Democratic Newark Mayor Cory Booker has been leading by double digit numbers in the buildup to New Jersey's highly anticipated special election Senate race on Wednesday.
Polls showed that the charismatic mayor is heavily favored to beat conservative activist Steve Lonegan to fill New Jersey's vacant Senate seat.
A Quinnipiac poll on Tuesday found Booker ahead of Republican Lonegan, a former small-town mayor with limited name recognition, by a margin of 54 to 40 percent, reports Reuters. In addition, a Monmouth University poll released Monday showed Booker leading Lonegan by 10 points, 52 percent to 42 percent, while a Rutgers-Eagleton poll showed Booker leading by 22 points, 58 percent to 36 percent, NJ.com reports.
While Booker holds a double-digit lead in most polls, the well-known elected official has surprisingly faced tough criticism that exposed his vulnerabilities and could possibly hamper him should he seek even higher office in the future.
Lonegan has hammered Booker on Newark's economic troubles, tax increases, and violent crime. The GOP also has attack him over a 2008 statement that a drug dealer he called a friend was actually an "archetype"; his Twitter exchanges with a stripper in Oregon; and his out-of-state fundraising trips.
In fact, Lonegan, the former state director of Americans for Prosperity, a group funded by the conservative Koch brothers, appeared to close in on Booker in recent weeks. However, Booker was able to rebound after a series of debate performances in which Lonegan applauded Republicans for inciting the ongoing government shutdown.