February 1, 2019 - United States Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey announced today that he will be a candidate for president in 2020. Booker's entry into the race had long been  speculated to occur.

In 1998 at the age of 29 , Booker won his first political office when he was elected to the Newark , New Jersey City Council. During his term on the Newark City Council , Booker went on a 10 day hunger strike and set up a tent in front of a city housing project to protest open air drug dealing.

In 2002 , Booker challenged four term incumbent Newark Mayor Sharpe James for the mayoralty. The 2002 election was bruising contest and saw Booker loose the race earning 47% of the vote to 53% for James. Now out of elected office Booker would practice law and serve on university boards.

Newark Mayor James did not run again in 2006 , where upon Booker would cruise to election as the Mayor of Newark with 72% of the vote. Upon being sworn in as Mayor of Newark , New Jersey's largest city, Booker launched at 100 day plan to reform the city.

Upon the death of U.S Senator Frank Lautenberg in 2013 , a special election was called to fill the remainder of the late senator's term. Booker won the primary on August 13 , 2013 with 59% of the vote. On October 16 , 2013 Booker defeated his republican challenger Steve Lonegan by a margin of 54% to 44%. Booker was then sworn into the U.S. Senate on October 31, 2013.

Because there was only about 14 months left in the unexpired term of Senator Lautenberg, that required Booker running for re-election immediately in 2014. Booker would go on to victory in November defeating his republican rival Jeffrey Bell by a margin of 55.8% to 42.4%.

In announcing his presidential candidacy Booker said " I believe that we can build a country where no one is forgotten, no one is left behind; where parents can put food on the table; where there are good paying jobs with good benefits in every neighborhood; where our criminal justice system keeps us safe , instead of shuffling more children into cages and coffins; where we see the faces of our leaders on television and feel pride, not shame."