Booker, Lonegan to spar in US Senate debate

TRENTON (AP) — There won’t be much common ground when Democrat Cory Booker and Republican Steve Lonegan meet in their first debate in New Jersey’s U.S. Senate campaign.

Lonegan believes in limited government, opposes the nation’s new health insurance law and applauds shutting down the government over the law. Booker circulated a petition urging Congress to end the shutdown and believes the new health care law will give access to insurance to those who can’t otherwise afford it.

The pair will meet for the taping of their first face-to-face debate on Friday, and again five days later for their second and last.

The first debate will be televised Sunday morning on WPVI in Philadelphia and WABC in New York.

The special election to fill the remaining 15 months of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s term will be Oct. 16.

Voters already engaged in the race are unlikely to discover any surprises about the candidates, who hold starkly different views on virtually every issue.

On guns, Lonegan supports fewer restrictions on gun owners, while Booker favors more controls on firearms. On gay marriage and raising the minimum wage, their differences are just as obvious: Lonegan opposes gay marriage and efforts to raise the minimum wage; Booker supports both.

Lonegan, the underdog, has so far been the aggressor in the race, and that is unlikely to change in the debates.