2013 IN REVIEW: Booker Gets US Senate Seat, Christie Reëlected
By David Madden
TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) -- It was an interesting if not exactly tumultuous year in politics in New Jersey.
Democrats had hoped that Newark, NJ mayor Cory Booker would take on Gov. Chris Christie, who sought re-election. That didn't happen.
"I will complete my full second term," Booker said at the time.
But then, US Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) died (see related story).
Booker ran to fill out Lautenberg's term, and won handily in a special election (see related story).
"Remember this always: I work for all of New Jersey," Booker told his constituents afterward.
That vote came three weeks before Christie's landslide reëlection (see related story).
"We stand here tonight showing that it is possible to put doing your job first," Christie said in his victory speech.
Critics had suggested that Christie scheduled the US Senate special election so as not to come head-to-head with (and detract attention from) his own reëlection race (see related story). It probably helped, given that Christie is now seen as the early frontrunner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.
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