Cory Booker continues to look like the overwhelming favorite to triumph in New Jersey’s special Senate election, with a poll released Tuesday morning showing the popular Newark, N.J. mayor crushing both his intra-party rivals and his likely Republican opponent.
The Quinnipiac University poll found Booker with the support of 52 percent of Garden State Democrats, easily outpacing Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Rush Holt (D-NJ), who claimed 10 percent and 8 percent respectively. State Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver picked up only three percent among Democrats in the poll.
The poll makes Booker look like a “shoo-in” to succeed late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), according to Quinnipiac polling director Maurice Carroll. In a hypothetical matchup against likely Republican nominee Steve Lonegan, Booker came out on top, 53 percent to 30 percent. No other Democrat held a lead of more than four points against Lonegan in the poll.
Lautenberg’s family endorsed Pallone on Monday, likely driven by lingering bitterness toward Booker. The Newark mayor’s decision in December to “explore” a run in the 2014 Senate race two months before Lautenberg retired left many in the longtime senator’s camp miffed. Lautenberg died last month at the age of 89.
