Booker, Cory A.

Source:

 African American National Biography

Booker, Cory A.

(27Apr. 1969– ),

mayor of Newark, New Jersey, was born Cory Anthony Booker in Washington, D.C., the younger of two sons of Carolyn and Cary Booker, executives at IBM. Booker graduated from North Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan, after which he entered Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. At Stanford Booker studied political science and was active in student politics, serving in student government as senior class president. He played football and was awarded for his talent. Upon graduating with a B.A. in 1991, Booker decided to stay at Stanford for another year. In 1992, Booker received his M.A. in Sociology and was awarded one of the highly coveted Rhodes Scholarships. In Great Britain, he continued his studies at The Queen's College of Oxford University. In 1994 Booker received a degree in modern history with honors. After completing his studies in England, Booker enrolled at Yale Law School. Building on his earlier experiences with community outreach and helping others, Booker worked at legal clinics that provided pro bono legal assistance to those in and around New Haven, Connecticut. In addition, he was a mentor to young African Americans lacking guidance and direction. Following his law school graduation in 1997, Booker left the comfortable confines of New England and returned to New Jersey. There Booker embarked upon his political career.

While working with the Urban Justice Center of New York in 1996, Booker met a woman who urged him to run for political office. Booker worked with her and others to demand better services from city government and more cooperation from local apartment owners. He subsequently moved into a public housing project and was elected to the city council of Newark. Booker was just twenty-eight years old. It was an odd twist for a young man from the upper class with Ivy League degrees. He could have made six figures in the private sector or taken a prestigious clerkship; however, he chose public service as a way to improve others' lives.

Once in office, Booker worked to build relationships with both the elite and those forgotten by society. Ambitious to move up and take on more leadership and power, Booker made a play for the mayor's office in 2002. He faced stiff opposition from not only Mayor Sharpe James but those suspicious of his pedigree. The Reverend Al Sharpton campaigned against Booker as too young, too disrespectful, and unacquainted with the daily experiences of the average African American. Booker garnered only 47 percent of the vote; however, his success helped set up another run for mayor four years later.

Booker basically campaigned for the next four years in Newark. He solidified his contacts, expanded his network, and became better grounded in the nuances of the city. In 2006, Booker was ready for a rematch. This time Mayor James bowed out to concentrate on his political future in the New Jersey State Senate. Booker raised millions of dollars for the 2006 race and succeeded in besting Deputy Mayor Ronald Rice in May with 72 percent of the vote. Once in office Booker moved to fulfill his campaign pledges to get tough on crime, put more police on the streets, and revitalize Newark into a productive, family-friendly city. His tenure, however, has not been without its difficulties. Mayor Booker was forced to take on added security when credible death threats were directed at him from local members of the Bloods street gang. The mayor has also been criticized for increasing city workers' wages and cracking down on corruption and political and professional malfeasance. Mayor Booker's leadership has drawn praise for his hands-on approach and turning a once dreary city into a promising urban area with a bright future ahead of it. This is evidenced by the growing financial commitments from philanthropic organizations and Booker's rising star within the Democratic Party.

In 2008 Cory Booker supported the seemingly quixotic presidential candidacy of Barack Obama. After Obama was elected, Booker was offered the position of head of the White House Office of Urban Affairs but decided to remain mayor. Booker has been somewhat controversial within the African American community because of his new and innovative approaches to governing and politics. At the end of the first decade of the twentieth century Booker was considered one of the best young politicians, Republican or Democrat, in the country. Like Barack Obama, his political appeal lay in his ability to build multiracial, multiethnic and cross-class coalitions that transcend traditional black politics.

Booker was re-elected mayor of Newark in 2010, a testament to his success in dramatically cutting violent crime in what had been one of America’s most notoriously violent cities. As Booker began his second term, homicides were at their lowest rate in the city since before World War II.

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