Politics
New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker announces Senate bid
Newark Mayor Cory Booker. PHOTO/File
Newark Mayor Cory Booker on Saturday formally announced he’s in the race to finish the U.S. Senate term of the late Frank Lautenberg.
The 44-year-old Democrat made his candidacy official at a news conference Saturday in Newark, New Jersey’s largest city. He was joined by former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, a former pro basketball player who for 18 years held the seat Booker is seeking.
Bradley, who endorsed Booker, called him “the right person for the right office at the right time.”
Booker began raising money for a Senate run even before Lautenberg, who died Monday, announced retirement plans in February. He had raised US$1.9 million by the end of the last reporting period in March.
Reps. Frank Pallone and Rush Holt are also planning to enter the Democratic primary. Booker is considered the early front-runner. Pallone, 61, had US$3.7 million in his campaign coffers at the end of March and has deep union support. Holt, 64, a former research physicist, had US$800,000 on hand.
Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, announced this week that there would be party primaries August 13 and a special general election October 16.
The only Republican running so far is Steve Lonegan, a former Bogota mayor who runs the New Jersey office of Americans for Prosperity.
