.  Also in the race was Leon Ewing, who had been appointed to an at-large city council seat in 1968, along with former professional prizefighter William S. Green, and businessman Jack Popper.   Sharper led the Abyssinian Baptist Church.

James led Ewing on the May ballot by about 1,000 votes, with Sharper trailing Ewing by roughly 2,400.  In the June runoff, James beat Ewing by a 2-1 margin.

James was easily re-elected in 1974 and 1978; he switched to an at-large council seat in 1982 and was succeeded in the South Ward by former Essex County Freeholder Donald M. Payne, Sr.

In 1986, when Gibson was seeking a fifth term, James challenged him and won a decisive 56%-40% victory in a four-way contest.  He was unopposed in 1990, re-elected in 1994 with 64% against Payne’s brother, future Assemblyman William Payne, and 24-year-old Ras Baraka; he defeated State Sen. Ronald Rice and City Councilwoman Mildred Crump in 1998, 56%-27%-17%.

His race against Booker became a national campaign, and while he came out on top, the contest cast Booker as a rising star with national connections – and as James’ heir apparent.  He did not seek re-election in 2006.

After Wynona M. Lipman died in 1999, James ran for her open State Senate seat and had little trouble winning the seat three times.  His indictment led to the end of his Senate after the 2007 election.

A one-time physical education teacher and Essex County College athletic director, James was born in Jacksonville on February 20, 1936, and moved to Newark in 1940.  His mother, Beulah James Fluker, “fled segregation and an abusive boyfriend in Jacksonville, Florida,” wrote Star-Ledger legend Barry Carter in 2016.  “She packed up (Sharpe) James and his brother, Joe, in the middle of the night with a plan to board a freight train headed to Newark).”  James’ mother died in 2023.