Darrin Sharif

Darrin S. Sharif is a Democratic politician who was a member of the Municipal Council of Newark, New Jersey, representing the Central Ward, which includes much of downtown from 2010-2014.

Sharif was born in 1961 in Newark Beth Israel Hospital and is son of Carl Sharif, (deceased September 30, 2015) a power broker who former mayor Cory Booker called his "political sensei. He attended Rutgers-Newark, majoring in business management and finance, graduating magna cum laude. Prior to election he worked for Newark Public Schools and the Urban League of Essex County.

In 2010, Sharif upset the party establishment when he defeated incumbent former Councilman Charles Bell in a runoff. The victory was viewed as an upset to the ward's party structure which is influenced by power broker Stephen Adubato, Sr. and Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr..

In August 2013, he announced his candidacy for the 2014 Newark mayoral election joining the field with fellow council members Ras Baraka and Anibal Ramos, Jr. and former Assistant State Attorney General Shavar Jeffries. Both Sharif and Ramos dropped out of the race on February 12, 2014.

Sharif ran instead as incumbent for the Central Ward seat. Preliminary results released the night of the run-off election June 10, 2014 showed that his opponent Gayle Chaneyfield-Jenkins won the seat.