Cory Booker Is A Step Closer To U.S. Senate

On Tuesday, the state of New Jersey moved a bit closer to replacing Republican Jeffrey Chiesa in the United States Senate. Chiesa was appointed by Governor Chris Christie to hold the seat of the late Frank Lautenberg until a special election could be held. That special election will be on October 16, but last night the Democratic and Republican primaries were held and each party's candidate was chosen.

Cory Booker was chosen by New Jersey Democrats over three opponents, while Steve Lonegan was picked by New Jersey Republicans. Here are the vote totals (with 99% of the vote counted):

DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
Cory Booker...............210,740 (59.1%)
Frank Pallone...............70,205 (19.7%)
Rush Holt...............60,533 (17.0%)
Sheila Oliver...............15,114 (4.2%)
Total Votes...............356,592
19.8% of registered Democrats voted

REPUBLICAN PRIMARY
Steve Lonegan...............103,338 (79.0%)
Alieta Eck...............27,445 (21.0%)
Total Votes...............130,783
11.9% of registered Republicans voted