Newark Mayor Ras Jua Baraka has entered the race for governorship of New Jersey.
Baraka is a three-term mayor of Newark, the largest city in the state of New Jersey: he has governed the city since 2014.
Baraka is also the son of the poet Amina Baraka and famed Black Arts Movement poet/playwright Amiri Baraka—he was raised in the city and his family says they can trace their Newark roots back for more than 80 years.
Baraka announced his candidacy for governor on February 19 while delivering a Black History Month speech that celebrated Divine 9 fraternity and sorority members. The mayor talked about honoring and remembering the aspirations of Black ancestors who, in their day, could only pray for their children to have material comforts and live in a world where they could garner respect.
“Your great-great-great-grandmother prayed for that house that you live in, that car that you drive. They prayed so that you would no longer be second-class or third-class, or under somebody’s feet,” he is seen in a video telling the crowd assembled in Trenton, New Jersey.
“…I thank my great-great-great grandmother in the dungeon of Elmina Castle. …So, I’m grateful for my great-great-great-great-great grandmother because she prayed for a little boy from Newark who grew up on Clinton Avenue and 10th Street and hung out at Yusef Steak N’ Take on 14th and Avon. Who gave me the opportunity to be at the Trenton War Memorial Theater with Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman. My great-great-great grandmother prayed for the unlikely circumstance that this young boy who took over the administration at Howard University, would take over the city and become the mayor after running 16 years and not winning anything.
“My great-great-great grandmother, on her knees, with her eyes closed, huddled up with one another, not knowing what tomorrow looked like, said, ‘They’re not going to hold you down, they’re not going to hold you back. They’re not going to steal your future. They’re not going to keep your tomorrows. You, little Black boy, from Newark, New Jersey—just a kid, just a kid from Newark with all of your weakness and feebleness and humanity. You too can stand here at the Trenton War Memorial and say, ‘I’m going to be the governor of New Jersey!’”
Baraka enters an already crowded race to fill the soon-to-be-vacated seat of term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy. Murphy is a two-term governor who narrowly won re-election in 2021, even though New Jersey is a heavily Democratic Party-leaning state.
The other candidates currently looking to become governor in the November 4, 2025, general election include Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who is a Democrat; Stephen Sweeney, who is also a Democrat and who served as president of the New Jersey Senate; and State Senator Jon Bramnick who is running on the Republican Party ticket.
The website for the Newark mayor lauds his accomplishments: “Mayor Baraka’s progressive approach to governing has … reduced crime to its lowest levels in five decades, addressed affordability while maintaining steady growth, lowered unemployment, returned local control of schools after more than two decades, and replaced all 23,000 known lead service lines in less than three years at no cost to residents, Baraka has defied expectations since taking office in 2014.”
If Ras Baraka is elected governor of New Jersey, he would be the state’s first-ever Black governor.