Last night, Democrat Cory Booker won New Jersey’s special Senate election over Republican Steve Lonegan.
Booker won 713,594 votes and 54.6 percent; Lonegan won 579,388 votes and 44.3 percent.
Turnout was low for several reasons, most notably that it’s a special election held in October, and the election was held on a Wednesday. A “normal” November Senate election in New Jersey gets about 2 million votes, and in a presidential-election year it can reach around 3 million votes.
Republicans looking for a silver lining can note that Lonegan’s share of the vote tied the best performance for a GOP Senate candidate since 2000. In 2012, Joseph Kyrillos had 39.37 percent; in 2008, Dick Zimmer had 42.5 percent; in 2006, Thomas Kean Jr. also had 44.3 percent; in 2002, Doug Forrester had 43.95 percent; and in 2000, Bob Franks had 47.1 percent.
Booker’s drug-dealer friend “T-Bone” could not be reached for comment.