A look at unofficial results in the U.S. Senate race, won by Democrat incumbent Cory Booker over Republican challenger Jeff Bell, indicates that Booker’s 56 percent to 42 percent win over Bell came largely from extensive pluralities in mostly bedrock Democratic counties.
Booker received the highest pluralities in counties where Democrats have long been dominant. In Essex County, the former Newark mayor got a 75,252-vote plurality over Bell. In Hudson County, a longtime Democratic fortress, Booker received a 47,985-vote plurality over Bell.
Booker also received a high plurality in Bergen County, seen as the bellwether county in statewide elections and which is often closely divided along partisan lines. Booker’s plurality was 32,686 votes in Bergen.
The fourth and fifth highest pluralities for Booker came in Camden and Union counties, with the incumbent Democrat getting 32,339-vote and 30,563-vote pluralities in those counties, respectively.
Booker was elected to a full six-year term earlier this month after winning the special U.S. Senate election last year following the death of U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). Overall, Booker received 997,331 votes, while Bell received 762,981 votes.
