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Cory Booker Wins Big in New Jersey

The celebrity lawmaker gets his first full term as a U.S. Senator.

Democratic lawmaker and Internet celebrity Cory Booker was elected Tuesday evening to his first full-term as a United States Senator from New Jersey. Voters easily chose Booker over his Republican opponent, recent Garden State transplant and one-time conservative hero Jeff Bell.

Booker has been in the Senate since October 2013, when he was elected to serve out the remainder of the late Frank Lautenberg’s term. As The Daily Beast reported extensively in October, Booker served eight years as mayor of Newark, during which time the crime rate rose, the economy suffered, and he became a national celebrity mainly due to his social media prowess.

On Tuesday morning, a red sweater-clad Booker tumbled out of his black suburban to cast his ballot in Newark’s Central Ward. “I look forward to not being the extremist my opponent is, but really being someone who goes down—not to be the Democratic senator—but really to be New Jersey’s senator,” Booker told reporters.

Fittingly, Booker spent the rest of the day on Twitter, where he personally thanked individual voters for their support. Asked to provide a reason to vote for him by one user on Tuesday evening, Booker said, “How bout I’ll try and be the most responsive Senator ever,” by which, perhaps, he meant through @ replies.

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Olivia Nuzzi

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