Sharpe James emerged victorious yesterday from a hotly contested race against politician newcomer Cory Booker to win an unprecedented fifth term as mayor of Newark.
Booker, a member of the Newark City Council, vowed to run for mayor again in four years.
With 99 percent of precincts reporting, James had 28,363 votes, or 53 percent, and Booker had 24,869 votes, or 46 percent.
Though the media has focused on the contested Newark race, New Jersey politicians are also preparing for statewide elections. Republican contenders will head into the primary on June 4 for New Jersey's junior U.S. Senate seat and the 12th congressional district seat, both currently held by Democrats.
State Sen. Diane Allen, businessman Douglas Forrester and State Sen. John Matheussen are the Republican challengers for the Senate seat held by Democratic incumbent Robert Torricelli.
Allen was first elected to the State Assembly in 1995 and currently serves in the State Senate.
Campaign manager Brian Donahue said Allen appeals to the younger generation of voters — such as students.
In a March 10 Star Ledger/Eagleton-Rutgers poll, Allen had the highest "favorable" rating and the highest public awareness rating among the Republican challengers.
A Quinnipiac University poll last month also showed Allen as the most likely challenger to beat Torricelli, followed next by Matheussen.
Matheussen, the assistant majority leader, has served in the State Senate since 1992.
On their websites, both Allen and Forrester claim to be the frontrunners the primary.
Forrester cited a WABC-TV poll which put him in the lead for the Republican nomination.
Other contenders for the Senate seat include Gary Galligan, a retired New York City police officer running as an Independent; Elizabeth Macron, running on the Libertarian ticket; John Glick, running for the Green Party; and Greg Pason is running for the Socialist Party.
This past fall, Torricelli was the subject of a federal investigation for having allegedly taken gifts illegal and cash from a businessman in exchange for intervening in business deals overseas. The investigation ended in January with no charges made.
According to a Star Ledger poll, Democrats are evenly split between reelecting Torricelli and choosing a new candidate, while Independents and Republicans are both strongly against reelecting the senator.
In the 12th congressional district, which includes the University, Democratic incumbent Rush Holt will defend his seat against Liberal Tom Abrams and Republicans Deborah Jones and DeForest "Buster" Soaries.
Holt — a Ph.D. physicist who worked at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory before entering politics — has already received approximately $20,000 in personal contributions from University employees.
Soaries, an African-American pastor, leads a 6,000-person congregation at the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens. He trained at the Princeton Theological Seminary.
Soaries also served as New Jersey secretary of state under former Gov. Christie Whitman.
In January, he delivered the keynote address at the University's annual tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.
"I never wanted to be a politician," Soaries said in his address. "I don't like systems that seem to be guided by expedience instead of principle. But when I approached Ground Zero on September 11 . . . I knew that I would have to summon the courage to help lead the recovery of my state and my nation as successfully as America's original heroes had done."
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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