On the way, he may have to stop by a federal courthouse to drop off some documents regarding his dodgy dealings with a Newark utility agency, but Cory Booker is going back to the U.S. Senate, easily winning reelection over Republican Jeff Bell, according to election projections.

Bell had excited some conservatives by staying close to single digits against Booker in the polls (as Booker’s opponent in his 2013 special election had), running on an aggressive platform calling for returning to the gold standard to boost middle-class incomes. But in the end, New Jersey’s heavily blue tint seems to have done Bell in.

Booker’s struggles are partly due to lackluster enthusiasm on the left: As a sometime supporter of school reform and a big magnet for Wall Street cash, he never had the full confidence of New Jersey Democrats or Newark activists.