Cory Booker officially announces candidacy for NJ Senate!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324299104578533222098744046.htmlTRENTON, N.J.—Newark Mayor Cory Booker is officially a candidate for U.S. Senate in New Jersey.
The 44-year-old Democrat made his candidacy official at a news conference Saturday in New Jersey's largest city.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker announced his plans to run for the U.S. Senate seat that opened with the death of Frank Lautenberg.
Mr. Booker was joined by former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, a former pro basketball player who for 18 years held the seat Mr. Booker is seeking.
Mr. Booker is also holding an event in South Jersey later Saturday.
The seat became vacant with the death of the country's oldest senator, Frank Lautenberg, on Monday.
Reps. Frank Pallone and Rush Holt are also planning to enter the Democratic primary, which will be held in August. Mr. Booker is considered the early front-runner.
Candidates have until Monday afternoon to enter the race to fill the seat for the rest of the term, which ends in 2014.
Mr. Booker, who has served two terms as Newark mayor, was raised in the affluent New York City suburb of Harrington Park. He moved to Newark in the late 1990s after graduating from Yale Law School and immediately got involved in local politics. He won the mayor's race in his second try, in 2006.
Mr. Booker presided over the city during some of its toughest years of late, through the financial crisis that forced Newark to deal with budget cuts and slashed state funding. While he has been criticized at home for leaving the state often—detractors sniff that he is more interested in appearing on national TV and building his Twitter following—he has turned that national network into a fundraising boon for the city.
Earlier
As mayor, he has no official role in the city school system. But he plays an active role through his philanthropic power, bringing in major donations, including a $100 million gift from Facebook Inc. FB +1.40% founder Mark Zuckerberg that will largely be used for district schools, but a significant chunk will also go to supporting and expanding the city's charter schools.
Mr. Booker had considered running for governor, setting up a potentially interesting challenge to Republican Gov. Chris Christie, but in December he said he decided to instead focus on the Senate. That didn't sit well with Sen. Lautenberg, who hadn't yet decided to step down. In February, the senator said he would retire rather than run again in 2014.
Mr. Lautenberg died Monday at age 89 of complications from viral pneumonia.
That fast-tracked Mr. Booker's plans. He already has more than $2 million raised and can likely count on millions in outside support.
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GO BOOK GO!
