Local election officials in the state's 21 counties are still tallying the results of Tuesday’s primary election. The A.P. also projected that Steven M. Lonegan, a former mayor of Bogota, N.J., won the Republican primary.
The death of Frank R. Lautenberg, the long-time Democratic senator, in June led to an accelerated campaign, with the primary coming when many families are on summer vacation and a special election to be held just weeks later. As challengers scrambled to garner attention, much of the focus was on the Democratic side of the ballot and on Mr. Booker, who has held a commanding lead in pre-election polls and fund-raising.
Mr. Booker is facing two longtime congressmen, Representatives Frank Pallone Jr. and Rush D. Holt, as well as the State Assembly speaker, Sheila Y. Oliver, who has not been as big a presence on the campaign trail as the other candidates.
The winner of the Democratic primary will be heavily favored, largely because Democrats outnumber Republicans by about 700,000 registered voters.
With rain blanketing much of the state, many polling sites were lonely places, with poll workers easily outnumbering the trickle of voters.
The campaign itself has been short — just over two months — and it has unfolded in the heart of the summer. That has introduced a degree of volatility into the race, because only the most engaged voters are expected to show up at the polls.
At one polling station at the public library in Palisades Park, where hundreds of voters were registered, only about 20 had turned out by 1 p.m., a poll worker there said. But officials were hopeful that as the rain subsided, more people would go vote.
Mr. Booker, who has crisscrossed the state aboard a campaign bus over the past few days, presenting himself as a new breed of solution-minded politician at a time when Washington is mired in old political feuds, said that he took little assurance from polls showing him with a sizable lead.
“This is New Jersey. You’ve got to earn every single vote you get, and so polls don’t vote, people do,” he told reporters after casting his vote a few blocks from his home on Tuesday. “I’m praying that in this election we see a large voter turnout and that whoever is elected is elected with a mandate.”
Following Mr. Lautenberg’s death, Gov. Chris Christie announced that a special election would be held on Oct. 16, which leaves the winner of Tuesday’s primary just over one month to campaign.
Mr. Booker has already started to use his national celebrity to draw in voters. Just this week, for instance, he appeared at an event in Newark alongside the actress Eva Longoria.
“It’s time to send a message to Washington that we need change agents,” Mr. Booker said in a packed auditorium at a senior center in Camden. “It’s time to send people to Washington who can carry our message.”
But even as the mayor drew large and enthusiastic crowds, and won the endorsements of major newspapers based in the state, he and his aides found themselves dealing with increasingly sharp attacks from his rivals, some focused on recent revelations about his outside business dealings and others on longstanding charges that his record is insufficiently liberal for Democrats.
During a stop in Iselin, where he attended the India Day Parade over the weekend, Mr. Pallone accused Mr. Booker of spending too much time trying to enrich himself instead of focusing on his job as mayor of one of the poorest cities in the nation.
Mr. Pallone, who is in his 13th term and has long expressed interest in moving to the Senate, contrasted Mr. Booker’s conduct with his own record in Congress, which he said included taking a lead role in helping to pass the health care legislation championed by President Obama.
“When you talk to voters, they want to know who’s going to be like Senator Lautenberg, who’s actually going to work hard and get things done in Congress,” said Mr. Pallone, who has been endorsed by Mr. Lautenberg’s family.
Much of the criticism has focused on Mr. Booker’s income from speaking appearances around the country; payments from his former law firm that persisted even as it did business with independent authorities, some of whose board members are appointed by the mayor; and his stake in an Internet start-up called Waywire.
Mr. Booker’s camp has said there was nothing improper about any of the financial interests, and noted that as mayor he has given much of his income to charity.
Still, the revelations provided new ammunition to his rivals, who have struggled to attract attention in a race that has been dominated by the star power of Mr. Booker. They are counting on their respective political organizations to rally enough voters in their home districts to carry them to victory.
Randy Leonard contributed reporting.
The death of Frank R. Lautenberg, the long-time Democratic senator, in June led to an accelerated campaign, with the primary coming when many families are on summer vacation and a special election to be held just weeks later. As challengers scrambled to garner attention, much of the focus was on the Democratic side of the ballot and on Mr. Booker, who has held a commanding lead in pre-election polls and fund-raising.
Mr. Booker is facing two longtime congressmen, Representatives Frank Pallone Jr. and Rush D. Holt, as well as the State Assembly speaker, Sheila Y. Oliver, who has not been as big a presence on the campaign trail as the other candidates.
The winner of the Democratic primary will be heavily favored, largely because Democrats outnumber Republicans by about 700,000 registered voters.
With rain blanketing much of the state, many polling sites were lonely places, with poll workers easily outnumbering the trickle of voters.
The campaign itself has been short — just over two months — and it has unfolded in the heart of the summer. That has introduced a degree of volatility into the race, because only the most engaged voters are expected to show up at the polls.
At one polling station at the public library in Palisades Park, where hundreds of voters were registered, only about 20 had turned out by 1 p.m., a poll worker there said. But officials were hopeful that as the rain subsided, more people would go vote.
Mr. Booker, who has crisscrossed the state aboard a campaign bus over the past few days, presenting himself as a new breed of solution-minded politician at a time when Washington is mired in old political feuds, said that he took little assurance from polls showing him with a sizable lead.
“This is New Jersey. You’ve got to earn every single vote you get, and so polls don’t vote, people do,” he told reporters after casting his vote a few blocks from his home on Tuesday. “I’m praying that in this election we see a large voter turnout and that whoever is elected is elected with a mandate.”
Following Mr. Lautenberg’s death, Gov. Chris Christie announced that a special election would be held on Oct. 16, which leaves the winner of Tuesday’s primary just over one month to campaign.
Mr. Booker has already started to use his national celebrity to draw in voters. Just this week, for instance, he appeared at an event in Newark alongside the actress Eva Longoria.
“It’s time to send a message to Washington that we need change agents,” Mr. Booker said in a packed auditorium at a senior center in Camden. “It’s time to send people to Washington who can carry our message.”
But even as the mayor drew large and enthusiastic crowds, and won the endorsements of major newspapers based in the state, he and his aides found themselves dealing with increasingly sharp attacks from his rivals, some focused on recent revelations about his outside business dealings and others on longstanding charges that his record is insufficiently liberal for Democrats.
During a stop in Iselin, where he attended the India Day Parade over the weekend, Mr. Pallone accused Mr. Booker of spending too much time trying to enrich himself instead of focusing on his job as mayor of one of the poorest cities in the nation.
Mr. Pallone, who is in his 13th term and has long expressed interest in moving to the Senate, contrasted Mr. Booker’s conduct with his own record in Congress, which he said included taking a lead role in helping to pass the health care legislation championed by President Obama.
“When you talk to voters, they want to know who’s going to be like Senator Lautenberg, who’s actually going to work hard and get things done in Congress,” said Mr. Pallone, who has been endorsed by Mr. Lautenberg’s family.
Much of the criticism has focused on Mr. Booker’s income from speaking appearances around the country; payments from his former law firm that persisted even as it did business with independent authorities, some of whose board members are appointed by the mayor; and his stake in an Internet start-up called Waywire.
Mr. Booker’s camp has said there was nothing improper about any of the financial interests, and noted that as mayor he has given much of his income to charity.
Still, the revelations provided new ammunition to his rivals, who have struggled to attract attention in a race that has been dominated by the star power of Mr. Booker. They are counting on their respective political organizations to rally enough voters in their home districts to carry them to victory.
Randy Leonard contributed reporting.