It was a narrow but significant win for Newark Mayor Ras Baraka two weeks ago, when his preferred candidate, Amina Bey, won a pivotal seat on the city council, giving the three-term mayor a working majority again.
Bey captured the Central Ward seat vacated last year when LaMonica McIver was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election following the death of Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (D-Newark).
In a close race, Bey defeated former Councilwoman Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins by 98 votes out of 8,381 cast, 3,302 (39.4%) to 3,204 (38.2%). They were followed by Jhamar Youngblood, a promising young candidate who received 10%, and George Tillman, Jr. (9%), a businessman who served on the city’s Affirmative Action Review Commission when Booker was mayor. Walter Jacob received 106 votes, 31 more than the number of signatures he needed to get on the ballot…