The 2002 election for

Mayor of Newark The Mayor of Newark is the head of the executive branch of government of Newark, New Jersey, United States. The mayor has the duty to enforce the municipal charter and ordinances; prepare the annual budget; appoint deputy mayors, department he ...

took place in

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

, the most populous city in the state of New Jersey, on May 14, 2002. Elections for all seats on the nine-member

Municipal Council of Newark The Municipal Council is the legislative branch of government for Newark, New Jersey. Newark was governed by a mayor and common council from 1836 to 1917 and then by a five-member commission until 1954. Effective as of July 1, 1954, the voters of ...

were held the same day. A runoff election, if necessary, would have taken place. Elections in the city are

non-partisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

and candidates are not listed by political party. Incumbent Mayor and State Senator

Sharpe James Sharpe James (born February 20, 1936) is an American Democratic politician from New Jersey, who served as State Senator for the 29th Legislative District and was 37th Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. James was the second African American Mayor of N ...

avoided a runoff and was re-elected to his fifth term in office. He was the first Newark mayor to be elected five times. This campaign was the subject of the 2005 documentary '' Street Fight''.

Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the junior United States senator from New Jersey since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Booker is the first African-American U.S. sena ...

, who had become a municipal council member in 1998, was elected Mayor of Newark in 2006 and re-elected in 2010. After having won the October 16 special election for U.S. senator he resigned as mayor and was sworn in on October 31, 2013 as the junior

U.S. senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from New Jersey. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the

2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 3,979 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention held on August 17–20 to determine the party's nominee for president in the 2020 Unit ...

, ending his campaign three weeks before the first nominating contest, the

2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses The 2020 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, the first nominating contest in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election, took place on February 3, 2020. Pete Buttigieg received the most state delegate equivalents (SDE ...

Candidates

The deadline for candidates to file for election was April 14.

Declared

, Newark Municipal Councilman *

, State Senator and incumbent Mayor of Newark * Dwayne Smith, businessman and former law enforcement officer Though all elections are non-partisan, all candidates are registered Democrats and Newark is a heavily Democratic city.

Campaign

The election was noted for its acrimony and attacks by both candidates. James called Booker "a Republican who took money from the KKK nd

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

... ho'scollaborating with the

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

to take over Newark". Booker focused on James's reputation for corruption. One focus of the campaign was race. Booker, who is of mixed African and European ancestry and was raised in the wealthy suburbs, was accused of insufficient connection to the city's impoverished, majority-black voters.

Endorsements

Results

If no candidate received 50% of the vote, the race would have continued to a run-off between the top two candidates from the first round. James received 52.95 percent of the total vote, securing re-election.

References

External links

* * {{United States elections, 2002, state=collapsed Cory Booker

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2002 United States mayoral elections