Cory Booker in strong position against GOP challenger Mehta
TRENTON » There’s a U.S. Senate race in New Jersey this year, but it might be hard to tell if you’re watching for campaign ads onTV or looking for national media coverage.
That’s because there really isn’t much to speak of.
Polls have shown the Democratic incumbent, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, with a double-digit lead over his Republican challenger, Rik Mehta. Pundits have predicted there’s little likelihood of the charismatic former Newark mayor losing to Mehta, a political newcomer with an accomplished background including a law degree and a doctorate in pharmacy.
There are no Senate ads running on broadcast stations in Philadelphia or New York — markets that capture New Jersey — for or against either candidate, according to the Federal Communication Commission’s records. Nonpartisan political ratings organizations count New Jersey firmly in the Democrats’ column.
Even so, voters looking closely at both top-party candidates will find a lot of contrasts.
Booker is a well-recognized figure, whose failed run in the most recent
Democratic presidential primary had him under the national spotlight for months. Mehta is new to the political game and is the founder of biopharmaceutical firms. He lives in traditionally Republican Morris County with his wife and three children, while Booker lives in the Democratic stronghold of Newark in Essex County, with his partner, actor Rosario Dawson.
Booker has about $3.5 million cash on hand, according to the Federal Election Commission, while Mehta has about $18,000. Those figures are through June 30, with more recent data expected next month. Those figures are low compared to the most closely contested races, where tens of millions of dollars is being spent, and helps explain why there’s less advertising that voters are used to.
Booker is unabashedly liberal; Mehta said in an interview he won’t distance himself from President Donald Trump, who isn’t popular inNewJersey.
“I would describe myself as pretty unapologetically Republican,” he said. He added that he’s “completely happy with the direction the president has taken this country, especially before the pandemic.”
Unlike six years ago, when Booker was running for his first full term after winning a special election in 2013, he has landmark legislation to point to this year. He was a top sponsor of the First Step Act, which Trump signed in 2018. The criminal justice overhaul gave judges more discretion when sentencing some drug offenders. It also boosted prisoner rehabilitation efforts.
It’s something he’s put at the center of his re-election campaign, pointing to the bipartisan nature of the new law.
“Even in the face of unprecedented division, I was able to lead Congress forward to pass into law, with bi-partisan support, historic reforms to our criminal justice system,” he said in a statement.