While U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone’s plan to beat Cory Booker in the Democratic primary for New Jersey’s Senate race hinges on his working-class persona and Chevy Impala, apparently Assembly Speaker Sheila Young has a simpler approach: Steal Booker’s base. The last-minute entrant didn’t factor into polls that showed Booker leading by more than 50 percent. But as the Times points out, “her entry may make things particularly harder for Mr. Booker. Both are black and come from the same power base in Essex County; she is popular in her hometown, East Orange.” Booker has also lost ground among some in Newark who feel he’s been too busy playing superhero to govern. If Oliver wins, she’ll be New Jersey’s first-ever female senator, which is why she said she was running in the first place.
