Sharpe James, the charismatic, longest-serving mayor in Newark, New Jersey’s history, and fierce advocate for a revitalization of the downtown area while working to improve its struggling neighborhoods, passed away on Sunday in West Orange, New Jersey, due to a series of illnesses.
He was 89.
His passing at a senior care facility was confirmed by his son, John Sharpe James, who previously served as a city councilman in Newark.
Fondly known as the Rascal King of Newark’s political scene, James served as a groundbreaking champion for his city during his record five terms as mayor from 1986 to 2006, earning a mix of both praise and backlash. A calculating leader, skilled at punishing adversaries and rewarding allies to maintain his influence, he enjoyed a political career spanning nearly 40 years. But, his tenure came to an end following a federal indictment with 33 counts of corruption, resulting in a conviction and a 27-month prison sentence.
In his early pursuits for an elected position on the Newark City Council, James competed against the incumbent Rev. Horace Sharper, who had won the South Ward seat in 1969 after a successful recall of Councilman Lee Bernstein. Also running were Leon Ewing, appointed to an at-large city council seat in 1968, former prizefighter William S. Green, and businessman Jack Popper, with Sharper leading the Abyssinian Baptist Church.
In the May ballot, James led Ewing by about 1,000 votes, while Sharper lagged behind Ewing by approximately 2,400 votes. In the June runoff, James defeated Ewing with a 2-1 margin.
James was easily re-elected in 1974 and 1978, switched to an at-large council seat in 1982, and was succeeded in the South Ward by Donald M. Payne, Sr.
In the 1986 Newark mayoral election, James triumphed over the four-term incumbent, Kenneth A. Gibson, winning decisively in a four-way race. He ran unopposed in 1990 and was re-elected in 1994, where he faced William Payne and 34-year-old Ras Baraka. In 1998, he defeated State Senator Ronald Rice and City Councilwoman Mildred Crump.
In his final campaign for mayor in 2002, dubbed the “Street Fight,” and the subject of a 2005 feature film, he competed against young city councilman Cory Booker and emerged victorious, but it was a closer-than-expected challenge. The race gained national attention, and although James won, it positioned Booker as a rising star with national connections and as James’ likely successor.
Booker was preparing to challenge James again in 2006 when James chose not to run. Booker went on to win that election, secure a second term, and was eventually elected to the United States Senate in 2013.
Instead, James would go on to witness the fruition of his efforts in a transformed downtown. A stunning new performing arts center had been built, construction was in progress for an arena for the New Jersey Devils hockey team (which opened in 2007 after he left office), and new office buildings had been constructed.
Throughout the city, new homes for thousands of families were created, and many old, rundown high-rise public housing buildings, where numerous families lived in unsafe conditions, had been torn down. During James’s time in office, Newark’s population, which had been steadily declining from nearly 400,000 in 1970, just three years after devastating riots, stabilized at around 275,000.
Clement A. Price, a history professor at Rutgers University in Newark, once commended James for not only initiating significant redevelopment projects in the city but also instilling hope in its predominantly Black and Hispanic community. Price, who passed away in 2014, remarked that James was “fighting for the city when so many would-be fighters had hung up their gloves.”
James also recognized his own achievements during his time in office.
“Under my leadership,” he stated while announcing his decision not to seek re-election, “Newark has climbed the rough side of the mountain and has become a renaissance city with pride, prosperity and progress.” In another instance, showcasing his trademark wit, he described his efforts in guiding Newark from “urban blight to urban bright.”
In 2007, shortly after he announced he wouldn’t run for the State Senate again (he also served as a New Jersey State senator for the 29th Legislative District from 1999 to 2008 – he was allowed to serve as both Mayor of Newark and a New Jersey State Senator concurrently because he was appointed to the Senate seat to fill an unexpired term and won election to that seat), James was indicted on federal charges stemming from two main issues from his final years in office: he used city-issued credit cards for almost $60,000 in personal expenses, and he planned to sell nine city-owned properties to a former partner, Tamika Riley, for $46,000. She later sold those properties for $665,000 without making significant improvements.
Although prosecutors couldn’t prove that James personally profited from the sales, a jury found both him and Riley guilty of fraud. On April 6, 2010, he was granted early release after serving 18 months.
The credit card charges were initially scheduled to be tried later, but prosecutors decided not to pursue them since they felt a conviction wouldn’t result in additional prison time. In 2022, James considered returning to politics but dropped his plan to run for a City Council seat after a judge ruled that his 2008 fraud conviction prevented him from holding office.
James, born on February 20, 1936, in Jacksonville, Florida, was a former physical education teacher and served as the athletic director at Essex County College. His father, Louis James, passed away from pneumonia before he was born. His unique first name comes from his mother’s maiden name, and after marrying her second husband, she became known as Beulah James Fluker. She “fled segregation and an abusive boyfriend in Jacksonville, Florida,” as reported by Star-Ledger legend Barry Carter in 2016. “She packed up (Sharpe) James and his brother, Joe, in the middle of the night with a plan to board a freight train headed to Newark.” She passed away in 2023.
James moved to Newark in 1940 and grew up in the city. He excelled on the track teams at South Side High School (now known as Malcolm X Shabazz High School) and Montclair State College (now Montclair State University), graduating from the latter in 1958. After his service in the United States Army, he obtained a master’s degree in school administration from Springfield College in Massachusetts.
He is survived by his wife, Mary (Mattison) James, and his sons, Elliot, John, and Kevin. John Sharpe James was a member of the City Council from 2013 to 2022.
Mr. James was instrumental in establishing Newark’s reputation as the “Renaissance City,” playing a key role in major developments such as the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and the Prudential Center.
2025 New Jersey gubernatorial candidate, and current mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka said Sharpe James helped shape his values.
“In his 20 years in office as Mayor, Sharpe James was many things: a warrior for our city, a unifier for its people, a powerful force to launch development like New Jersey Performing Arts Center and the Prudential Center, and a strong advocate for Newark and its people,” Baraka wrote in a statement on Monday. “He was also an outstanding educator and an inspiration to generations of Newark residents.”
