TRENTON, N.J. – In a race for U.S. Senate that that touched upon a candidate's tweets with a stripper and a political strategist's profanity-laced rant, perhaps it's only fitting that the outcome will be decided on a Wednesday in October.
The two-month campaign in New Jersey between Democrat Cory Booker and Republican Steve Lonegan ends amid a lingering federal government shutdown, underscoring the different approaches each would take as a senator.
Booker, Newark's high-profile mayor, circulated a petition to end the shutdown and accused Congress of failing voters by not finding a way to work together.
Lonegan supports the shutdown fight, arguing that the Affordable Care Act should be delayed a year and objecting to the concept of government-directed health insurance.
The campaign has played out under a compressed schedule for the seat held by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a liberal Democrat, until his death in June.
Republican Gov. Chris Christie appointed a GOP caretaker and ordered the election held Oct. 16, the soonest date the law allowed following an unprecedented August primary.
Newark's Democratic mayor, Cory Booker, won the special election to succeed the late Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) in the United States Senate on Wednesday when Booker's Republican opponent, Steve Lonegan, conceded at 9:50 pm.
