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Jerry Clifton wins Newark mayoral race

Longtime City Councilman Jerry Clifton will be Newark’s next mayor.

Clifton won a four-way race for the office Tuesday by a wide margin.

Clifton unofficially received 1,733 of the 3,157 votes cast. Political newcomer Catherine Ciferni was his nearest competitor with 794 votes. Aerospace Engineer Brandon Farzad recieved 454 votes and University of Delaware student Kasai Guthrie 176.

“It’s almost surreal. I’m honored to have won a majority of the vote. It was a great race with a very spirited campaign by everyone,” said Clifton “It was all issues oriented. I think all Newarkers, no matter who they voted for, can take pride in that whoever they voted for had a great campaign.”

Clifton, who has served 10 terms on City Council, will replace current Mayor Polly Sierer, who chose not to seek a third term. He’ll be sworn in later this month.

Two contested City Council races were also settled Tuesday.

In District 1, James Horning ousted incumbent Mark Morehead, while in District 2,Sharon Hughes will replace Clifton on Council after defeating Maria Ruckle. Incumbent Chris Hamilton ran unopposed in District 4.

Tom Byrne has been a fixture covering news in Delaware for three decades. He joined Delaware Public Media in 2010 as our first news director and has guided the news team ever since. When he's not covering the news, he can be found reading history or pursuing his love of all things athletic.
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