Cory Booker facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cory Booker
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Official portrait, 2025
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| United States Senator from New Jersey |
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| Assumed office October 31, 2013 Serving with Andy Kim
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| Preceded by | Jeffrey Chiesa |
| Chair of the Senate Democratic Strategic Communications Committee | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2025 |
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| Leader | Chuck Schumer |
| Vice Chair | Tina Smith |
| Preceded by | Debbie Stabenow (Policy and Communications) |
| 38th Mayor of Newark | |
| In office July 1, 2006 – October 31, 2013 |
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| Preceded by | Sharpe James |
| Succeeded by | Luis Quintana |
| Member of the Newark Municipal Council from the Central Ward |
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| In office July 1, 1998 – June 30, 2002 |
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| Preceded by | George Branch |
| Succeeded by | Charles Bell |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Cory Anthony Booker
April 27, 1969 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Relatives | RuPaul (cousin) |
| Education | Stanford University (BA, MA) Queen's College, Oxford (MA) Yale University (JD) |
| Signature |  |
| College football career | |
| Stanford Cardinal – No. 81 | |
| Position | Tight end |
| Class | 1991 |
| Major | Political science |
| Personal information | |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Weight | 220 lb (100 kg) |
| Career history | |
| High school | Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician. He is currently the senior U.S. Senator for New Jersey. He has held this important job since 2013.
Booker is a member of the Democratic Party. He is the first African-American U.S. Senator from New Jersey. Before becoming a senator, he was the 38th Mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013. He also served on the Municipal Council of Newark from 1998 to 2002.
Booker was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Harrington Park, New Jersey. He went to Stanford University and later studied at Queen's College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He also earned a law degree from Yale Law School.
As mayor, Booker worked to improve Newark. He helped reduce the city's budget problems. He also focused on making the city safer. In the Senate, he has supported laws for women's rights, same-sex marriage, and changes to the justice system. He also works on issues like climate change and immigration.
In 2019, Booker ran for president in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. He stopped his campaign in January 2020. In 2025, he gave the longest speech in the history of the U.S. Senate, lasting over 25 hours.
Early Life and Education
Cory Booker was born in Washington, D.C.. He grew up in Harrington Park, New Jersey, which is about 20 miles (32 km) from Newark. His parents, Carolyn and Cary Booker, were among the first Black executives at IBM. Booker has shared that he grew up in a religious family. He also learned that he has Sierra Leonean family roots.
Booker went to Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan. He was a talented football player there. He was even named to the 1986 USA Today All-USA high school football team.
He then attended Stanford University. He earned a degree in political science in 1991 and a master's degree in sociology in 1992. At Stanford, he played football as a tight end. He was also elected senior class president. He helped organize Stanford students to support young people in East Palo Alto, California.
Booker received a special Rhodes Scholarship to study at The Queen's College, Oxford in England. He earned a degree in U.S. history there in 1994. Later, he got his law degree from Yale Law School in 1997. While at Yale, he helped run free legal clinics for people with low incomes.
Serving Newark: City Council and Mayor
Newark City Council
After finishing law school, Booker decided to live in Newark. He wanted to work on helping the city. In 1998, he won a surprising election for a seat on the Municipal Council of Newark. He beat a council member who had been in office for a long time. Booker suggested new ideas for housing, youth programs, and making the city government more open.
Mayor of Newark
Running for Mayor
In 2002, Booker decided to run for mayor of Newark. He ran against the mayor who was already in office, Sharpe James. It was a tough election, and Booker lost. He received 47% of the votes. The story of this election was even made into a documentary film called Street Fight.
Booker ran for mayor again in 2006. This time, he won with 72% of the votes. His team of city council candidates also won, which helped him lead the city government effectively. He was reelected as mayor in 2010.
As Mayor
Booker became mayor of Newark on July 1, 2006. One of his main goals was to lower the city's crime rate. He worked hard on this, even personally patrolling the streets with his security team late at night. He joined a group called "Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition" to help make communities safer. During his time as mayor, Newark saw a big drop in violent crime.
He also worked to create more affordable housing and reduced the city's budget problems. To show his commitment, Booker chose to lower his own salary twice. He also held regular "open office hours" where people could meet him and share their concerns.
In 2010, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg donated $100 million to the Newark school system. This big gift was announced on The Oprah Winfrey Show with Booker and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Booker became well-known for helping people directly. In 2010, a person on Twitter asked for help shoveling snow for their elderly father. Booker replied, "I will do it myself; where does he live?" He then showed up with volunteers to shovel the driveway. In 2012, he saved a woman from a house fire, getting some burns himself. He also helped a nervous person propose to his girlfriend and rescued abandoned dogs.
Serving in the U.S. Senate
Senate Elections
In 2012, Booker announced he was thinking about running for the U.S. Senate. When Senator Frank Lautenberg passed away in 2013, Booker decided to run for the open seat in a special election.
On October 16, 2013, Booker won the election. He became the first African-American U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He was sworn into office on October 31, 2013. He was reelected to the Senate in 2014 and again in 2020.
His Work in the Senate
As a U.S. Senator, Cory Booker has worked on many important issues.
- Civil Rights: He has supported laws to protect women's rights, affirmative action, and same-sex marriage.
- Economy: He has pushed for changes to help reduce wealth inequality, especially the racial wealth gap. He supports ideas like a federal job guarantee and "baby bonds" to help young people save money.
- Justice System: Booker has played a key role in efforts to change the criminal justice system. He helped pass the First Step Act, a bill that made reforms to federal prisons and sentencing laws. He also supports ending the "war on drugs."
- Environment: He works to fight climate change.
- Foreign Policy: He has supported stronger actions against Iran. He also supports reducing U.S. troops in Afghanistan and increasing diplomacy in the Middle East.
In 2017, Booker made history by being the first sitting senator to speak against another senator during a cabinet confirmation hearing. This happened when he testified against attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions.
In 2018, Booker was part of a group of senators who often voted against President Trump's nominees for government jobs.
On January 6, 2021, Booker was at the U.S. Capitol when supporters of President Trump stormed the building. Booker and other senators had to be evacuated. He later blamed Trump for causing the attack.
On March 31, 2025, Booker gave the longest speech in U.S. Senate history. He spoke for 25 hours and 5 minutes. He explained that he was speaking to highlight important issues and to stand for the rights of all people.
Senate Committees
Senator Booker serves on several important committees in the Senate:
- Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
- Committee on Foreign Relations
- Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
- Committee on the Judiciary
2020 Presidential Campaign
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On February 1, 2019, Cory Booker announced that he was running for president. He wanted to become the President of the United States in the 2020 election. Many people in New Jersey, including the Governor and other senators, supported his campaign.
Booker participated in several debates with other Democratic candidates. However, he did not meet the requirements to be in the later debates. On January 13, 2020, he announced that he was ending his campaign. In March 2020, he endorsed Joe Biden for president.
Political Views
Cory Booker is known as a liberal and progressive Democrat. He has a voting record that shows his liberal views. He once said that he supports all areas of progressive politics.
He believes in reducing the national debt to help the economy. He supports ideas like "cap and trade" to fight climate change. He also wants more money for education.
Booker is a strong supporter of animal welfare. He has one of the most pro-animal voting records in the Senate. He has been a vegetarian since 1992 and became a vegan in 2014.
On foreign policy, Booker supports a two-state solution for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He believes that Iran is a threat to American and Israeli safety.
Other Activities
Films and TV
Booker has been featured in several documentaries and TV shows.
- The film Street Fight (2005) showed his 2002 mayoral campaign.
- He starred in the documentary series Brick City, which focused on his efforts to improve Newark. This series won a Peabody Award.
- He appeared in the 2011 documentary Miss Representation, talking about how women in politics are shown in the media.
- He also appeared in an episode of the TV show Parks and Recreation and the 2024 Netflix documentary You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment.
Waywire
In 2012, Booker helped start a company called Waywire. It was a company focused on sharing videos. Famous people like Oprah Winfrey were early investors. Booker later left the company's board and gave his share to charity.
Book
In 2016, Booker wrote a book about his life called United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good. In the book, he talks about how important it is for people to find common ground and work together.
Personal Life
Cory Booker exercises regularly. He has been a vegetarian since 1992 and a vegan since 2014. He attends the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Newark.
For many years, Booker lived in Newark's Central Ward. He lived in a challenging housing complex called Brick Towers for a while. Since 2013, he has lived in a townhouse in the Lincoln Park area of Newark.
Booker can speak Spanish. He even went to a Spanish immersion program in Ecuador.
In 2020, Booker learned on the TV show Finding Your Roots that he is cousins with the entertainer RuPaul.
Booker has never been married. From 2019 to 2022, he was in a relationship with actress Rosario Dawson.
Images for kids
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Cory Booker for Newark campaign sign
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Booker at a fundraiser with New York County District Attorney candidate Cyrus Vance Jr. in 2009
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Booker's swearing in as senator, with his mother and Vice President Joe Biden
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Booker in 2014
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Booker with Judge Merrick Garland, 2016
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Booker with Israeli defense minister Yoav Galant in Israel, October 22, 2023
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Booker meeting with President Biden
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Booker campaigning in Newark for Barack Obama in 2007
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Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Al Franken (D-MN), and Cory Booker (D-NJ)
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Cory Booker and Michael Bennet (D-CO)
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Cory Booker and Dan Sullivan (R-AK)
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