Incumbent Democratic Sen. Cory Booker and Republican Challenger Justin Murphy, the former deputy mayor of Tabernacle, face off Thursday in their sole debate before Election Day. The pair clashed on issues including the war in Iran and affordability. Photo credit: Shohini Mitra/NJ State House News Service.
By Ryan Conway
New Jersey State House News Service
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – Incumbent U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and his Republican opponent Justin Murphy debated at Rider University on Thursday night, but much of the back-and-forth centered on President Donald Trump.
Booker is widely expected to win reelection over Murphy in the November vote. New Jersey has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972. And Booker has a campaign chest of more than $22 million, compared with Murphy’s $27,000 in campaign spending.
The debate had a decidedly friendly tone, with Booker and Murphy trading jokes about Murphy’s full head of hair and Booker’s shaved scalp. Instead Booker used almost every question as an opportunity to criticize Trump.
“The president has lied, and I’ve said that to him over and over again,” Booker said. “He promised he wouldn’t get us into foreign wars… He said that he would bring down costs… Even on his immigration policies, where he said he’d go after the worst of the worst… President Trump has not kept his promises and that’s why his approval rating is in the trash here.”
While Booker largely focused on Trump, he also criticized fellow Republican senators who refused to hold the president in check, and expressed fears that Murphy wouldn’t be able to stand up to him.
“What’s worse is my Republican colleagues, who’ve enabled him to do these things, and who have not been providing checks or balances, and not demanding transparency,” Booker said. “We don’t need to add to the party that is failing and enabling this president to hurt our states. We need somebody that’s going to go there and stand up to him and fight him.”
Murphy, on the other hand, lauded Trump’s first two years back in office.
When asked about the issue of affordability, Murphy was quick to blame Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, for some of America’s economic troubles and said that it’s Trump who’s working to restore the economy.
“It was not too long ago that you paid $5 for a gallon of gasoline in 2022,” Murphy said. “The Republican Party is offering a better vision of tomorrow, one that our young people know that the American Dream will be there for them, and we don’t have to wait for tomorrow because we’re living through it today.”
Though Trump hasn’t formally endorsed him for Senate, Murphy embraced Trump.
Murphy said he would not be a “rubber stamp” for the president and said he disagreed with Trump’s use of taxpayer money to fund television ads promoting his administration.
Despite being a longshot, Murphy’s supporters outnumbered Booker’s in the auditorium and were clearly more vocal during the debate.
With Booker expected to cruise to re-election, he may have his eyes set on other sights.
Booker has been frequently mentioned as a 2028 presidential candidate, and has gained a lot of attention in Trump’s second term. Booker delivered a speech on the Senate floor protesting the Trump administration in April 2025 that lasted 25 hours, which was a record long ‘filibuster,’ and released a book on it later that year.
Booker and Murphy also clashed on foreign policy, particularly with the ongoing war with Iran. Murphy, who sailed the Strait of Hormuz as a 19 year old, said that he would advise Trump to finish it, describing Iran as a “cancer on human existence.” While Booker lauded Murphy’s experience in the Navy, he said that the U.S. has made far too many reckless decisions in the Middle East.
“This is the kind of ‘yahoo’ cowboy foreign policy that has mired us in Middle East war after Middle East war with false bravado,” Booker said.
Booker has largely voted in favor of arms sales to Israel, though he voted no on it for the first time in April.
Murphy has struggled to raise money for his campaign, and even acknowledged it on the debate stage.
The debate was moderated by New Jersey Globe Editor David Wildstein and Rider University’s Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics.
The debate was briefly interrupted at about the 45 minute mark by third party candidate Veronica Fernandez, running under the ‘End the Corruption!’ party, who briefly halted the debate and shouted about not being included on the stage with Booker and Murphy. She was escorted from the auditorium by campus and local police.
Ryan Conway is a student at The College Of New Jersey, majoring journalism with a minor in communications.
Shohini Mitra is a senior journalism and media studies student pursuing a minor in digital communication, information, and media at Rutgers University.
