The stage is set for the Newark municipal election, with 39 candidates now officially certified for the upcoming electoral contest.

The entire council slates for incumbent Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and his mayoral race challenger, Central Ward Councilwoman Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins made it on the ballot for the May 8 election as of today, according to a list provided by the City Clerk's office.

Baraka, elected in 2014, tops his reelection ticket sale. He is joined by East Ward Councilman Augusto Amador; North Ward Councilman Anibal Ramos, Jr.; South Ward Councilman John Sharpe James; West Ward Councilman Joseph McCallum, Jr., and Council-at-large members Mildred Crump, Carlos Gonzalez, Eddie Osborne, and Luis Quintana.

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LaMonica McIver will supplant Chaneyfield Jenkins on the Baraka slate in the Central Ward. McIver is the founder of the non-profit Newark Gals foundation, and is a co-founder of the non-profit Believe in Newark foundation, according to her campaign website.

Chaneyfield Jenkins, who launched her bid to unseat Baraka in January, sits at the head of her slate.

Three of her slate members are running for Council-at-large positions out of Newark's four at-large council seats: former North Ward Councilman Hector Corchado, forrmer Councilwoman-at-Large Bessie Walker, and Ariagna Perello, a former Newark school board chair.

Chaneyfield Jenkins's other slate members are running for three ward positions out of Newark's five ward council seats. Katilia Velez, former director of development at the non-profit Ironbound Community Corporation, will run in the North Ward. Mecca Keyes, the Newark NAACP economic development chairperson, will run in the West Ward. School board member Crystal Fonseca will run in the East Ward. Education reform advocate Rashon Hasan will run in the Central Ward.

Chaneyfield Jenkins left the South Ward slate slot open, as well as one Council-at-large slot, according to campaign manager Pablo Fonseca. Fonseca is Crystal Fonseca's father.





Hasan and McIver are part of a nine-member scrum to take over the Central Ward council seat left vacant by Chaneyfield Jenkins, with seven independent candidates now officially in the mix.

The race in the East Ward, which is mostly made up of the densely populated, multi-lingual and close-knit Ironbound neighborhood, could prove to be especially contentious.

Amador, first elected in 1998, and Fonseca will be locked in political combat with former city police chief Anthony Campos, who is also a Democratic district ward leader in the neighborhood. Jonathan Seabra, a financial analyst and a member of the prominent Portuguese-American Seabra business family, is also running in the East Ward, along with political neophyte Tanisha Garner.

The candidates will face a runoff election on June 5 if necessary.

Candidates

Incumbents are listed first with title; the remaining candidates are listed in alphabetical order.

For Mayor

Mayor Ras Baraka

Central Ward Councilwoman Gayle Jenkins

For Councilmember-at-Large

Councilwoman-at-Large Mildred C. Crump - Team Baraka

Councilman-at-Large Carlos M. Gonzalez - Team Baraka

Councilman-at-Large Eddie Osborne - Team Baraka

Councilman-at-Large Luis A Quintana - Team Baraka

Hector M. Corchado - Team Chaneyfield Jenkins

Dupre L. Kelly

Victor M. Monterrosa, Jr.

Ariagna Perello - Team Chaneyfield Jenkins

Shakima K. Thomas

Bessie Walker - Team Chaneyfield Jenkins

For North Ward

Councilman Anibal Ramos, Jr. - Team Baraka

Hellane T. Freeman

Pablo Olivera

Katilia Y. Velez - Team Chaneyfield Jenkins

For South Ward

Councilman John Sharpe James - Team Baraka

Terrance L. Bankston

Khalil Kettles

For East Ward

Councilman Augusto Amador - Team Baraka

Anthony Campos

Crystal C. Fonseca - Team Chaneyfield Jenkins

Tanisha H. Garner

Jonat han T. Seabra

For West Ward

Councilman Joseph McCallum, Jr. - Team Baraka

Marcellus T. Allen

Dereck L. Dillard

Lavita E. Johnson

Tomecca Mecca Keyes - Team Chaneyfield Jenkins

Artice K. Norvel, III

For Central Ward

Czezre T. Adams

Rafael A Brito

Anthony D. Diaz

Jaime Gonzalez

Rashon K. Hasan - Team Chaneyfield Jenkins

Shawn X. McCray

LaMonica R. Mciver - Team Baraka

Basil Parker

Luther D. Roberson