With just over a week to go until the Democratic primary for the special election to fill New Jersey’s open U.S. Senate seat, Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ) is going on the offensive against the overwhelming frontrunner, Newark mayor Cory Booker.
In a new ad, which will air in the New York and Philadelphia media markets, Holt plays up his academic background and slams Booker as “no progressive.”
“We need to pass a carbon tax to stop climate change, break up the Wall Street banks, and stop the government spying on innocent Americans. Cory Booker doesn’t support any of these ideas,” Holt notes in the ad.
In addition to knocking Booker’s liberal bona fides, Holt criticized Booker’s aggressive media strategy — echoing a charge leveled by the Lautenberg family when they endorsed U.S. Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) in the primary.
“There’s no question that Cory Booker has name recognition,” Congressman Holt told the Wall Street Journal. “But liking someone on Facbeook isn’t the same as choosing someone to deal with treaties and Supreme Court justices.”
Holt’s aggressive turn may be too little, too late. Booker currently holds a massive lead in the polls, which appears insurmountable with just eight days before the primary. If Booker wins the Democratic nomination, then he is expected to easily win the general election against his likely Republican opponent, former Bogota mayor Steve Lonegan.
