'The Start Of Our Comeback': Booker Reflects On Senate Win, Dems' Victory

A swift and decisive win for incumbent New Jersey Senator Cory Booker echoed a greater effort from Democratic voters across the nation, something Booker called "The start of our comeback."

Booker faced off against GOP challenger Justin Murphy, as well as two independent candidates, Veronica Fernandez and Joanne Kuniansky, for a six-year term in the Senate.

The former Newark mayor, who has held onto the seat since 2013, was declared the victor by the Associated Press immediately after the polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

See the results below, provided by the Associated Press (92 percent of votes counted):

• Cory Booker
  Democrat
  1,781,640 votes, 62.1%
• Justin Murphy
  GOP
  1,013,579 votes, 35.3%
• Veronica Fernandez
  End The Corruption
  47,026 votes, 1.6%
• Joanne Kuniansky
  Socialist Workers Party
  26,582 votes, .9%

According to the Associated Press, all 21 counties in New Jersey saw a margin shift towards Democrats in this Senate race compared to the 2024 presidential election.

Booker's heavily projected win comes as some other Democrats across the Garden State celebrate victories that were not as predictable:

U.S. Rep. Analilia Mejia of the 11th District won her rematch against Republican challenger Joe Hathaway to retain Governor Mikie Sherrill's former congressional seat.

Cape May Mayor and Democrat Zack Mullock has defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew in a stunning upset in New Jersey's 2nd Congressional District.

Democrat newcomer Rebecca Bennett has unseated incumbent Republican Tom Kean Jr. to represent the 7th District in the House of Representatives, according to the Associated Press.

Additionally, Democrat Congressman Frank Pallone won re-election Tuesday in New Jersey's 6th Congressional district, defeating Republican challenger Hillary Herzig.

The Garden State's Democratic wins follow Democratic wins across the nation as well, with Maine, South Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Kansas and Iowa Democrats all flipping Republican-held Senate seats, retaking control of Congress.

"If there's anything we're seeing in America right now, it's a wave of change going through our nation," the long-time Donald Trump critic said during his victory speech. "This is going to be one of the greatest rebukes of a sitting president in the history of the United States of America.

During his victory remarks, Booker said the 2026 Midterms were not about "right or left," but "right or wrong."

He critiqued actions by ICE, the US's involvement in another Middle Eastern war, reductions to healthcare, rising gas prices, the actions of Trump, and more.

"America does not work if it only works for some. We are a nation that promised that we would be the country that shows that our way of governance, that our ideals, were the best in the world. And the measurement of that is not how many billionaires we have, but how many people have access to quality of life," Booker said. "We have ended an election, but this has got to be the start of a movement... America, tonight is the start of our comeback, baby! America, we now know the mission is to redeem the dream."

Booker's full remarks can be seen online here (begin at 1:10:30)