The race for mayor of Newark has already begun even though the election isn’t scheduled until May of 2014. Mayoral candidate and current Newark Councilman Anibal Ramos told NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider that he is ready to run for mayor of the city and wants to be elected by the people rather than get appointed should current Mayor Cory Booker get elected to the U.S. Senate.
There has been talk that Congressman Donald Payne Jr. might run for mayor of Newark, but he hasn’t publicly announced his intentions. Ramos said he was one of Payne’s early supporters when he announced his candidacy for Congress. The two had lunch together in Washington, D.C. and Ramos said, “He’s working on a number of important initiatives that impact our city. Sure he’s doing a great job down in Washington and right now I’m just focused on my candidacy.”
Ramos said Payne would have to answer whether or not he will run for mayor, adding, “We definitely have had a longstanding relationship. He did a great job as council president. He’s working on a number of important initiatives that will benefit the city of Newark in Congress. I look forward to working with him.”
If Booker wins his bid for U.S. Senate, it may speed up the timetable for the mayoral race in Newark. Ramos said he’s ready to run in May of 2014 or sooner. “We’ve built a lot of momentum in the five weeks that we announced our candidacy, both organizationally and from a fundraising standpoint,” he said. “Right now, a number of us are committed to making sure that Democratic candidate Cory Booker becomes the nominee and more importantly that he’s successful in an October election.”
Ramos said that if Booker gets elected to the U.S. Senate and resigns as mayor after the October election, there will be a 30-day period where the council has the opportunity to appoint someone to the seat. Ramos said he isn’t sure who that would be right now and wouldn’t be interested in it himself.
“My desire would be to have an opportunity to get elected by the people. I’m not interested in becoming the appointed interim mayor,” he said.
The latest reports show Ramos is the top fundraiser out of the candidates who have declared for the mayoral race. Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver is reportedly one of Ramos’ top donors. He said the two have a long history together. “She taught a graduate program when I was at Rutgers University. When I worked at the county of Essex, she was a department head and I was her deputy director when she ran for Assembly the first time. I was one of her big supporters in Newark. I think she’s done an outstanding job in the state Assembly,” he said.
Ramos said he’s proud to have the largest number of donors. “[We have] over 600 donors, a number of which who are contributing at the $300 or less margin so that shows that we have a lot of support locally and throughout the entire state of New Jersey,” he said.
Booker has had a unique working relationship with Gov. Chris Christie during his tenure. Ramos said whoever leads Newark should work with the governor, no matter what party he or she belongs to.
“The future of our city definitely is tied to the Statehouse. Obviously this year we’re in a better position from a budgetary standpoint where we’re able to kind of balance our budget locally at a greater level than we have in the past, but any sitting mayor of our great city should have a working relationship with whomever sits in the governor’s seat,” he said.
Ramos has also served as the school board president in Newark, which remains largely controlled by the state.
“I’m definitely an advocate for local control, but my message to my voters always is with local control comes a greater sense of local responsibility. And right now, the city is a contributor toward the overall budget of our school system, but not at the level of other districts throughout the entire state. So as we talk about greater local control in the city of Newark, we have to get the message out to our voters and taxpayers that that may mean that we have to become greater contributors and investors in our system,” Ramos said.