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Cory Booker Fast Facts

By CNN

(CNN) — Here is a look at the life of Cory Booker, US senator from New Jersey and former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.

Personal

Birth date: April 27, 1969

Birth place: Washington, DC

Birth name: Cory Anthony Booker

Father: Cary Booker, IBM executive

Mother: Carolyn Booker, IBM executive

Mother: Carolyn Booker, IBM executive

Marriage: Alexis Lewis Booker (2025-present)

Education: Stanford University, B.A., 1991; Stanford University, M.A, 1992; University of Oxford, Honors Degree, 1994 (Rhodes Scholar); Yale Law School, J.D., 1997

Religion: Baptist

Other Facts

Received a football scholarship to attend Stanford University.

Became a vegetarian in 1992 and went vegan (no eggs or dairy) in 2014.

Lived in a public housing complex in Newark called Brick Towers for eight years. The dilapidated building was demolished in 2007, the year after Booker moved out.

While serving as mayor of Newark, Booker developed a reputation for engaging in personal acts of heroism like rescuing a neighbor from a house fire and chasing down a suspected bank robber. Using social media to connect with constituents, he shoveled snowbound driveways by request and invited nearby city residents to his home when Hurricane Sandy caused widespread power outages.

Booker was elected mayor as a reformer with a vision to revitalize the struggling city yet high unemployment rates and violent crime continued to plague Newark while he was in office.

Booker was criticized by the New Jersey state comptroller for failing to conduct oversight on the city’s watershed management program, where corruption was rife.

Timeline

1997 – Staff attorney at the Urban Justice Center in New York.

1998-2002 – Newark city councilman.

2002-2006 – Partner at the law firm, Booker, Rabinowitz, Trenk, Lubetkin, Tully, DiPasquale & Webster.

2006-2013 – Mayor of Newark, New Jersey.

September 24, 2010 – Booker appears with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Mark Zuckerberg on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” to announce the Facebook founder’s $100 million donation to Newark schools. The school reform initiative, centered on promoting privately-run charter schools as an option for parents with children in failing public schools, yields mixed results. Researchers at Harvard University conclude that Newark students showed improvement in English but made no significant gains in math.

December 4, 2012 – Booker begins a week of food rationing to raise awareness of poverty and hunger in America, for the campaign SNAP Challenge.

October 31, 2013 – Sworn in to the US Senate after winning a special election earlier in the month to replace the late Frank Lautenberg.

November 4, 2014 – Reelected to the Senate.

February 16, 2016 – Booker’s memoir, “United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good,” is published.

January 11, 2017 – Booker breaks with Senate precedent to deliver testimony against the appointment of Jeff Sessions as attorney general, becoming the first sitting senator to testify against a fellow sitting senator at a confirmation hearing for a cabinet position.

August 1, 2017 – Booker introduces a bill to remove marijuana from the federal government’s list of controlled substances. The Marijuana Justice Act would also expunge federal marijuana use and possession offenses from criminal records. The bill is referred to committee.

August 3, 2017 – Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduces the Special Counsel Independence Protection Act. The measure, cosponsored by Booker, would shield Special Counsel Robert Mueller from actions taken by the executive branch to interfere with the probe of Russian interference during the 2016 election. The bill is sent to committee.

September 6, 2018 – Republicans accuse Booker of grandstanding after he likens himself to Spartacus, a Roman slave who led a failed revolt, during Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

December 21, 2018 – President Donald Trump signs a criminal justice reform bill, the First Step Act, into law. Booker endorsed the bipartisan legislation and added an amendment that limits the usage of solitary confinement for juveniles in federal custody.

February 1, 2019 – Booker releases a video announcing his presidential candidacy. Later, he appears on the ABC talk show, “The View,” participates in multiple radio interviews and holds a press conference in Newark.

January 13, 2020 – Booker ends his 2020 presidential campaign after failing to qualify for the January 14, 2020, Democratic debate.

March 9, 2020 – Booker endorses Joe Biden for president.

November 3, 2020 – Reelected to the Senate.

April 1, 2025 – Booker breaks the record for the longest Senate floor speech in modern history, speaking for 25 hours and 5 minutes. The record was previously held by the late Sen. Strom Thurmond, who in 1957 gave a speech that lasted 24 hours and 18 minutes. Booker said that he was speaking “in spite” of the previous record holder’s remarks against the 1957 Civil Rights Act.

September 2, 2025 – Booker announces his engagement to to girlfriend Alexis Lewis.

March 24, 2026 – Booker’s second book, “Stand,” is published.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

Neil Gorsuch Fast Facts

By CNN
(CNN) — Here is a look at the life of US Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.PersonalBirth date: August 29, 1967Birth place: Denver, ColoradoBirth name: Neil McGill Gorsuch Father: David Gorsuch, lawyerMother: Anne Gorsuch Burford, lawyer and administrator of the EPA for nearly two years under President Ronald ReaganMarriage: Marie Louise GorsuchChildren: Emma and BelindaEducation: Columbia University, B.A., 1988; Harvard Law School, J.D., 1991; Oxford University, D. Phil., 2004Religion: Raised Catholic, attends Episcopal churchOther FactsLast name is pronounced GORE-sitch.Gorsuch is an avid skier, fly-fisherman and hiker. While at Columbia University, Gorsuch co-founded a student publication called the Federalist Paper. According to a history of the paper, its original intent was to be “content neutral.” It is now a satire publication.Gorsuch’s mother was the first woman to run the EPA. She was also the first federal Cabinet member in US history to be cited for contempt of Congress for her refusal to turn over subpoenaed documents.Notable cases include Yellowbear v. Lampert and United States v. Nichols. In Hobby Lobby Stores v. Sebelius, Gorsuch ruled in favor of the arts and craft chain, which challenged the Affordable Care Act’s requirement to provide contraceptive coverage in employee health plans. The company objected on religious grounds. His 2006 book, “The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia,” explores the legalities and ethics of medical aid in dying. He ultimately argues against “death with dignity” laws.Timeline1991-1992 - Law clerk to Judge David Sentelle, of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. 1993-1994 - Law clerk to Supreme Court Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy.1995-1997 - Associate at Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel.1998-2005 - Partner at Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel.2005-2006 - Principal Deputy to the Associate Attorney General and Acting Associate Attorney General, US Department of Justice.2006-2017 - Judge on the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, nominated by President George W. Bush.January 31, 2017 - Gorsuch is nominated by President Donald Trump to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. February 8, 2017 - In a meeting with Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Gorsuch reportedly takes exception to Trump insulting a federal judge in Seattle as a “so-called judge” via Twitter after the judge temporarily blocked the administration’s travel ban. Gorsuch describes the president’s tweets about the judiciary as “demoralizing” and “disheartening,” according to Blumenthal.March 20-23, 2017 - The Senate holds confirmation hearings for Gorsuch. On the final day of hearings, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer says that Democrats will filibuster Gorsuch’s nomination. April 6, 2017 - The Senate triggers the so-called “nuclear option,” lowering the vote threshold on nominations from 60 to 51, allowing Republicans to break a Democratic filibuster of Gorsuch. April 7, 2017 - The Senate confirms Gorsuch to the Supreme Court with a vote of 54-45. April 10, 2017 - Gorsuch’s ceremonial swearing-in is held at the White House. June 15, 2020 - Gorsuch delivers the opinion on a landmark ruling that protects millions of LGBTQ workers from discrimination. The ruling extends protections to millions of workers nationwide and is a defeat for the Trump administration, which argued that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act that bars discrimination based on sex did not extend to claims of gender identity and sexual orientation.July 2, 2021 - Gorsuch and Justice Clarence Thomas say the Supreme Court should revisit the breadth of the landmark First Amendment decision in New York Times v. Sullivan and explore how it applies to social media and technology companies. It is the first time Gorsuch joins Thomas’ consistent calls to look at the historic ruling.May 18, 2023 - The Supreme Court announces that it would formally remove a case concerning the controversial Trump-era immigration policy known as Title 42 from its calendar, likely because the Covid-19 public health emergency that serves as the legal underpinning of the program has expired. Gorsuch raises an alarm that state and federal governments had at times gone too far in using the pandemic as a pretext to tackle other issues. Writing broadly on the impact the Covid crisis had on civil liberties, Gorsuch says that since March 2020, “we may have experienced the greatest intrusions on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country.”June 30, 2023 - Gorsuch pens the 6-3 decision ruling in favor of a Christian web designer in Colorado who refuses to create websites to celebrate same-sex weddings out of religious objections. The court’s decision represents a devastating blow to LGBTQ protections, which have in recent years been bolstered by landmark decisions at the nation’s highest court, including one authored three years ago by Gorsuch in which the majority expanded protections for LGBTQ workers, and the 2015 case legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.August 6, 2024 - Gorsuch’s book, “Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law,” is published.December 4, 2024 - Announces that he will recuse himself from a case dealing with a western railway line after Democratic lawmakers called attention to the fact that a longtime ally of his could benefit from the court’s decision.May 5, 2026 - “Heroes of 1776: The Story of The Declaration of Independence,” a children’s book Gorsuch co-authored with Janie Nitze, is published.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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