Former Newark School Board Member, Attorney Launches Campaign For City Council

NEWARK, NJ — A former Newark school board member has thrown her hat into the ring as a city council candidate in the South Ward.

Asia Norton is running in the nonpartisan municipal election on Tuesday, May 12. Her campaign platform includes reducing crime, protecting families from being “priced out” of the neighborhood, supporting “fair development” in the South Ward, and planting more trees in the area.

Learn more about Norton's platform here.

According to a campaign launch announcement, Norton is an attorney, educator and community advocate. She is currently working as a commercial real estate attorney in Newark.

Norton holds a master’s degree from Columbia University Teachers College, a bachelor’s degree from Simmons College in Boston, and graduated from Rutgers Law School-Newark, where she was awarded the G.A. Moore, Jr. Prize for Employment Discrimination Law.

Norton’s legal and political experience includes volunteering with Volunteer Lawyers for Justice, and clerking for Sheila Venable in New Jersey Superior Court (Essex Vicinage). She also served as a Graduate Fellow at the Eagleton Institute of Politics and clerked with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Norton also worked as a student attorney in the Rutgers Housing Justice & Tenant Solidarity Clinic, and interned with the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.

Before attending law school, Norton taught in the Newark Public School District, where she later served as a two-term member of the school board.

Norton’s community service includes founding the Asia J. Norton Civic Association, an organization dedicated to “uplifting neighborhoods and creating lasting positive impact through community-based programs and initiatives.”

Norton – a lifelong Newark resident who is raising her teenage son in the same community where she grew up – announced her candidacy during an event at Union Chapel AME Church.

“As someone who has served Newark both inside and outside of government, I am ready to bring thoughtful leadership, accountability, and advocacy to City Council,” Norton said. “This campaign is about ensuring the South Ward has a voice that is informed, accessible and unwavering in its commitment to the people.”

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