By Walter Elliott
NEWARK – Nearly 8,500 voters among Newark’s three wards chose on June 14 who would fill their open seats before July 1.
A majority of participating East, South and West voters, as of 9:49 p.m. Tuesday, favored candidates who were either on Mayor Ras Baraka’s Moving Newark Forward 2022 ticket and/or were endorsed by the mayor and a constellation of elected officials.
The 8,464 voters among the three wards, as recorded by Essex County Clerk Chis Durkin Tuesday night, were 9.16 percent of the 92,437 registered voters.
The above and below figures remain unofficial until June 28’s certification date.
There are Vote By Mail Ballots with Tuesday’s postmark that have to arrive at Durkin’s Election Division office here at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Justice Building, 395 MLK Blvd. by 4:30 p.m. June 21. The arrival deadline was made 24 hours later due to March 20’s inaugural federal Juneteenth holiday observation.
What provisional ballots that were cast among the 102 voting machine polling stations in the three wards Tuesday will then be counted. There were no polling stations open June 10-12 for early in-person voting.
Durkin, should there be no challenges or recounts, will then be poised to certify the runoff elections June 28 or earlier.
Baraka’s inauguration team, barring the unexpected, will likely add the names of Michael J. Silva, Rev. Patrick Council and Dupre L. Kelly on their ceremonial invitations.
Silva became East Ward Councilman-Elect by voters giving him a 378 vote edge over former Newark Police Director Anthony Campos.
Silva drew 1,509 votes for 57.16 percent of the vote. Campos carried 1,131 for 42.84.
The 28-year and retired Newark Police Division detective and its Community Service Officer barely topped Campos in the May 10 nonpartisan municipal election. Neither, however, received 50 percent-plus-one vote that Tuesday to prevent a runoff.
Silva, before May 10, had the retiring Councilman Augusto Amador and State Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor-Marin (D-Newark)’s endorsement. Baraka, after seeing his own endorsed candidate finish fifth that Tuesday, threw his support to Silva.
Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura (D-Fairfield) and County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo (D-Roseland) were among those who also endorsed Silva.
South Ward voters meanwhile favored the Rev. Patrick Council over Terrance Bankston by a nearly seven-to-three ratio.
Council – who is Newark’s Director of Recreation, Cultural and Senior Citizen Affairs and the South Ward Democratic Committee Chairman – carried 1,847 votes for 71.42 percent.
Bankston, who was an aide to former Mayor Cory A. Booker for seven years, drew 739 or 28.28.
Council was endorsed by retiring South Ward Councilman John Sharpe James and ran all along on the “Moving Forward” ticket.
West Ward voters selected Kelly over lawyer and former State Department of Community Affairs official Chigozie U. Onyema by a 546 vote margin.
Kelly, a platinum record-selling rap artist and community activist, caught 1,858 or 58.61. Onyema amassed 1,312 or 41.39.
“DoItAll” Kelly is to succeed two-term Councilman Joseph McCallum, who became a lame duck after he had pleaded guilty to charges of bribery and official misconduct.
May 10’s election and June 14’s runoffs were Newark voters’ once-every-four-years opportunity to select its mayor and all nine Municipal Council members.
