Newark to hold special mayoral election Jan. 9 in wake of former mayor's resignation
UPDATE: Jerry Clifton was the first to file. Demitri Theodoropoulos and James Carley were approved later.
Newark will hold a special municipal election on Tuesday, Jan. 9, following the September resignation of Mayor Stu Markham.
Halfway through his first term, Markham announced he would resign on Sept. 20. City officials never disclosed the exact reason for his departure other than to call it a "personnel issue." In an interview with the Newark Post, Markham described the reason for his stepping down as an "inadvertent, unintentional" comment he made to a city employee.
Deputy Mayor Travis McDermott has been running City Council meetings since Markham's resignation.
The winner of the special election will hold office for the remainder of Markham’s term, which ends April 2025.
WHAT WE KNOW: Newark mayor to resign next month after serving in office for less than 2 years
Who's running?
Four candidates will be on the ballot for the position of mayor, including former political figures.
Jerry Clifton, longtime former city councilperson and one-term mayor, was the first candidate to file his campaign with Newark.
He has said his main priorities would be addressing harassment policies within the City Council, diversifying the city's revenue streams and boosting affordable housing supply.
Clifton was a 10-term councilman from 1997 to 2014 when he resigned due to health issues. He was reelected in 2017 before holding the position of mayor from 2019 to 2022. He now serves on the board of the Newark Housing Authority.
Michael O'Neal, a professor at the University of Delaware and faculty union official, is also running for the position.
O'Neal is a climate researcher and teaches earth science classes at the university. His wife serves on the Christina school board, and the two of them own properties in Newark that they rent out.
He has said that funding the city's emergency services, expanding Newark's sustainability initiatives and dealing with the Police Department's upcoming union negotiations are among his top priorities as a candidate.
Demitri Theodoropoulos, owner of Wonderland Records in Newark, has also thrown his hat into the ring. Theodoropoulos ran for U.S. Senate in 2018 under the Green Party, ultimately losing to current Sen. Tom Carper.
James Carley, a resident of Newark's Woods at Louviers, is also a candidate for mayor. Both Theodoropoulos and Carley were approved by the Board of Elections just days before the petition deadlines.
Where can I vote?
There are six polling locations corresponding to each district in Newark.
District 1: Wesleyan Church of Newark, 708 W. Church Road
District 2: Newark Free Library, 750 Library Ave.
District 3: Aetna Fire Station #7, 7 Thorn Lane
District 4: St. Thomas's Episcopal Church, 276 S. College Ave.
District 5: First Presbyterian Church, Memorial Hall, 292 W. Main St.
District 6: Alder Creek Community Room, 101 Terrace Drive
The League of Women Voters of New Castle County will also hold a public forum for voters to learn more about the four candidates. So far, only O'Neal and Theodoropoulos have agreed to participate. The event will be held at 7 p.m. on Jan. 3 at the Newark Free Library.
Members of the audience will be given cards to write questions to be asked to the candidates and an informal meet and greet will follow the event. It will be recorded and posted online. More information can be found here.
Newark's financial woes
Newark has recently experienced revenue struggles, leading to a 7.5% resident tax hike and around a 4% increase in utility fees coming next year.
The city has struggled with retaining talent in the Police Department and emergency services. Union employees are also due for contract negotiations next year. Many officials believe that increasing salaries will be key to bolstering hiring.
Newark City Manager Tom Coleman recently said that water rates are expected to spike double digits in the next few years due to regulatory requirements that require "forever chemicals" to be cleaned out of water systems.
Coleman and the Newark City Council also recently voted to join a class-action lawsuit against major chemical companies like 3M and DuPont over their alleged contamination of the city’s groundwater and surface water.
Contact Molly McVety at mmcvety@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @mollymcvety.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Newark special election: Who’s running for mayor and when do I vote?
