Cory Booker

Cory Booker

Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician who is currently serving as the Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, first elected in 2006, having previously served as a City Councilor from 1998 to 2002. He first ran for Mayor in 2002, but lost to incumbent Sharpe James; he ran again in 2006 and won against Deputy Mayor Ronald Rice. He is the third African-American Mayor of Newark.

He is a graduate of Stanford University, Yale Law School, and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. After college, Booker won an upset victory for a seat on the Newark City Council, defeating four-term incumbent George Branch.

Booker has gained a reputation for his personal involvement in public service, including going on a 10-day hunger strike outdoors to draw attention to the dangers of open-air drug dealing, living on a "food stamp" budget to raise awareness of food insecurity, shoveling the driveway of a constituent upon request, allowing hurricane victims into his home, and saving a woman from a house fire at his own risk.