A Battle of Roots and Rents: Baraka’s fiery ad and the housing crisis roiling New Jersey’s Governor’s race

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka’s new campaign ad, “American Poem,” is a thunderous declaration of identity—a working-class, Black American manifesto that doesn’t just promote his candidacy but implicitly questions the authenticity of his rivals.

Against the backdrop of a state where housing costs are crushing families, Baraka’s message is clear: Who truly understands the struggle of New Jersey’s forgotten?

The ad’s opening line—“Are there any American poets in here?”—is a direct challenge to former Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller, the Jamaican-born teachers’ union president whose campaign has been buoyed by a staggering $35 million super PAC funded by the New Jersey Education Association.

While Spiller’s parents immigrated seeking a better life, Baraka’s unspoken contrast is stark: His roots run deep in Newark’s soil, his father a firebrand poet of the Black liberation movement, his voice woven into the fabric of hip-hop and spoken-word resistance.

Spiller, meanwhile, failed to qualify for public financing—his campaign kept afloat by union cash, even as critics alleged the funds were diverted from educators’ needs.

Baraka was  a school teacher before he became the principal of Central High School, where he served from 2007 until 2013, the year of his election as mayor.

But the ad isn’t just about identity—it’s about policy. Housing affordability is the second-most pressing issue for New Jersey voters, trailing only the economy.

Over half of residents say their housing costs are unsustainable, and the state faces a staggering shortage of 200,000 affordable units.

Baraka’s response? A state of emergency on housing, with proposals to cap rent hikes, block corporate landlords from hoarding properties, and pump funds into first-time homebuyer programs.

His rivals offer their own plans—but none with the same urgency.

The Democratic Divide

• Steve Fulop (Jersey City Mayor): Pledges a new housing plan in his first 100 days, rewarding towns that build near transit but shying from hard mandates.
• Mikie Sherrill (Blue Dog Congresswoman): Pushes for streamlined permits, but her ties to banking interests (her husband is a UBS executive) undercut her working-class appeal.
• Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog Congressman): Trump’s “favorite Democrat” backs developer-friendly tax breaks, a far cry from Baraka’s tenant protections.
• Sean Spiller (former Montclair Mayor): Vague promises to “limit corporate purchases” and “set rent benchmarks,” but his campaign raises questions about credibility.

The GOP’s Dystopian Vision

On the Republican side, the leading contenders—Trump-endorsed Jack Ciattarelli and far-right firebrand Bill Spadea—want to dismantle New Jersey’s affordable housing laws entirely.

Spadea even claims deporting undocumented immigrants would “free up housing,” a grotesque non-solution that ignores the real crisis.

The Stakes

The June 10 primary will decide whether Democrats nominate a champion of tenants and struggling cities—or another insider beholden to donors.

Baraka’s ad doesn’t just ask, “Where is the American poetry?” It asks: Who will fight for the New Jerseyans drowning in rent, locked out of homeownership, and pushed to the margins?

The answer, in Baraka’s telling, is obvious. His rivals have until June 10 to prove him wrong.