Senator Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, announced that he was running for president in 2020, joining his Senate colleagues Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand in what is expected to be a wide and diverse field of Democratic candidates.
"In America, we have a common pain. But what we're lacking is a sense of common purpose," Booker, 49, said in the campaign video released alongside his announcement.
Booker talked of the racism his family faced when no realtors would sell to them because they were black.
A group of white lawyers, inspired by the civil rights movement, intervened to help his family obtain a home, which "changed the entire course of my life.
"My dad told me, 'Boy, never forget where you came from or how many people had to sacrifice to get you where you are,'" Booker said.
"So over 20 years ago, I moved into the central ward of Newark to fight slumlords and help families stay in their homes.
"I still live there today, and I'm the only senator who goes home to a low-income, inner-city community, the first community that took a chance on me."
Booker said that he wanted Americans watching their leaders on television to "feel pride, not shame.
"It's not a matter of can we, it's a matter of do we have the collective will, the American will? I believe we do. Together, we will channel our common pain back into our common purpose. Together, America, we will rise."
The senator's campaign website states that he "won't take a dime from corporate PACs or federal lobbyists." Harris and Warrenhave taken similar stances against such fundraising.
Booker studied at Stanford University and was a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford before earning a J.D. from Yale Law School and working as an attorney for the nonprofit sector, according to his congressional biography.
He served as a member of the Newark City Council before becoming mayor, and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2013.
In 2012, while still mayor of Newark, Booker saved his neighbor from her burning house by running into the property and pulling her from her bed.
According to New Jersey's Star Ledger, Booker experienced second-degree burns to his hand and the effects of smoke inhalation during the rescue.
In the Senate, Booker captured recent attention for his opposition to the appointment of President Donald Trump's second Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, amid allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh.
Booker walked out of a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Kavanaugh, calling it a "moral moment" for America.
I’m running for president. Join me on this journey. https://t.co/fEDqOVIfwh pic.twitter.com/h1FTPUYRzo
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) February 1, 2019
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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