A look at Cory Booker's political career

Newark Mayor Cory Booker speaks with a USA Today reporter in his City Hall office on July 19, 2006. Booker has been in office for one month and laid out a bold plan to cut crime. He vowed to pour cops and social services into violent hot spots around the city. His goals: Crack down on crime and provide more recreation, job training, entertainment, and other activities to improve the health of neighborhoods.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker addresses attendees of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC on Sept. 4, 2012.

Former senator Bill Bradley listens as Booker speaks during a news conference on his plans to campaign for the Democratic nomination to run for the seat of the late senator Frank Lautenberg on June 8, 2013, in Newark, N.J.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker shakes the hand of 90-year-old WWII veteran Willie Wilkins at the Newark City Hall on May 8, 2013, in Newark, New Jersey. Booker, who has declared that he will run for New Jersey's open U.S. Senate seat in 2014, honored the 90-year-old WWII veteran on the 68th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. At the ceremony, Wilkins received his dog tags, which were recently unearthed in a French garden, some 67 years after he lost them in France during WWII.

Newly elected U.S. Senator Cory Booker speaks in Newark, New Jersey, after winning a special election on Oct. 16, 2013. Booker, the current mayor of Newark, New Jersey, defeated Republican Steve Lonegan to replace Frank Lautenberg, who died in June.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker speaks to reporters after casting his vote in a special U.S. Senate election on Oct. 16, 2013, in Newark, New Jersey. Booker, a Democrat, held a wide lead in the polls over Republican Tea Party candidate Steve Lonegan ahead of the election to succeed Frank Lautenberg, who died in office.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., participates in a re-enacted swearing-in ceremony performed by Vice President Joe Biden in the Old Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2015. Senators were officially sworn in on the Senate floor earlier in the day. In the middle is Booker's sister-in-law, Lucille Booker. The little girl in the middle is Cory's niece Zelah Booker.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., center, and Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., upper right attend President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, from the House chamber of the United States Capitol in Washington DC.

Booker introduces Hillary Clinton at a Breaking Down Barriers town hall on Feb. 25, 2016, at the Cumberland United Methodist in Florence, S.C.

Clinton speaks on stage with Jon Bon Jovi and Booker at a rally on June 1, 2016, in Newark, N.J.

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) speaks and introduces Democratic Presidential candidate, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at a Breaking Down Barriers Town Hall on Feb. 25, 2016, at the Cumberland United Methodist in Florence, South Carolina. Last Saturday, the South Carolina GOP Presidential Primary shattered records with 137,092 more votes cast than in any previous primary.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, speaks during the 2016 Democratic National Convention at Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia, PA on July 25, 2016.

Sen. Cory Booker hugs Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Doug Jones during a rally at Jones' campaign headquarters in Birmingham, Ala. on Sunday Dec. 10, 2017.

Senator Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, sitting with Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, speaking out against Jeff Sessions, nominee for Attorney General, confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, DC on Jan. 11, 2017.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Doug Jones, left, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, center, and U.S. Sen Cory Booker, right, during a rally at Jones' campaign headquarters in Birmingham, Ala., on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017.

Democratic Senatorial candidate Doug Jones takes a group picture with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) (R) and Rep.Terri Sewell (D-AL) (3rd from Right) and supporters during a campaign event held at Alabama State University at the John Garrick Hardy University Student Center on De. 9, 2017 in Montgomery, Alabama. Mr. Jones is facing off against Republican Roy Moore in next week's special election for the U.S. Senate.

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 21: Cory Booker (L) and Katy Perry attend the rally at the Women's March on Washington on Jan. 21, 2017, in Washington, DC.

Senator Cory Booker, D-NJ, delivers an address to the Center for American Progress (CAP) during the annual ideas conference in Washington, DC, on May 15, 2018.

US Senators Cory Booker (L) and Kamala Harris listen as US Attorney General William Barr testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on "The Justice Department's Investigation of Russian Interference with the 2016 Presidential Election" on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on May 1, 2019.

Sen. Cory Booker (D - N.J.), left, speaks while Sen. Kamala Harris (D - Calif.) listens during the hearing for Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing on Sept. 4, 2018 in Washington. Kavanaugh was nominated by President Donald Trump to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired from the Supreme Court in July.

US Senator Cory Booker (L) brings a cup of coffee for Christine Blasey Ford (2nd R) as she testifies before the US Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Sept. 27, 2018. - Blasey Ford told senators Thursday that she remains "100 percent" certain that Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's nominee for the US Supreme Court, was the person who sexually assaulted her at a party decades ago.

Senator Cory Booker hugs Jacque Nickerson, of Detroit, as they visit the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, on Friday, April 27, 2018.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), left, speaks while Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) listens during the hearing for Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing on Sept. 4, 2018, in Washington. President Donald Trump nominated Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired from the Supreme Court in July.

In this file photo taken on Nov. 4, 2018, US Senator Cory Booker takes a selfie during a rally supporting US Senator Bob Menendez in Hoboken, New Jersey. Booker announced on Feb. 1, 2019, that he is running for US president, joining a widening field of Democrats seeking their party's nomination to take on Donald Trump in 2020.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), right, president of the South Carolina NAACP chapter, Brenda Murphy, center, and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) march down Main St. to the Statehouse in commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 21, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. The South Carolina chapter of the NAACP will mark the occasion with King Day at the Dome.

Former US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, US Senator from New Jersey Cory Booker, US Senator from Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren, former US Representative for Texas' 16th congressional district Beto O'Rourke participate in the NBC News Democratic Candidates debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida, on June 26, 2019.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) talk before President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address from the House chamber of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC on Feb. 5, 2019.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., speaks at a rally against laws banning abortion in the United States on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on May 21, 2019.

U.S. Senator and 2020 presidential candidate Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, gives a campaign speech from the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2019.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), center, president of the South Carolina NAACP chapter, Brenda Murphy, right, and South Carolina Rep. Annie McDonald (D-Fairfield), left, walk up the statehouse steps during the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the Dome event on Jan. 21, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. Booker was joined at the event by fellow potential Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

Senator Cory Booker announces his run for president in 2020, on Feb. 1, 2019, outside his home in Newark, New Jersey.

Democratic presidential hopeful Former Vice President Joe Biden (R) looks on as US Senator from New Jersey Cory Booker speaks during the second round of the second Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season hosted by CNN at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan on July 31, 2019.

Democratic presidential hopefuls (fromL) Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio, US Representative for Ohio's 13th congressional district Tim Ryan, Former US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro and US Senator from New Jersey Cory Booker participate in the first Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season hosted by NBC News at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida, June 26, 2019.

Sen. Cory Booker(D-NJ) sits with other members of Congress during the funeral of late congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis at the State Capitol in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 30, 2020. - Lewis, a 17-term Democratic member of the US House of Representatives from the southern state of Georgia, died of pancreatic cancer on July 17 at the age of 80.

US Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, speaks about climate change outside of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Oct. 20, 2021.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) listens during a "Protecting America’s Children From Gun Violence" hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee at the U.S. Capitol on June 15, 2022, in Washington, DC. As the Senate negotiates a bipartisan gun legislation framework, the committee heard from medical experts, victims of gun violence, and law enforcement officers from significant cities.

Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) gavels the convention to order during the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, IL on Aug. 21, 2024.

Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) and Alex Hornbrook call the convention to order during the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, IL on Aug. 21, 2024.

US Senator Cory Booker, Democrat from New Jersey, speaks during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing for Senator Marco Rubio to be Secretary of State, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Jan. 15, 2025.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) speaks to supporters and employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) rally outside the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington, DC. USAID employees and supporters protested against the Trump Administration's sudden closure of the agency, resulting in the cancellation of all aid work, conflict prevention, and foreign policy work around the world, and the possible dismissal of thousands of employees.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) speaks during a news conference following the weekly Senate Democrats policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 2025, in Washington, DC. During the news conference, Senate Democrats discussed President Trump's policies during his first few weeks in office ahead of the president's address to a joint session of Congress tonight.

U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) delivers a marathon speech protesting the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, in a frame grab from U.S. Senate video shot in the Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on April 1, 2025.

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) speaks during a 'Community Conversation and Town Hall' at the historic First Baptist Church Capitol Hill in Nashville, as town hall events are being held in GOP competitive districts across the country in Nashville, Tennessee, May 9, 2025.

U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) speaks in support of U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), who was involved in a confrontation during a recent unannounced visit to a privately run federal immigration center in Newark, New Jersey, before the Congressional Black Caucus as House Democrats hold a news conference in Washington, D.C., May 20, 2025.

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) fist bumps U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) during a vote, outside the Senate chamber, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., July 28,  2025.

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) questions Emil Bove as he testifies during a Senate Judiciary hearing on his nomination as Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit in Washington, D.C. on June 25, 2025.

Cory Booker gives a hug to a hospital staff member at the Valley Hospital, July 2, 2025, Paramus, New Jersey,

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) questions U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi as she testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office BuildingÊon Capitol Hill on Oct. 7, 2025 in Washington, DC. Bondi is expected to face criticism from Democrats on the Justice DepartmentÕs targeting of President TrumpÕs political opponents, including the recent indictment of former FBI Director James Comey.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) holds a news conference with fellow Senate Democrats to introduce legislation that would ensure SNAP and WIC benefits are issued until the end of the federal government shutdown at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 29, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Trump administration said that it would not cover the cost of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in November, possibly halting more than 42 million people's ability to pay for groceries.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) speaks during the election night watch party for New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) at the Hilton East Brunswick Hotel on Nov. 4, 2025 in East Brunswick, New Jersey. Sherrill is facing off against Republican assembly member Jack Ciattarelli in a tightly contested race for New Jersey governor.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) speaks as U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on March 3, 2026 in Washington, DC. The Department of Homeland Security has faced criticism over it's handling of immigration enforcement leaving the department unfunded.