Newark Residents Choose Elected School Board; Dems Win Big in Essex County
NEWARK, NJ – Newark residents chose to have an elected school board rather than members appointed by the mayor, according to unofficial election results at this time.
Newark Public Schools regained local control this year after the state ran the district for about 22 years. The transition plan included having Newark voters decide if the district’s designation should be a type I (appointed) or type II (elected).
Polls closed at 8 p.m. Unofficial results from the county clerk’s office show 12,218 residents have voted so far to have an elected school board, while 4,005 cast a ballot to have the mayor appoint members to the nine-member school board.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and other local lawmakers supported having residents elect their own school board members.
“As a principal teacher councilman and now, as mayor, I have consistently advocated for local control and an elected school board,” Baraka previously said. “I believe this is the right thing for the people of our city.”
The referendum question also dealt with the Newark Public Schools budget. With this vote, the budget will be determined by the school board and approved by the voters.
Unofficial results have Essex County voters giving a thumbs up to a bond referendum which asked if the state could borrow $500 million for schools. Of that money, $100 million would go to school infrastructure projects. It’s still unclear how the money will be distributed.
Some West Ward residents also voted in an uncontested county freeholder race. The only person on the ballot was Tyshammie Cooper, a Democrat who is currently an East Orange council member. She earned 25,720 on the county level, according to unofficial results.
Cooper will serve out the remainder of Britnee Timberlake’s three-year term. Timberlake was last elected to the freeholder board in 2017, but is now serving in the state Assembly for District 34. Timberlake replaced Sheila Oliver, who became lieutenant governor.
Incumbent Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr., a Democrat, also won another four-year term. He unofficially gained 110,821 votes – or about 81 percent – throughout the entire county at this time. DiVincenzo has held that seat since he was first elected in 2003. This year, he was challenged by John Chiaia, a Republican, and John Jay Arena, an independent.
Democrats also won big in the election for county sheriff and county surrogate. Incumbent Armando Fontoura, who has been sheriff since 1990, garnered 109,398 votes so far. The Republican candidate, Pasquale Capozzoli received 23,778 votes.
County voters selected Alturrick Kenney, a former Newark Public Schools board member, for a five-year term as county surrogate. He also unsuccessfully ran in 2014 for an at-large Newark City Council seat.
The surrogate seat needed to be filled after Theodore “Ted” Stephens II, who formerly held the position, was nominated to be Essex County prosecutor.
County residents also had the opportunity to vote on the federal level for their next congressman in the 10th Congressional District. Congressman Donald Payne, Jr., a former Newark councilman, was elected for another two-year term.
Unofficial results at this time show he has 73,326 votes in Essex County. Payne, a Democrat, has held his seat in Congress since 2012.
Unofficial election results for Essex County can be found in real-time online. Below are the unofficial results for the candidates and questions that appeared on Newark’s ballot.
(Note: Numbers for surrogate, sheriff, county executive, freeholder, congressman, U.S. senator, and the school bond referendum represent Essex County voters, not individual municipalities.)
NEWARK BOARD OF EDUCATION PUBLIC QUESTION:
Type 1 — Board of Education members appointed by the Mayor; school budget determined by Board of School Estimate: 4,005
Type 2 — Board of Education members elected by the voters; school budget determined by Board of Education and approved by the voters: 12,218
Districts reporting: 74 percent
SECURING OUR CHILDREN’S FUTURE BOND ACT
Do you approve the “Securing Our Children’s Future Bond Act”? This bond act authorizes the State to issue bonds in the aggregate principal amount of $500 million.
Yes: 57,895
No: 27,485
Districts reporting: 74 percent
ESSEX COUNTY EXECUTIVE
Four-year term
Joseph N. DiVINCENZO, Jr. (D): 121,753
John CHIAIA (R): 23,087
John Jay ARENA (I): 3,638
Write-In: 135
Districts reporting: 74 percent
ESSEX COUNTY BOARD OF CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS – DISTRICT 3
Unexpired term ending on Dec. 31, 2020
Tyshammie L. COOPER: 26,828
Write-In: 22
Districts reporting: 75 percent
ESSEX COUNTY SHERIFF
Three-year term
Armando B. FONTOURA (D): 120,065
Pasquale CAPOZZOLI (R): 25,023
Write-In: 138
Districts reporting: 74 percent
ESSEX COUNTY SURROGATE
Five-year Term
Alturrick KENNEY (D): 117,206
John ANELLO (R): 26,991
Write-In: 118
Districts reporting: 74 percent
MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES – 10TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Two-year term
Donald M. PAYNE, Jr. (D): 73,326
Agha KHAN (R): 3,711
Joanne MILLER (I): 670
Cynthia JOHNSON (I): 480
Scott DiROMA (I): 160
Write-In: 37
Districts reporting: 72 percent
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