Cory Booker seeks N.J. U.S. Senate reelection in 2026

Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat, is running for reelection to the U.S. Senate representing New Jersey in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election.

Booker has held the seat since 2013. He faces three opponents: Justin Murphy (Republican), Joanne Kuniansky (Socialist Workers Party) and Veronica Fernandez (End The Corruption), according to BallotReady election data.

Candidate information

Party: Democratic
Office sought: U.S. Senate, New Jersey
Hometown: Grew up in northern New Jersey; graduated from Northern Valley Regional High School in Old Tappan, according to WHYY
Education: Bachelor's degree in political science, Stanford University (1991); master's degree in sociology, Stanford University (1992); bachelor's degree in modern history, Oxford University (1994); law degree, Yale University (1997)

Experience and public service

Booker served as a Newark City Council member for the Central Ward from 1998 to 2002, then as mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013, according to BallotReady. He has served in the U.S. Senate since 2013.

In 1997, he founded a nonprofit legal services organization for low-income Newark residents, according to his Senate biography. Booker was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and studied at Oxford University before graduating from Yale Law School in 1997.

Booker sits on four Senate committees: the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship; the Committee on the Judiciary; and the Committee on Foreign Relations, according to his committee assignments page.

At Stanford, Booker played varsity football, volunteered for the campus peer counseling center and wrote for the student newspaper, according to his Senate biography.

On March 31, 2025, Booker delivered what Legis1 reported was the longest floor speech in the history of the U.S. Senate, speaking for 25 consecutive hours and breaking the record previously held by Strom Thurmond's 1957 filibuster against the Civil Rights Act.

On the issues

The following positions are stated by Booker's campaign through his campaign website and BallotReady candidate responses.

Economy: Booker says he believes in an economy that benefits everyone. He says he helped pass what he calls the most sweeping economic development bill in a generation. His baby bonds proposal, the American Opportunity Accounts Act, would fund a federally backed savings account for every child born in America. Booker says the program would virtually close the racial wealth gap.

Criminal justice: Booker says he helped write and pass the First Step Act in 2018, a bipartisan bill that he says begins to reverse the injustices of mass incarceration.

Environment: Booker says he is committed to addressing climate change with a focus on vulnerable communities. He points to his Environmental Justice Act, which he says strengthens legal protections against environmental injustice for communities of color, low-income communities and indigenous communities.

Civil rights: Booker says he is an original co-sponsor of the Equality Act to protect the rights of LGBTQ Americans.

Drug policy: Booker says he reintroduced the Marijuana Justice Act in 2019, which would legalize marijuana at the federal level and restore justice to those already convicted of marijuana-related offenses, convictions he says disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color.