Story of Year No. 8: Newark voters erase Democrats from all elected positions
Kent Mallett, Newark Advocate
Sun, December 26, 2021, 2:56 AM
NEWARK — The city of Newark will be governed entirely by one party in 2022, the first time in anyone’s memory that has occurred.
The Democratic Party, almost irrelevant in countywide races for two decades, lost all eight Newark City Council races in the 2021 general election, giving Republicans a 10-0 advantage among regular council voting members.
The fortunes of Newark Democrats have collapsed in a few short years. Just eight years ago, Democrats enjoyed a majority on city council, and six years ago there was an even split of voting members.
The city’s 15 elected positions identified by political party on the election ballot – mayor, council president and council, auditor, treasurer and law director – will all be Republicans. Democrats have lost the last 16 city elections, in 2021 and 2019.
Whether it was a voter turnout of just 18.6%, Republicans' unprecedented coordination among campaigns, a fundraising deficit for Democrats, or the COVID impact on campaigning, Democrats were not even competetive in wards they previously dominated.
Bill Cost, a Democrat and former councilman who lost the council at-large race, said one statistic stands out as the reason for the outcome.
"When you have a turnout of 18%, that’s the biggest factor." Cost said. "I can accept losing, but I can’t accept that voter turnout. If people don’t care enough to vote, I don’t know how to fix that.
“When you have a low voter turnout, the Democrats are not going to win. We need to have a decent turnout to have a shot."
Cost fell just shy of 40% of the vote, with 2,353 votes in a city of 50,000 residents and 31,771 registered voters. The seven Democratic ward candidates received a combined total of 2,122 votes.
"I know candidates worked hard on both sides, and it ends up depending on the demographics of voters that turn out, and the message of candidates and who people like better," Licking County Democratic Party chairwoman Marcia Phelps said. "I do think there should be a balance of power. It’s a disappointment.”
Most shocking was the defeat of Jeremy Blake, a two-term 2nd Ward councilman, 2019 mayoral candidate and former Newark School Board president. Blake received just 38% of the vote in a ward where he received 54% in the mayor's race two years ago and 65% in the 2013 ward election. He was unopposed in 2017.
Blake has still not commented publicly on the defeat but pushed for nonpartisan elections in his final council meeting. Democrats, not identified by party on the ballot, do win in some judicial elections and races in nonpartisan cities and villages in the county.
"Hopefully, at some point in the future, the people in Newark will be able to vote on a charter amendment to remove partisanship from our city government," Blake said. "I think that is something that should be considered and should be voted upon by the people.”
Dee Hall, D-1st Ward, and Sean Fennell, D-7th Ward, joined Blake in thanking their supporters in the final council meeting of the year.
“It’s been a great eight years and an honor," Hall said.
Fennell said council made a difference and made progress during his tenure, but said work remains to be done. He admitted the job can be challenging and implored people to speak their mind and vote their conscience.
“On a council that is one party, it’s important to speak up and to bring in as many ideas and perspectives as possible and I encourage everybody to be true to that," Fennell said. "I haven’t always agreed with my party on certain things and those votes came out.
“It’s really important to remember to do that, especially when you don’t have the built-in checks and balances, and I really hope everybody will take that to heart.”
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