With less than a month until New Jersey’s June 10 gubernatorial primary, Jewish community leaders are now confronting the unexpected rise of a far-left Democrat whose campaign is surging even as he has faced scrutiny over his record of commentary on key issues including Israel and antisemitism. 

Ras Baraka, the longtime mayor of Newark, drew national headlines last week after he was arrested by federal agents on trespassing charges at a new immigration detention facility he had been protesting against, in a made-for-TV moment caught on video. The high-profile confrontation has helped to propel Baraka, an outspoken progressive who until recently had been seen as a long shot, to the top of a crowded primary field. A new internal poll commissioned by his campaign showed the Newark mayor closing in on Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), the establishment favorite, who led by just four points and claimed only 21% of the vote.

That Baraka is positioned to pull off a potential upset in the Democratic primary, where a relatively small plurality of the vote could secure his nomination, has raised alarms among some Jewish leaders in the state who have voiced concerns about the mayor’s past praise of Louis Farrakhan, the virulently antisemitic Nation of Islam leader, and his condemnation of Israel’s war in Gaza, among other issues.

But as the primary draws closer, Jewish leaders acknowledge that they have not yet developed a playbook to counter Baraka’s ascendance, pointing to a broader pattern of organizational confusion in a state home to a sizable, diverse and politically active Jewish community. “I find the organizing very lacking right now,” one Jewish activist in New Jersey told Jewish Insider on Wednesday, even as she described “grave concerns” among Jewish community members who have found Baraka’s rhetoric “over the top.”

“I think Baraka’s relevance in the polls has not been taken seriously enough by the Jewish community,” another Jewish activist echoed to JI, also speaking on the condition of anonymity to address a sensitive issue. “If they don’t wake up and get more involved, it will signal an abdication on issues that the Jewish community considers essential.”

Baraka’s potential nomination “should be of great concern,” the Jewish leader added, arguing that the mayor “has historically done very little to show any interest or engagement globally, with Israel or the Jewish community.”

David Bercovich, the co-founder of a new advocacy group called Safeguard Jewish South Jersey, told JI that Baraka’s involvement in past events — notably including a gathering in the early 2000s at which he delivered remarks alongside Farrakhan — has been “deeply troubling to me and members of the Jewish community.”

“These events, coupled with Baraka’s lack of a public stance on IHRA and no condemnation of college antisemitism, are concerning,” Bercovich continued, referring to pending state legislation to codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, which has faced backlash for identifying some criticism of Israel as antisemitic.

Baraka’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday evening. The mayor told JI in March that he joined the Nation of Islam event to support a truce between rival gangs. Baraka rejected accusations of antisemitism, saying it was “offensive and irresponsible for anyone to suggest otherwise.”

“Farrakhan is not running for governor. Ras Baraka is,” Baraka reiterated in an interview on WNYC last month, in response to a caller who raised concerns about his relationship to the Nation of Islam leader. “Nobody in the Nation of Islam is running for governor in the state of New Jersey. I am. There are times when our issues and ideas converge, and there are times when they diverge. That’s important to understand.”

Despite his reservations with Baraka’s candidacy, Bercovich said his group, which has endorsed Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), a Jewish Democrat and pro-Israel stalwart, has not been focused on the mayor of New Jersey’s largest city as he gains momentum in the final stretch of the race.

He expressed confidence that Jewish voters would turn out in force for Gottheimer and help to fuel his victory, even as polling has shown the congressman is now facing steep odds in his campaign to become the first Jewish governor of New Jersey.

The Jewish vote is likely to split among several candidates in the primary, including for Steve Fulop, the Jewish mayor of Jersey City who is claiming a pragmatic progressive lane. But one Jewish leader confirmed that some moderate Jewish voters who had backed Gottheimer are now considering turning to Sherrill as they begin to recognize that she is more likely to clinch the nomination and would be well-positioned for a competitive general election that more progressive candidates could struggle to win.

Sherrill has maintained strong support among moderate Jewish voters, especially in the part of the state she currently represents, the leader added.

Fulop, for his part, has also faced backlash within the Jewish community for opposing legislation to enshrine the IHRA definition into state law, saying it would infringe on free speech while contributing to “antisemitic sentiment” due to its narrow focus.

Still, despite saying he would not sign the bill into law as governor, Fulop walked back his comments in a recent mailer aimed at Jewish voters in which he said “would not veto” the bill if it “found its way to my desk.”

Fulop’s ties to anti-Israel figures in the state have also raised red flags, though the Jersey City mayor remains popular among more progressive elements of the Jewish community, a Jewish leader in the state said.

The fierce debate over IHRA combined with infighting around Sherrill’s record on Middle East policy, which some pro-Israel voters see as weaker than Gottheimer’s, has in many ways overshadowed Baraka’s surprise ascendance — underscoring how the Jewish community has left itself unprepared to contend with an outcome that had seemed unlikely when the mayor first entered the primary last year.

“Until very recently, no one really thought Baraka had a chance,” said one prominent Orthodox leader who asked to remain anonymous to speak candidly.

In the Orthodox community, however, the Jewish leader noted there is generally less concern about Baraka, as most of his positions on top issues such as yeshiva education remain unknown. The mayor, who has also not clarified his view on the IHRA bill, was unfamiliar with the matter when it came up in a private discussion with Jewish leaders a few months ago, the Orthodox leader told JI. 

Still, he noted, Fulop’s resistance to the legislation has stoked more skepticism in the community than Baraka’s views — though that could change if and when the Newark mayor makes his positions known publicly.

Ben Chouake, president of NORPAC, a pro-Israel advocacy group in New Jersey that is not involved in the gubernatorial race, said he prefers Fulop and Gottheimer but expects Baraka to win the primary, thanks in large part to his rising profile in the wake of the arrest last week. 

He said that Baraka is “largely an unknown” with regard to Jewish communal matters. “I don’t think people can really tell at this point,” Chouake told JI.

Jewish Insider’s senior congressional correspondent Marc Rod contributed to this report.