Booker Time

Back in May, Cory Booker won a landslide victory to become mayor of Newark, New Jersey. Because candidates needed to win more than 50% of the vote to take their seats, it was unclear whether the rest of Booker's reformist, pro-school choice ticket would eventually win the seats they needed to take over the city council. Yesterday they did take it over, in a big way.

Riding the coattails of Mayor-elect Cory Booker, six more of his running mates swept onto the Newark City Council yesterday, the largest turnover of the city's government in 36 years.

Yesterday's runoff election results, combined with the three seats Booker's candidates won in the May 9 vote, will put the new mayor in control of all nine council seats, giving him the cooperative governing body he asked for to help make wholesale changes in everything from how city contracts are doled out to public safety and ethics.

Control of Newark's entire city government will give Booker the credibility and momentum he needs to move through reforms that can be passed at the city level, and backup for the debates he'll have with the institutional Democratic opposition in Trenton.

Before the election, I profiled Booker and his team.

Comments

[Warren]

So far, so good, now let's see how long it take for the whole council to sell out.

[anon2]

Thank you for posting this David. I'm certainly interested in the issue, but I'm too lazy to read Newark news regularly or even to have put an entry on my calendar to look at the runoff results.

Improving the school system would be excellent. I wish Booker and his team the best.

Your profile didn't mention his plans for economic redevelopment. Nor do I see anything on the Newark Now web site. Any idea what his plans are?

[SR]

"So far, so good, now let's see how long it take for the whole council to sell out."

Yes, I was going to say that I foresee this ending with a donkey peeking through an old glass window....

[midbrowcrisis]

The documentary, "Street Fight" about Booker's run for mayor a few terms ago was a fascinating look at inner city politics, up close and dirty. Booker was obviously the better guy in that race; the mayor's team tried to censor the press and label Booker an Uncle Tom among other things.