Cory Booker has served as U.S. Senator from New Jersey since 2013, first elected in a special election to replace Frank Lautenberg. Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Harrington Park, New Jersey, Booker is a Rhodes Scholar graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School. He previously served as Mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013 and on the Newark Municipal Council from 1998 to 2002. Booker has established himself as a national figure within the Democratic Party, having run for president in 2020 before suspending his campaign in January 2020. He is known for his social media engagement, particularly on Twitter/X, and his advocacy on issues including criminal justice reform, gun violence prevention, and economic justice.
Cory Anthony Booker was born on April 27, 1969, in Washington, D.C., and raised in Harrington Park, New Jersey. He earned a B.A. in Political Science and a Master's degree in Sociology from Stanford University (1991-1992), then attended Queen's College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar, earning a graduate degree in History (1994). He received his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1997. Before entering electoral politics, Booker worked as an attorney in the nonprofit sector. He gained prominence as a Newark city councilman (1998-2002) and Mayor (2006-2013), during which he became known for direct constituent engagement and high-profile activism. As Mayor, he famously pulled a woman from a burning building and gained widespread media attention for his accessible approach to governance. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in a special election in 2013 to fill the seat of Frank Lautenberg and has been re-elected in 2014 and 2020. In 2019, he ran for the Democratic presidential nomination but suspended his campaign in January 2020, later endorsing Joe Biden. Booker was engaged to Alexis Lewis in September 2025. He published his first book, 'United,' in 2016, and his second book, 'Stand,' in 2026.