Race for McIver’s council seat too close to call

A special election to fill the Newark Central Ward city council seat vacated last year when LaMonica McIver was elected to Congress is too close to call.

Amina Bey, who has the endorsement of Mayor Ras Baraka, leads former Councilwoman Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins by 112 votes, 39.5%-38.1%, in a five-candidate field.  There are no runoffs in special elections.

Baraka gave up his narrow 5-4 working majority on the council to back McIver in a special election following the death of Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. in April 2024.

Chaneyfield Jenkins was an at-large councilwoman from 1995 to 2006, and represented the Central Ward for four years before giving up her seat in 2018 to unsuccessfully challenge Baraka for mayor.