Cory A. Booker

DemocratU.S. Senator, NJ

Age	57 (b. 1969-04-27)
Gender	Male
In office since	2013-10-31 (~12 yrs)
Race / ethnicity	African American (with Sierra Leonean ancestry)
Religion	Christian (raised in the African Methodist Episcopal Church tradition)
Education	B.A. in Political Science (1991) and M.A. in Sociology (1992) from Stanford University; M.A. in U.S. History from Queen's College, Oxford (1994) as a Rhodes Scholar; J.D. from Yale Law School (1997)
Prior occupation	Attorney / nonprofit advocate (staff attorney at the Urban Justice Center; ran free legal clinics for low-income residents before entering politics)
Military service	No
Birthplace	Washington, D.C., United States
Marital status	Married — Alexis Lewis
Children	0
Residence	Newark, New Jersey
Notable relatives	Distant cousin of drag performer RuPaul (per a televised genealogy reveal); no immediate relatives in elected politics

Wikipedia · Ballotpedia · OpenSecrets · Official site

Pending research: languages · openly lgbtq.

Career & politics

First elected	1998
Previous offices	Newark Municipal Council, Central Ward (1998-2002) · Mayor of Newark, New Jersey (2006-2013) · Candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination (2019-2020)
Committees	Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry · Committee on Foreign Relations · Committee on the Judiciary · Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Caucuses	Congressional Black Caucus · Black Maternal Health Caucus · Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
Leadership	Chair, Senate Democratic Strategic Communications Committee (2025-present)
Ideology	Began career as a centrist 'Clinton Democrat' but developed a liberal/progressive voting record in the Senate; widely characterized as one of the more progressive members of the Democratic caucus
Signature legislation	First Step Act (2018) - bipartisan federal criminal justice reform · Marijuana Justice Act (2018) - federal cannabis legalization proposal · Respect for Marriage Act (co-sponsor) · Employment Non-Discrimination Act (co-sponsor)

Financial

Net worth: disclosed $585,018–$1,350,000 (2023) · estimate

New Jersey Public Employee Retirement System Pension	other · $50,001–$100,000 · 2023
Fidelity Nasdaq Composite Index mutual fund	fund · $50,001–$100,000 · 2023
Fidelity OTC Portfolio mutual fund	fund · $50,001–$100,000 · 2023
Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund	fund · $50,001–$100,000 · 2023
Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 mutual fund	fund · $50,001–$100,000 · 2023

Top industries: Securities & Investment · Lawyers/Law Firms · Real Estate

Scandals & crimes ledger

dismissed — Newark Watershed civil lawsuit (named as defendant, later dismissed)

financial/corruption · 2015 · U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey (Judge Vincent Papalia) · Booker was dismissed from the civil suit in June 2016; the court cited a New Jersey statute shielding him from liability for actions taken in his official capacity as a public servant. Booker was never criminally charged.

During Booker's tenure as Mayor of Newark (2006-2013) he served as ex officio chairman of the board of the Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corporation. A 2014 New Jersey state comptroller report found the agency 'recklessly and improperly' spent millions in public funds from 2008-2011 with little oversight from its board or the city, both then led by Booker; the report noted Booker never attended a board meeting. Multiple agency officials and contractors, including executive director Linda Watkins Brashear, were criminally convicted of fraud/bribery. In a 2015 civil suit brought by the agency's bankruptcy trustees, Booker was named among more than two dozen defendants alleged to be responsible. U.S. District Judge Vincent Papalia dismissed Booker from the suit in June 2016, holding that he was protected by a state statute because he served on the board in his capacity as a public official. Booker himself was never criminally charged.

Sources: ABC News · Wikipedia

dismissed — Senate Ethics Committee complaint over release of confidential Kavanaugh documents

ethics-violation · 2018-09-06 · During the September 2018 Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Booker publicly released, via Twitter and at a hearing, documents that had been designated "committee confidential" by the National Archives review process, before they had been formally cleared for public release. Booker said he was knowingly violating the confidentiality designation and invited any resulting sanction, invoking the film character Spartacus. The conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch filed a formal ethics complaint with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, and Senators Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn suggested a committee investigation was warranted. The Senate Ethics Committee formally reviewed the complaint. · In a December 12, 2018 letter, the Senate Ethics Committee's Chief Counsel and Staff Director Sue Mayer notified Judicial Watch that the committee had "carefully evaluated the allegations in the complaint and, based on all the information before it, determined that no further action is appropriate." No sanction, reprimand, or finding of a rules violation was imposed.

Judicial Watch filed a Senate ethics complaint after Booker publicly released Senate-Judiciary-Committee-confidential Kavanaugh nomination documents in September 2018; the Senate Ethics Committee reviewed the complaint and, in December 2018, formally concluded no further action was appropriate, closing the matter without any finding of a rules violation or sanction.

Sources: The Hill · Washington Times · Judicial Watch