Cory A. Booker
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Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the
junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...
United States senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...
from
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
since 2013. A member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
, Booker is the
first African-American African-Americans are an ethnic group in the United States. The first achievements by African-Americans in diverse fields have historically marked footholds, often leading to more widespread cultural change. The shorthand phrase for this is "bre ...
U.S. senator from New Jersey. He was the 38th
mayor of Newark The Mayor of Newark is the head of the executive branch of government of Newark, New Jersey, United States. The mayor has the duty to enforce the municipal charter and ordinances; prepare the annual budget; appoint deputy mayors, department he ...
from 2006 to 2013, and served on the
Municipal Council of Newark The Municipal Council is the legislative branch of government for Newark, New Jersey. Newark was governed by a mayor and common council from 1836 to 1917 and then by a five-member commission until 1954. Effective as of July 1, 1954, the voters of ...
for the Central Ward from 1998 to 2002. Booker was born in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, and raised in
Harrington Park, New Jersey Harrington Park is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,664,Stanford University, receiving a BA in 1991 and a master's degree a year later. He attended
Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...
on a Rhodes Scholarship before attending
Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...
. He won an
upset victory An upset occurs in a competition, frequently in electoral politics or sports, when the party popularly expected to win (the "favorite"), either loses to or draws/ties a game with an underdog whom the majority expects to lose, defying the convent ...
for a seat on the Municipal Council of Newark in 1998, staging a 10-day
hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...
and briefly living in a tent to draw attention to
urban development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of peop ...
issues in the city. He ran for mayor in 2002 but lost to incumbent
Sharpe James Sharpe James (born February 20, 1936) is an American Democratic politician from New Jersey, who served as State Senator for the 29th Legislative District and was 37th Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. James was the second African American Mayor of ...
. He ran again in 2006 and defeated Deputy Mayor
Ronald Rice Ronald L. Rice (born December 18, 1945) is a former American Democratic Party politician who has served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1986 to 2022. He represented the 28th Legislative District. Rice is one of the longest-serving state s ...
. Booker's first term saw the doubling of
affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on af ...
under development and the reduction of the city
budget deficit Within the budgetary process, deficit spending is the amount by which spending exceeds revenue over a particular period of time, also called simply deficit, or budget deficit; the opposite of budget surplus. The term may be applied to the budget ...
from $180 million to $73 million. He was reelected in 2010. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in a 2013 special election and reelected in 2014 and in 2020. Throughout his Senate tenure, Booker has written, sponsored, and passed legislation advancing
women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
, affirmative action,
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
, and
single-payer healthcare Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from ...
. He has pushed for economic reforms to address wealth inequality in the U.S., particularly the
racial wealth gap Racial inequality in the United States identifies the social inequality and advantages and disparities that affect different Race and ethnicity in the United States, races within the United States. These can also be seen as a result of historic op ...
. Booker has pursued measures to reform the
criminal justice system Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...
, combat climate change, and restructure national
immigration policy Border control refers to measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it a ...
. In foreign policy, he has voted successfully for tougher
sanctions against Iran There have been a number of sanctions against Iran imposed by a number of countries, especially the United States, and international entities. Iran was the most sanctioned country in the world until it was surpassed by Russia following its inva ...
, voiced support for the
withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan The United States has conducted two withdrawals of United States troops from Afghanistan: *Withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan (2011–2016), draw down of United States Armed Forces in the Afghanistan war *Withdrawal of United State ...
, and lobbied for increased diplomacy in the Middle East. He was the first senator to ever testify against another senator during attorney general nominee
Jeff Sessions Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States Attorney General from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United States ...
's 2017 confirmation hearing. Booker was a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the
2020 U.S. presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Ha ...
, suspending his campaign on January 13, 2020.


Early life and education

Booker was born in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
; he grew up in
Harrington Park, New Jersey Harrington Park is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,664,Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...
. His parents, Carolyn Rose ( née Jordan) and Cary Alfred Booker, were among the first black IBM executives. Booker has said that he was raised in a religious household and that he and his family attended a small
African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The African Methodist Episcopal ...
in New Jersey. Booker has
Sierra Leonean Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
ancestry, which he learned when featured on the
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
television program '' Finding Your Roots''. Booker graduated from
Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan is a comprehensive four-year public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from the suburban communities of Harrington Park, Northvale, Norwood and Old Tappan in Berge ...
, where he played varsity football and was named to the 1986 USA Today All-USA high school football team. He graduated from Stanford University with a
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
in political science in 1991 and a Master of Arts, master of arts in sociology in 1992. He played American football, football for Stanford at the position of tight end and was teammates with Brad Muster and Ed McCaffrey, making the All–Pac-12 Conference, Pacific-10 Academic team. He was elected senior class president. In addition, Booker ran The Bridge Peer Counseling Center, a student-run crisis hotline, and organized help from Stanford students for youth in East Palo Alto, California. Booker was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study at
Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...
, earning a degree in United States history in 1994. At Oxford, Booker served as president of the Oxford University L'Chaim Society. He obtained his Juris Doctor in 1997 from
Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...
and operated free legal clinics for low-income residents of New Haven, Connecticut. At Yale, Booker was a founding member of the Chai Society (now Shabtai (society), Shabtai). He also was a Big Brother with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and active in the National Black Law Students Association.


Municipal Council of Newark

Contemplating advocacy work and a run for city council in Newark after graduating from law school, Booker lived in the city during his final year at Yale. After graduation, he served as staff attorney for the Urban Justice Center in New York and program coordinator of the Newark Youth Project. In 1998, Booker won an upset victory for a seat on the
Municipal Council of Newark The Municipal Council is the legislative branch of government for Newark, New Jersey. Newark was governed by a mayor and common council from 1836 to 1917 and then by a five-member commission until 1954. Effective as of July 1, 1954, the voters of ...
, defeating four-term incumbent George Branch. To draw attention to the problems of open-air drug dealing and associated violence, he went on a 10-day
hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...
, living in a tent and later in a motor home near drug-dealing areas of the city. Booker also proposed council initiatives that affected housing, young people, law and order, and the efficiency and transparency of City Hall, but was regularly outvoted.


Mayor of Newark


Mayoral campaigns


2002 election

On January 9, 2002, Booker announced his campaign for Mayors of Newark, New Jersey, mayor of Newark rather than running for reelection as councilman. That pitted him against longtime incumbent
Sharpe James Sharpe James (born February 20, 1936) is an American Democratic politician from New Jersey, who served as State Senator for the 29th Legislative District and was 37th Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. James was the second African American Mayor of ...
. James, who had easily won election four consecutive times, saw Booker as a real threat and responded with mudslinging. At one campaign event James called him "a Republican who took money from the KKK [and] Taliban ... [who's] collaborating with the Jews to take over Newark." In the campaign James's supporters questioned Booker's suburban background, calling him a carpetbagger who was "not black enough" to understand the city. Booker lost the election, garnering 47% of the vote to James's 53%. The Oscar-nominated documentary ''Street Fight (film), Street Fight'' chronicles the election. During the campaign, Booker founded the nonprofit organization Newark Now.


2006 election

On February 11, 2006, Booker announced that he would run for mayor again. Although James filed paperwork to run for reelection, he announced shortly thereafter that he would instead cancel his bid to focus on his work as a New Jersey Senate, state senator, a position to which he was elected in 1999. At James's urging, Deputy Mayor
Ronald Rice Ronald L. Rice (born December 18, 1945) is a former American Democratic Party politician who has served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1986 to 2022. He represented the 28th Legislative District. Rice is one of the longest-serving state s ...
decided to run for mayor. Booker's campaign, raising over $6 million, outspent Rice's 25 to 1, for which Rice attacked him. Booker, in turn, attacked Rice as a "political crony" of James. Booker won the May 9 election with 72% of the vote. His slate of city council candidates, known as the "Booker Team", swept the council elections, giving Booker firm leadership of the city government.


2010 election

On April 3, 2010, Booker announced his candidacy for reelection. At his announcement event, he remarked that a "united government" was crucial to progress, knowing his supporters in the city council faced tough reelections. Heavily favored to win, Booker faced former judge and Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County prosecutor Clifford J. Minor and two minor candidates. Booker was reelected with 59% of the vote.


Tenure

Before taking office as mayor, Booker sued the James administration, seeking to terminate cut-rate land deals favoring two redevelopment agencies that had contributed to James's campaigns and listed James as a member of their advisory boards. Booker argued that the state's "Pay to play#In politics, pay-to-play" laws had been violated and that the land deals would cost the city more than $15 million in lost revenue. Specifically, Booker referenced a parcel at Broad and South Streets that would generate only $87,000 under the proposed land deals yet was valued at $3.7 million under then-current market rates. On June 20, 2006, Superior Court Judge Patricia Costello ruled in Booker's favor. In late June 2006, before Booker took office, New Jersey investigators foiled a plot to assassinate him led by Bloods gang leaders inside four New Jersey state prisons. The motive for the plot was unclear, but was described variously as a response to the acrimonious campaign and to Booker's campaign promises to take a harder line on crime.


First term

Booker took office as mayor of Newark on July 1, 2006. After his first week in office, he announced a 100-day plan to implement reforms. The proposed changes included increasing police forces, ending background checks for many city jobs to help former offenders find employment in the city, refurbishing police stations, improving city services, and expanding summer youth programs. One of Booker's first priorities was to reduce the city's crime rate. In furtherance of this, he appointed former deputy commissioner of operations of the New York City Police Department Garry McCarthy director of the Newark Police Department. Crime reduction was such a central concern of Booker's administration that he and his security team were known to personally patrol the Newark's streets until as late as 4 a.m. Booker was a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a bipartisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets". In October 2009, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence gave him the Sarah Brady Visionary Award for his work in reducing gun violence. During his mayoralty, crime dropped significantly in Newark, which led the nation in violent crime reduction from 2006 to 2008. March 2010 marked Newark's first murder-free month in over 44 years, although murder and overall crime rates began to rise again after 2008. In addition to his crime-lowering initiatives, Booker doubled the amount of
affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on af ...
under development and quadrupled the amount under pre-development, and reduced the city budget deficit from $180 million to $73 million. After taking office, Booker voluntarily reduced his own salary twice, first by 8% early in his first year as mayor. He also raised the salaries of many city workers. But his administration imposed one-day-a-month furloughs for all non-uniformed employees from July through December 2010, as well as 2% pay cuts for managers and directors earning more than $100,000 a year. In 2008 and 2009, the City of Newark received the Government Finance Officers Association's Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. In an effort to make government more accessible, Booker held regular open office hours during which city residents could meet with him to discuss their concerns. In 2010, Booker was among the finalists for the World Mayor prize, ultimately placing seventh; he was also an unsuccessful candidate for the 2012 award. In March 2010, Booker won a Shorty Award in the government category for having the best microblog. In July 2010, Booker attended a dinner at a conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, where he was seated with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg, who had no known ties to Newark, announced in September 2010 that he was donating $100 million to the Newark school system. According to ''The New York Times'', Booker and Zuckerberg continued their conversation about Booker's plans for Newark. The initial gift was made to start a foundation for education. The gift was formally announced when Booker, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and Zuckerberg appeared together on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show''. Some considered the timing of Zuckerberg's donation a move for damage control to his image, as it was announced on the opening day of the movie ''The Social Network'', a film that painted an unflattering portrait of Zuckerberg. But on her show, Winfrey told the audience that Zuckerberg and Booker had been in talks for months, had planned the announcement for the month before, and that she and Booker had to force Zuckerberg to put his name on the donation, which he had wanted to make anonymously. On October 10, 2010, Booker established Let's Move! Newark as part of First Lady of the United States, First Lady Michelle Obama's national Let's Move! initiative against childhood obesity. Booker gained national attention on December 28, 2010, when a constituent asked him on Twitter to send someone to her elderly father's house to shovel his driveway because he was about to attempt to do it himself. Booker responded by tweeting, "I will do it myself; where does he live?" Other people volunteered, including one person who offered his help on Twitter, and 20 minutes later Booker and some volunteers showed up and shoveled the man's driveway.


Second term

In October 2011, Booker expanded the Let's Move! Newark program to include Let's Move! Newark: Our Power, a four-month fitness challenge for Newark public school students run by public health advocate Jeff Halevy (Personal trainer), Jeff Halevy. On April 12, 2012, Booker saved a woman from a house fire, suffering smoke inhalation and second-degree burns on his hands in the process. Newark Fire Chief John Centanni said that Booker's actions possibly saved the woman's life. After Hurricane Sandy destroyed much of New Jersey's and New York's shoreline areas in late October 2012, Booker invited Newarkers without electrictiy and similar services to eat and sleep in his home. In February 2013, responding to a Twitter post, Booker helped a nervous constituent Marriage proposal, propose to his girlfriend. Booker rescued a dog from freezing temperatures in January 2013 and another dog that had been abandoned in a cage in July 2013. On November 20, 2012, a melee occurred at a Newark City Council meeting Booker attended. The nine-seat council was to vote on the successor to the seat vacated by newly elected United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative Donald M. Payne, Jr. Booker's opponents on the council, including Ras Baraka, sought to appoint John Sharpe James, son of former mayor Sharpe James, while Booker and his supporters favored Shanique Speight. Booker attended the meeting to deal with the eventuality of the lack of a quorum or a tie vote, in which state law would allow him to cast a deciding vote. After acting Council President Anibal Ramos Jr. refused Baraka an opportunity to address the council, Baraka and two other council members walked away in protest. Booker cast the deciding vote for Speight. Supporters of James stormed the stage and were held back by riot police, who eventually used pepper spray on some members of the crowd. Baraka later blamed Booker for inciting the disturbance. Booker refused to comment to the media after the vote. In December 2012, after discussions with a constituent about New Jersey's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Booker began a weeklong challenge attempting to live on a food budget of $30 per week—the amount he said that New Jersey paid SNAP recipients. When critics noted that the very name of the SNAP program shows that it is intended to "supplement" an individual's food budget, not be its sole source, Booker replied that his aim was to spark a discussion about the reality that many Americans rely solely on food stamps to survive.


Public opinion polling

Throughout Booker's mayoralty, Fairleigh Dickinson University's public opinion poll Fairleigh Dickinson University#PublicMind, PublicMind asked New Jersey residents whether they had heard of Booker and whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of him. The results were: September 2008 * Name recognition: 56% * Favorable opinion: 32% * Unfavorable opinion: 8% April 2009 * Name recognition: 62% * Favorable opinion: 39% * Unfavorable opinion: 10% May 2010 * Name recognition: 66% * Favorable opinion: 42% * Unfavorable opinion: 6% May 2012 * Name recognition: 67% * Favorable opinion: 47% * Unfavorable opinion: 6% January 2013 * Name recognition: 75% * Favorable opinion: 66% * Unfavorable opinion: 13% March 2014 * Name recognition: 88% * Favorable opinion: 47% * Unfavorable opinion: 23%


Legacy

Booker's mayoralty and celebrity drew substantial media attention to Newark. While he had high ratings from Newarkers, his legacy has received mixed reviews. During his tenure, millions of dollars were invested in downtown development, but underemployment and high murder rates continue to characterize many of the List of neighborhoods in Newark, New Jersey, city's neighborhoods. Despite legal challenges initiated during his term, Newark Public Schools remained under state control for nearly 20 years. Newark received $32 million in emergency state aid in 2011 and 2012, requiring a memorandum of understanding between Newark and the state that obligated the city to request and the state to approve appointments to City Hall administrative positions. While mayor, Booker claimed in an interview that Newark's unemployment rate had fallen by two percentage points. PolitiFact rated the claim "false" because he used data that had not been seasonally adjusted; the adjusted rate was 0.7 percentage points.


U.S. Senate


Elections


2013

On December 20, 2012, Booker announced that he would explore running for the United States Senate, U.S. Senate seat then occupied by Frank Lautenberg in the 2014 United States Senate election in New Jersey, 2014 election, ending speculation that he would challenge Governor of New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie in the 2013 New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2013 gubernatorial election. On January 11, 2013, Booker filed papers to form a campaign committee without announcing whether he would run. About a month later, Lautenberg—then 89 years old—announced that he would not seek reelection in 2014. On June 3, Lautenberg died of viral pneumonia; five days later, Booker announced his intention to run for Lautenberg's seat in a 2013 special election. Booker announced his candidacy at two events, one in Newark and the other in Willingboro. On August 13, 2013, Booker was declared the winner of the Democratic primary, with approximately 59% of the vote. On October 16, he defeated Republican Steve Lonegan in the general election, 54.9% to 44.0%. Booker was the first African-American to be elected to the Senate since Barack Obama in 2004. The night before his victory, he visited the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, offering prayers and lighting a vigil candle in memory of his father. Booker resigned as Mayors of Newark, New Jersey, mayor of Newark on October 30, and on October 31 was sworn in as the junior U.S. senator from New Jersey. He is the List of African-American United States senators, first African-American U.S. senator from New Jersey.


2014

On January 9, 2014, Brian D. Goldberg, a West Orange, New Jersey, West Orange resident and New Jersey businessman, announced that he would seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. On January 27, 2014, Freehold Township, New Jersey, Freehold Township businessman Richard J. "Rich" Pezzullo announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination. Pezzullo had run for the 1996 United States Senate election in New Jersey, US Senate in 1996 as the New Jersey Conservative Party, Conservative Party candidate. On February 4, 2014, conservative political consultant Jeff Bell (politician), Jeff Bell announced his bid for the nomination. Bell was the Republican Party nominee for U.S. Senate in 1978. Ramapo College professor Murray Sabrin, who ran for the Senate in 2000 and 2008, announced his candidacy on February 13. Bell won the Republican primary and received support from the conservative American Principles Fund, which ran a direct-mail operation costing over $80,000, and the National Organization for Marriage, an organization opposing same-sex marriage, which paid for $6,000 of automated calling. Booker defeated Bell in the general election with 55.8% of the vote to Bell's 42.4%.


2020

In his reelection campaign, Booker faced Republican nominee Rik Mehta, a pharmaceutical executive and attorney. The election was primarily conducted by Postal voting in the United States, mail-in ballots, as mandated by Governor Phil Murphy Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on politics, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Booker and Mehta participated in a virtual debate sponsored by the New Jersey Globe, in which they sparred over issues including the Presidency of Donald Trump, Trump presidency, COVID-19 lockdowns, the Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court nomination, nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, and systemic racism. In the November 3 general election, Booker defeated Mehta, 57%–41%.


Tenure

In November 2013, Booker co-sponsored and voted for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. In December 2013, he was one of the original cosponsors of Bob Menéndez's Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2013, which would toughen
sanctions against Iran There have been a number of sanctions against Iran imposed by a number of countries, especially the United States, and international entities. Iran was the most sanctioned country in the world until it was surpassed by Russia following its inva ...
. He also voted for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. In January 2014, he cosponsored the Respect for Marriage Act. In February 2014, Booker voted against the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013. In March, Booker pledged to meet with each of his Republican colleagues in the Senate in order to find common ground, and was spotted having dinner with Senator Ted Cruz in Washington. Leading up to the 2016 United States presidential election, 2016 presidential election, Booker endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. He was considered a potential vice-presidential candidate during the primary and as the general election began, though he said on June 16 that he was not being vetted. After the election, in which Donald Trump defeated Clinton, Booker testified on January 11, 2017, against Attorney General nominee
Jeff Sessions Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States Attorney General from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United States ...
, the first instance of a sitting senator testifying against another during a cabinet position confirmation hearing. Booker supported fellow New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez when Menendez faced trial on federal corruption and bribery charges. During the trial, Booker was a character witness for Menendez, giving him effusive praise. After the judge declared a mistrial, Booker argued that prosecutors ought not to take Menendez to trial again. When Menendez ran for reelection, Booker praised Menendez, saying he was "so grateful for Bob Menendez and that I get to work with him and stand beside him." Booker downplayed the corruption allegations, saying "to try to continue to try to throw this kind of mud at him, it's not going to stick. It didn't stick when the government tried to do it and it should not stick now." In 2018, ''Politico'' named Booker part of the "Hell-No Caucus", along with Senators Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders, after he voted "overwhelmingly to thwart his [Trump's] nominees for administration jobs", including Rex Tillerson, Betsy De Vos, and Mike Pompeo; all the senators on the list were considered potential 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 presidential contenders. In April 2018, after the FBI raided the hotel room and offices of Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen (lawyer), Michael Cohen, Booker, Chris Coons, Lindsey Graham, and Thom Tillis introduced new legislation to "limit President Trump's ability to fire special counsel Robert Mueller." Termed the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act, the legislation would allow any special counsel, in this case Mueller, to receive an "expedited judicial review" in the 10 days following being dismissed to determine if said dismissal was suitable. If not, the special counsel would be reinstated. At the same time, according to ''The Hill (newspaper), The Hill'', the bill would "codify regulations" that a special counsel could be fired by only a senior Justice Department official, while having to provide reasons in writing. On September 5, 2018, during the Senate Judiciary Committee's Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination, confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh (nominated by Trump to replace retiring Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court of the United States, Supreme Court), Booker questioned Kavanaugh on a series of emails marked "committee confidential" dating to Kavanaugh's time in the office of the White House Counsel during George W. Bush's presidency. The emails, which Booker's office released to the public the next day, show Kavanaugh and others in the Counsel's office discussing racial profiling as a means to combat terrorism, particularly after September 11 attacks, 9/11. Booker said that he was violating Senate rules in releasing the documents, with the penalty including possible expulsion from the United States Congress, expulsion from the Senate; he nonetheless defended his decision, referring to the process of producing documents for the hearing as a "sham" and challenging those who warned him about the consequences to "bring it on". Booker also described the release as "probably the closest I'll ever have in my life to an 'I am Spartacus' moment", referring to a line in the 1960 film ''Spartacus (film), Spartacus''. Committee chairman Chuck Grassley said the documents had already been cleared for public release the night before, and that Booker was not violating any rules, leading some Republicans to accuse Booker of engaging in "theatrics" and "histrionics". Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas mocked Booker in comments the following week, saying, "Honorable—if we could use that word about more people who are in public life, people who actually ask the questions at confirmation hearings, instead of 'Spartacus. Booker was also one of several Democratic lawmakers and critics of President Trump who October 2018 United States mail bombing attempts, was targeted with a mailed pipe bomb. Booker played a leading role in the push to pass the First Step Act, a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill. He has introduced the Marijuana Justice Act, which would Legalization of non-medical cannabis in the United States, legalize cannabis in the United States on the federal level, defund some law enforcement in jurisdictions that have shown racial bias in marijuana arrests, and increase funding to communities affected by the war on drugs. Booker announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for 2020 United States presidential election, president in the 2020 election on February 1, 2019. Booker was participating in the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count on January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, stormed the U.S. Capitol. Minutes after rioters breached the Capitol, Booker and his fellow senators were evacuated from the chambers. Booker blamed Trump for inciting the attack. After the attack, Booker called for the invocation of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and/or impeachment to remove Trump.


Committee assignments


Current

* United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (2021–present) ** Subcommittee on Conservation, Climate, Forestry, and Natural Resources ** Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research (Chair) ** Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, Poultry, Local Food Systems, and Food Safety and Security * United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Committee on Foreign Relations (2017–present) ** Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy ** Subcommittee on Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy, and Environmental Policy ** Subcommittee on State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development(Ranking) * United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship * United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Committee on the Judiciary (2018–present) ** Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights ** Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration ** Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism


Previous

* United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (2013–2018) * United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (2015–2017) * United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Committee on Environment and Public Works (2013–2021)


Caucus memberships

* Congressional Black Caucus * Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus


2020 presidential campaign

On February 1, 2019, Booker announced Cory Booker 2020 presidential campaign, his campaign for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 presidential election. Before his announcement, it was widely speculated that he would run for president but he expressed uncertainty about it. Within a month after Booker announced his candidacy, Governor of New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy, Bob Menendez, and every Democratic member of the House of Representatives from New Jersey endorsed him. Booker held a campaign kickoff rally in Newark on April 13. After qualifying for the first five Democratic Party presidential debates, he failed to meet the polling thresholds to participate in the sixth debate in December 2019. On January 13, 2020, Booker announced that he was suspending his campaign. In March 2020, Booker endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden for president.


Political positions

Booker has been called a Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal and Progressivism in the United States, progressive Democrat. As a senator, he has a liberal voting record. In a July 2013 ''Salon (website), Salon'' interview, Booker said, "there's nothing in that realm of progressive politics where you won't find me." In a September 2013 interview with ''The Grio'', when asked whether he considered himself a progressive, he said he was a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat and an Americans, American. According to the Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society, Booker has had the most pro-animal welfare voting record in the Senate year after year. Booker supports long-term deficit reduction efforts to ensure economic prosperity, cap and trade taxation to combat climate change, and increased funding for education. He has spoken in favor of creating a federal job guarantee and baby bonds (low-risk savings accounts that minors get access to at age 18). In the Senate, he has emphasized issues of racial and social justice. He played a leading role in the push to pass the First Step Act, a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill. He supports ending the War on Drugs. Booker supports abortion rights and affirmative action. He also supports a single-payer health care plan: in September 2017, he joined Bernie Sanders and 14 other co-sponsors in submitting a single-payer health care plan to Congress called the "Medicare for All" bill. On foreign policy, Booker supports scaling down U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and opposes intervention in Syria."Keeping America Secure"
, corybooker.com
After the 2017 Shayrat missile strike, US strike on Syria in April 2017, he criticized military action "without a clear plan" or authorization from Congress. He supports a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Booker has stated that Iran poses a direct threat to American and Israeli security and feels all options should be on the table for dealing with the conflict, but his decision to back the Iran nuclear deal framework damaged his long-term relationship with some Jewish voters and supporters. In an attempt to reduce the damage, he initiated an emergency summit for Jewish leaders, which some of his longstanding supporters did not attend. Despite his reputation as a progressive, progressives have criticized Booker on occasion. In 2017, he voted against a proposal to lower prescription drug prices, which led to criticism that he was too dependent on corporate support. In 2021, ''The American Prospect'' criticized Booker and Bob Menendez for recommending Christine O'Hearne to a federal judgeship after she had spent much of her career defending employers against discrimination and sexual harassment claims, and had defended a school against allegations that its swim coach had sexually abused a girl from ages 13 to 19.


Other activities


Obama association

In 2009, after Barack Obama became President of the United States, Booker was offered the leadership of the new White House Office of Urban Affairs. He turned the offer down, citing a commitment to Newark. Booker generated controversy on May 12, 2012, when he appeared on ''Meet The Press'' as a surrogate for Obama's reelection campaign and made remarks critical of that campaign. Booker said that the attacks on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital were "nauseating to me on both sides. It's nauseating to the American public. Enough is enough. Stop attacking private equity. Stop attacking Jeremiah Wright controversy, Jeremiah Wright." The Romney campaign used the comments against Obama. Booker made follow-up comments clarifying that he believed Obama's attacks on Romney's record at Bain were legitimate but did not retract his point about attacking private equity in general. Two weeks later, Booker's communications director Anne Torres tendered her resignation, although she maintained it was unrelated to ''Meet the Press''.


Affiliations and honors

Booker sits on the board of advisers of the political action committee Democrats for Education Reform. He is a member of the board of trustees at Teachers College, Columbia University and was formerly a member of the executive committee at
Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...
and the board of trustees at Stanford University. In 2010, Booker received the U.S. Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official, an award given out annually by the Jefferson Awards for Public Service, Jefferson Awards. In May 2009, Booker received an Honorary degree, honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, doctor of humane letters degree from the Newark-based New Jersey Institute of Technology for "his outstanding career in public service as the Mayor of Newark." In May 2009, he received an honorary doctorate from Brandeis University and was a commencement speaker that year. Booker received another honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in December 2010 from Yeshiva University for "his bold vision for Newark and setting a national standard for urban transformation." In June 2011, Booker received an honorary Doctor of Laws, doctor of laws degree for the urban transformation of Newark and served as that year's commencement speaker at Williams College. In May 2012, Booker received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Bard College and gave the commencement speech. In 2010, he delivered the commencement addresses at Pitzer College on May 15; at Columbia University's Teachers College, Columbia University, Teachers College on May 17; and at Suffolk University Law School on May 23. Booker gave the commencement address to New York Law School graduates on May 13, 2011, at Avery Fisher Hall (now David Geffen Hall) at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center. He gave the commencement address at the University of Rhode Island in May 2011; he also received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. He delivered a commencement address to Stanford University graduates on June 17, 2012, at Stanford Stadium. He also received an honorary degree at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Fairleigh Dickinson's 69th commencement ceremony in May 2012. In May 2013, Booker gave the commencement address at Washington University in St. Louis and received an honorary doctorate of law. On May 16, 2014, Booker gave the commencement speech at Ramapo College of New Jersey at the IZOD Center. During the 2016 United States presidential election, 2016 presidential election, when Clinton had an illness described as pneumonia, Donna Brazile, the then-DNC interim chair considered that her ideal replacement ticket would consist of Biden and Booker. But the possibility of a divisive reaction and the possibility of "allowing Trump to capture votes in confusion" caused her to "not entertain any more thoughts of replacing Hillary."


Films

Filmmaker Marshall Curry chronicled Booker's 2002 mayoral campaign in the documentary ''Street Fight (film), Street Fight''. The film was nominated in 2005 for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Since 2009, Booker has starred in the documentary series ''Brick City (TV series), Brick City''. The series focuses on Booker's efforts to improve Newark by reducing crime and bring about economic renewal. ''Brick City'' won a Peabody Award in 2009 and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy in 2010. Booker contributed to the 2011 documentary ''Miss Representation'' and commented on the representations of Women in government, women in politics in mass media. Booker appeared in a scene in the 2015 ''Parks and Recreation'' episode "Ms. Ludgate-Dwyer Goes to Washington" alongside Orrin Hatch.


Conan O'Brien "feud"

In the fall of 2009, ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, Tonight Show'' host Conan O'Brien engaged in a satire, satirical on-air and YouTube feud with Booker, with O'Brien jokingly insulting Newark and Booker responding that he would ban O'Brien from the Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark airport. Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for the feud to end during a prepared comedy skit, telling Booker to chalk it up to a head injury O'Brien suffered less than two weeks earlier. Booker then appeared on O'Brien's show and assured viewers that the feud was over and that he was actually a big fan of O'Brien, who agreed that every time he made a joke about Newark, he would donate $500 to the City of Newark, and also made a $50,000 donation to the Newark Now charity, which NBC Universal matched.


Waywire

In 2012, Booker and tech executives Sarah Ross and Nathan Richardson formed Waywire, a company focused on video sharing technology. Early investors included Oprah Winfrey, Eric Schmidt, Jeff Weiner, and Troy Carter (music industry), Troy Carter. After Booker's relationship to Waywire was discussed in a front-page ''New York Times'' story, board member Andrew Zucker stepped down from his position. Shortly thereafter, Waywire CEO Richardson departed the business as the company shifted its focus from content creation to content curation. In August 2013, Booker told NBC News he intended to resign from the Waywire board and put his holdings in a trust if elected to the Senate; by September, he had resigned from the board and donated his share of the company to charity. Waywire was sold to another video curation business the next month.


Book

In 2016, Booker wrote an autobiography, ''United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good''. In an article in ''HuffPost'', Shmuly Yanklowitz said of the book:


Personal life

Booker regularly exercises and has been a vegetarian since 1992, when he was a student at Oxford University. Beginning at 43 minutes into the podcast. He abstains from alcohol and "has no known vices or addictions" other than coffee. In 2014, Booker began practicing a vegan diet and has expressed his vegan ethical philosophy and advocacy for animal welfare, animals. As of June 2016, Booker worshiped at the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Newark. In 1992, Booker recounted in his column for ''The Stanford Daily'' that as a 15-year-old kissing a friend on New Year's Eve, he reached for her breast, had his hand pushed away once and then "reached [his] 'mark. The column described Booker's changed attitudes towards sexual relations and how "skewed attitudes" lead to rape. ''The Daily Caller'' and Fox News brought up the column during the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination, Kavanaugh confirmation hearings in September 2018. From 1998 to 2006, Booker lived in Brick Towers, a troubled housing complex in Newark's Central Ward. In November 2006, as one of the last remaining tenants in Brick Towers, Booker left his apartment for the top unit in a three-story rental on Hawthorne Avenue in Newark's South Ward, an area described as "a drug- and gang-plagued neighborhood of boarded-up houses and empty lots." Brick Towers has since been demolished, and a new mixed-income development was built there in 2010. Since 2013, Booker has lived in a townhouse he owns in the Lincoln Park, Newark, Lincoln Park section of Newark's Central Ward, also known as "the Coast" for its arts, jazz, and nightlife history. Booker speaks Spanish language, Spanish; he attended a Spanish immersion program in Ecuador. In 2020, Booker learned that he and entertainer RuPaul are cousins, after both appeared on the TV show '' Finding Your Roots''. In November 2022, Booker wrote a letter of support and leniency for Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes to the federal judge before her sentencing hearing. In the letter, Booker said that Holmes "holds onto the hope that she can make contributions to the lives of others and that she can, despite mistakes, make the world a better place."


Relationships

Booker has never been married, and in 2013 he was named one of ''Town & Country (magazine), Town & Country''s "Top 40 Bachelors". Although he has generally tried to keep his personal life private, Booker has in the past referred to himself as a "straight male" and said that he is trying to date more in hopes of finding someone to settle down with. He has been romantically linked to poet Cleo Wade. In March 2019, actress Rosario Dawson confirmed to TMZ that she was in a relationship with Booker. Their relationship ended in February 2022. In a 1992 column in ''The Stanford Daily'', Booker admitted that as a teenager he had "Homophobia, hated gays." He has himself been the target of rumors about being gay and has generally refused to address these on principle, as he explained in 2013:
Because I want to challenge people on their homophobia. I love seeing on Twitter when someone says I'm gay, and I say, "So what does it matter if I am? So be it. I hope you are not voting for me because you are making the presumption that I'm straight."


Electoral history


See also

* Barack Obama Supreme Court candidates * List of African-American United States senators


References


Further reading


External links


Senator Cory Booker
official U.S. Senate website
U.S. Senate campaign website

Presidential campaign website
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