Eddie Osborne

Central Ward Councilman Charles Bell last year on the campaign trail.

NEWARK- A year ago they were fighting each other, but their local rivalry in the Central Ward created sparks from below that ignited  Barack Obama fervor from above to create an excellent environment for high Democratic Party turnout in New Jersey's biggest city.

This year, Central Ward Councilman Charles Bell and the man he defeated, labor leader Eddie Osborne, are on the same team and both seeing the battle develop from the same forward position.

"It's moderate turnout compared to last year, nothing like Obama," Bell said of Election Day turnout. "I will say this, though: compared to most gubernatorial years, turnout is pretty good."

Bell admitted that the Central Ward has been an organizational trouble spot in Newark for the Corzine campaign.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker

NEWARK – Television star Oprah Winfrey’s decision this month to drop a $500,000 gift on Steve Adubato’s North Ward Center effectively stamps out the fuse on a standoff between the North Ward Democratic leader and Winfrey confidante Mayor Cory Booker, in a resolution that underscores the political strengths of the two main combatants.

If Adubato, native Newarker and a grizzled guru now in his seventies, proved his relevance by waging a war in the streets and alleys he has known since childhood, Booker the Bergen County outsider turned Newark activist and statewide star, proved his manna from Heaven connections. 

And the community won in the end, according to sources from both camps, as Adubato’s Blue Ribbon charter school, the Robert Treat Academy - whose students consistently rate higher math and science test scores than students in schools in all of urban New Jersey and all of Essex County - stands to get an unprecedented infusion of funds.

The contribution came with a back story.  

For almost as long as Booker’s been in office, Adubato poked, prodded, cajoled, and chest-thumped in the face of the young star’s particular power, and now sources close to the North Ward leader say he intends to endorse the first term mayor for reelection next year.

It’s been an odd relationship.

Taking a shot at the campaign run against him by the Laborers and the allies of Mayor Cory Booker, Central Ward Councilman Charles Bell at his swearing-on ceremony in City Hall last night noted gratefully that money and turkeys don’t vote.

The crack was a reference to Eddie Osborne campaign’s massive GOTV operation, which included the coordinated distribution to of hundreds of early Thanksgiving turkeys.

Officially assuming the seat left occupied by former Central Ward Councilwoman Dana Rone, Bell seized the opportunity to instruct the mayor, who was not in attendance.

The new councilman disapproved of the tone of the campaign, expressed in hand and pole signs with the words: “Charles Bell equals corruption and waste.”

Central Ward Councilman-elect Charles Bell

NEWARK - Charles Bell, the former councilman who on Nov. 4th beat Eddie Osborne to succeed ousted Central Ward Councilwoman Dana Rone, will be sworn into office at City Hall this evening.

In part with the financial backing of former Mayor Sharpe James, Bell defeated Osborne, the candidate endorsed by Mayor Cory Booker.

The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. 

North Ward Councilman Anibal Ramos

NEWARK – Among Newark elected officials, the election of Barack Obama last week sparked hope for healthcare reform, more federal aid, a re-invigorated sense of American leadership - and a special place on the president’s to-do list for the Brick City.

Inevitably, the Democratic victory also opened up questions about the future of Mayor Cory Booker, a supporter of Obama’s from the beginning of his campaign, who now serves on the president-elect’s transition team as it relates specifically to urban affairs.

As mayor of one of New Jersey’s biggest and one of America’s oldest cities with a battered infrastructure, Booker will join over 20 other New Jersey mayors in Newark on Wednesday for a conference to redefine urban needs for the new administration.

Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Essex)

The unlikely political tag team of state Sen. Ronald L. Rice (D-Essex) and North Ward Democratic leader Steve Adubato that felled Mayor Cory Booker’s candidate in the Central Ward on Tuesday called for Obama-spirit healing in the city in the aftermath.

“I respect him as the mayor,” Adubato said of Booker. “I predict things are going to get better. Let’s face it; this Obama victory yesterday means anything is possible. We have a lot of hope about America.

“I take that win by Obama in a country where 15 percent of America is black, and say if he can be president, why can’t we all work together? “

NEWARK - Former Councilman Charles Bell defeated Eddie Osborne in the Central Ward tonight, by a 900-vote margin without provisional ballots.

NEW BRUNSWICK – Newark Mayor Cory Booker and U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) did some microphone tag team in the build-up to what everyone here seems to read as an imminent Obama victory.

 “I am so proud that the candidate who is going to be our victor is someone about whom they said it can’t be done,” said Booker. “In America, we are a place of impossible dreams.”

Pallone shouted, “We’re going to end this war! We’re going to have universal healthcare.”

Central Ward Council candidate Charles Bell

NEWARK – The demonstration of sheer labor power behind Central Ward council candidate Eddie Osborne sent a tremor through the allies of Charles Bell.

But now that darkness has fallen over the city, Bell says his people command the streets and they’re working hard up until the end.

“All of Eddie’s union help climbed back into their buses and skipped town,” said Bell, a former councilman, who’s running with the support North Ward Councilman Steve Adubato, state Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Essex), and former Mayor Sharpe James.

Carl Sharif

NEWARK – The man Mayor Cory Booker calls his political sensei came out of the South Ward today and made a statement.

Power broker Carl Sharif laughed off the suggestion that because he’s funding Mary Rone’s Central Ward Council campaign, it means Rone is toiling as a mole for Sharif’s old ally and political acolyte, Booker.

The argument on the street is that Rone’s campaigning in those areas or at least among those populations where Booker antagonist Charles Bell is strong, in order to divide the vote and enable Osborne to win.