Early Political Career
After graduation, Booker served as Staff Attorney for the Urban Justice Center in New York and Program Coordinator of the Newark Youth Project.
In 1998, Booker won an upset victory for a seat on the Newark City Council, defeating four-term incumbent George Branch. To draw attention to the problems of open-air drug dealing and the associated violence, Booker went on a 10-day hunger strike, and lived in a tent and later in a motor home near drug dealing areas of the city. He proposed Council initiatives that impacted housing, young people, law and order and the efficiency and transparency of City Hall, but was regularly outvoted 8–1. He also became an outspoken advocate of education reform.
Read more about this topic: Cory Booker
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