ASK THE MAYOR

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was re-elected Mayor for the second time on the evening of May 8, 2018, winning 77% of the vote in a landslide victory over his opponent, Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins.

At his victory celebration, held at the Robert Treat Hotel, Mayor Baraka thanked God, his supporters, his campaign staff and the city of Newark. He touted the progress Newark made during the first four years he was Mayor, including:

■ the successful establishment and completion of large residential and commercial development projects

■ the lowest crime rates in 50 years

■ the control of Newark schools being returned to the city

■ Amazon’s decision to make Newark one of its top 20 contenders in the competition to host its second headquarters.

During the 2018 Mayoral debate on April 19, Mayor Baraka explained that he needed another term as Mayor to continue all the good work he started, and less than one month later, Newark decided he was right.

There was a poll early on. And the poll asked people if they thought Newark was moving in the right direction. And almost 70% of the people in the poll said yes, they thought Newark was moving in the right direction. Tonight is proof that that poll was correct.

An overwhelming majority of the people think that Newark is moving in the right direction. Despite what people try to make you believe. You can see what’s happening in Newark for yourself.

We never said it was perfect. We never said we didn’t make errors. We never said that things couldn’t get better. All we said is that we were moving in the right direction. And now because we’re moving in the right direction, we want to keep moving in the right direction. That’s all we said. And the majority of the people of this city agree with that.

Destination Newark congratulates Mayor Ras Baraka on his second term as Mayor of Newark.