Booker and Lonegan Square Off for New Jersey’s Senate Seat
Thomas Magjuka-Egan | News & Features Editor
On Wednesday October 15th, 2013, New Jersey voters will be decide which candidate will represent New Jersey in the United States Senate. The special election is for the seat of the late Senator Lautenberg. The two main candidates are Mayor Corey Booker (D-Newark) and former Mayor Steven Lonegan (R-Bogota). Both candidates faced opposition in their respective primaries.
The Senate seat was filled by Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ) up until his death on June 3rd, 2013 at the age of 89. Governor Chris Christie then had the constitutional task of finding an interim senator and deciding when to hold the special election. Christie appointed his friend, and former Attorney General of New Jersey, Jeff Chiesa to fill the seat until the election.
Christie had several options when choosing the date of the special election; he could have chosen November 5th, 2013 (normal Election Day), November 4th, 2014 (next year’s Election Day), or almost any date in between.
The special election will cost taxpayers $24 million dollars. Critics say that the election date discourages voter participation, and is purely a political move to ease Christie’s own reelection. Also, that it’s a waste of money because it could have been just 21 days later for free. Many politicos and scholars believe he chose the October election day to avoid having Corey Booker at the top of the column in 2013 – making it much easier for Christie’s own reelection. Christie claims, “The costs associated with having the special election and primary, in my mind, cannot be measured against the value of having an elected member of the U.S. Senate.”
Corey Booker received the most votes among progressives Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, Congressman Holt, and Congressman Pallone to win the Democratic primary. Throughout the short primary Booker was attacked by his opponents for grand-standing, having no stances on multiple issues, not being effective in Newark, being cozy to Wall Street, plus many accusations saying he was not a true progressive. The conservative, Steve Lonegan, easily won his primary to physician Alieta Eck.
Corey Booker was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Northern New Jersey. He was educated at Stanford, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in political science and masters in sociology. Eventually Booker found a place to call home in Newark and started getting involved in the political system. Booker’s first elected office was to City Council of Newark. He then ran for Mayor against the local machine in 2002 and lost; later, he ran in 2006 and won the election to become Mayor of Newark. Since being elected mayor, Booker has become a rising national star of his party – particularly famous for his direct interaction with his constituents through Twitter. He also achieved lots of press for his high-profile friends such as Governor Christie, Mark Zuckerberg, and Oprah.
The Republican candidate, Steve Lonegan, was born and raised in New Jersey. He earned a bachelor’s at William Paterson College and later a MBA at Fairleigh Dickinson College. The former mayor of Bogota and longtime conservative activist is known for his relentless agenda to reduce the size of government. After his 12 year tenure as mayor, Lonegan became the state director for Americans for Prosperity, a conservative activism group. There he successfully led the effort to defeat an 8-percent sales tax ballot measure, and successfully de-funded the campaign finance reform measure of having public funding for legislative elections.
Booker held a large lead at the beginning of the general election; however that lead has slowly diminished. An early September poll from Rutgers Eagleton Institute had Booker leading by 19 points meanwhile the most recent poll (from Monmouth University) has Booker leading only by 13 points. “Monmouth University’s polls have consistently shown this race to be closer than most pundits thought it would be. While Cory Booker’s lead is relatively sizable, many voters have doubts about his motives in seeking this seat,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. The most recent campaign finance reports show Booker with $4 million cash-on-hand and Lonegan with $150,000.
Where They Stand
Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)
Booker: Supports Obamacare and believes it is a step in the right direction.
Lonegan: Opposes Obamacare and supports a full repeal.
Education
Booker: Proponent of charter schools, and supports more financial aid for college students.
Lonegan: Opposes all federal government involvement in education at all levels.
Marriage Equality
Booker: Full supporter of marriage equality.
Lonegan: Believes marriage is only between a man and woman. Opposes federal government forcing states to observe marriage equality.
NSA Spying
Booker: “Concerned” about the NSA spying programs but believes that spying programs are useful.
Lonegan: Opposes government spying on private citizens.
Syria
Booker: No clear position.
Lonegan: Opposes sending troops to Syria, and opposes sending troops to any country that does not provide an actual threat.
Tax Issues/Welfare
Booker: Supports raising taxes on wealthy and providing welfare to the disadvantaged.
Lonegan: Supports major cuts in welfare and wants to lower taxes.
Gun Control
Booker: Supports background checks on all American’s for gun purchases, supports increase sentencing for gun crimes, and supports bans on high-capacity weapons along with automatic weapons.
Lonegan: Supports individual rights for guns and opposes any gun controls by the federal government.
