Democratic leaders from seven southern New Jersey counties pledged their support Wednesday to Newark Mayor Cory Booker in the special U.S. Senate primary election, but that does not mean they will be raising money for him.
Early polls have Booker as the favorite to win the Oct. 16 election to serve the last 15 months of the term of Frank Lautenberg, who died this month at 89. With a primary less than two months away, it's an abbreviated campaign schedule. And so far Booker has been more aggressive about holding public campaign events and announcing endorsements than the three other Democratic candidates.
U.S. Rep. Rush Holt launched his campaign Wednesday with an introductory video and campaign website and said the race resembles other tough elections he's won during his political career. This week, Rep. Frank Pallone called for multiple pre-primary debates, an idea that the other candidates seemed comfortable with. Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver is largely tied up with passing the state budget, which must be adopted by July 1.
Booker has online ads running, but so far none of the candidates has booked broadcast TV ads.
If the election has low turnout, as expected, the endorsements could be a factor.
On Wednesday, the officials backing Booker, and Booker himself, were polite to the other candidates during a campaign event at a catering hall in Deptford.
"We have four excellent candidates for the U.S. Senate,'' said state Senate President Steve Sweeney. ``No one comes close to Cory when it's about getting things done, especially in Washington, D.C."
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
In an interview, Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald said he expects the local Democratic organizations to mobilize their volunteers to get out the vote for Booker in August, but said they would not be doing fundraising for him.
Greenwald said they would be focusing on collecting donations for state legislative elections in November. He noted, though, that the nationally known Booker is a prolific fundraiser on his own.
For his part, Booker pledged not only to help southern New Jersey if he is elected but also to help the politicians who are supporting him by sharing the voter data his campaign is gathering. He also said he hoped to be back after the October election as a sitting U.S. Senator campaigning for the officials who are helping him now.
He said he needs to help because some issues he cares about, including overriding Gov. Chris Christie's veto of a law that would allow gay couples to marry, are playing out in the state Legislature rather than in Washington.
The winner of the Democratic primary will face either former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan or Piscataway physician Alieta Eck in the special election in October.
