Democrat Cory Booker wins US Senate election in New Jersey

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Newark Mayor Cory Booker won a special election Wednesday to represent New Jersey in the U.S. Senate, giving the rising Democratic star a bigger political stage after a race against conservative Steve Lonegan, a former small-town mayor and director of NJ Americans for Prosperity. Booker will complete the 15 months remaining on the term of Frank Lautenberg, who died in June at age 89. Read more at the Examiner... Read More......

A Perfect Storm in New Jersey’s Senate Race?

When New Jersey Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg died earlier this year, there were few people who believed the Republicans had a chance of picking up the seat. Pundits, conservatives and liberals alike believed Newark Mayor Cory Booker would simply walk into the Senate as Lautenberg's successor. They didn't count on former Bogota, N.J. Mayor Steve Lonegan who, according to the latest Quinnipiac Poll, is making it a real race. Lonegan has been stumping up and down the Garden State making the case for his candidacy while Booker, who has apparently bought into all the pre-election hype, has spent a significant portion of his time campaigning out of state in places like California. The Quinnipiac poll confirms what several private polls have already shown: it's a 12 point race. Lonegan is down 41 percent to 53 percent among the 948 likely voters surveyed, meaning it's still not quite a horse race; but the former businessman and long-time political activist has cut Booker's lead in half with virtually no money and with almost no outside support.

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