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Newark Mayor Cory Booker has endorsed the Forward Asbury Park ticket for election to city council.

“Council members John Loffredo and Sue Henderson and Councilman and former Mayor Kevin Sanders have proven themselves as capable, visionary leaders of Asbury Park,” Booker wrote in a letter to the Forward Asbury Park team.

The Forward Asbury Park ticket also includes board of education member Greg Hopson Sr. and newcomer Will Potter.

“From his many visits to Asbury Park, and as co-members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, I’ve gotten to know Mayor Booker,” Sanders said in a prepared release from the campaign. “His dedication to Newark has been an example to us, as we face similar challenges in Asbury Park, day in and day out. We are honored to have earned his endorsement.”

The city council election is next Tuesday, May 14, and all five council seats are up for grabs. Voters will pick five from a field of 22 candidates. The winners then select a mayor from amongst themselves. The current council’s terms expire on June 30, with new four-year terms starting on July 1.

Booker’s full letter to the candidates is reproduced below:

Dear Forward Asbury Park Team,

It is an honor to offer my support for your ticket of candidates for public office. Councilmembers John Loffredo and Sue Henderson and councilman and former Mayor Kevin Sanders, have proven themselves as capable, visionary leaders of Asbury Park. Board of Education member Greg Hopson, Sr., and educator and social worker Will Potter have long served young people and the broader community.

I am confident that you will continue and accelerate Asbury Park’s incredible progress. Your emphasis on supporting kids has been inspiring – a laser focus on keeping Asbury Park’s youth free from gangs and drugs, and offering expanded recreation programming are part of the reason for a drop in juvenile arrests from over 400 in 2002, to 89 in 2012.

While your work thus far has brought monumental strides, Forward Asbury Park and your community, like we in Newark, will not claim success until every corner is safe, every child is offered the opportunity to manifest her genius, and your city shows our state, the nation, and the world, the fullest extent of its greatness.

Sincerely,

Cory Booker

Mayor

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