Steve Lonegan Attacks Cory Booker On Land, Over The Air

GOP candidate for U.S. Senate Steve Lonegan lit into Democratic frontrunner Cory Booker Thursday in front of a closed school in Newark and in a new radio spot.

With Queen of Angels School, a recently closed Catholic grammar school, as a backdrop, Lonegan Thursday morning called on Booker to take a position on school vouchers – a program Booker has said he supports.

Lonegan, a supporter of school vouchers, said Booker has failed the people of Newark by not pushing for the program.

Booker has been criticized Democrats for supporting the voucher system – long a favorite of Republicans, which gives parents in failing school districts the option to attend another school, including private schools.

"Cory Booker has failed the children of Newark, the parents of Newark, the school system of Newark and the taxpayers of Newark by never providing school choice and never solving the deeply disturbing issues that are confronting this city because of its failed education system," Lonegan said.           

Lonegan is the favorite to win the Republican nomination in the Aug. 13 special primary election. His only competitor is Parsippany physician Alieta Eck, who trails Lonegan in polls by a significant margin.

Booker is vying for the Democratic nod against U. S. Reps. Frank Pallone (D-6) and Rush Holt (D-12), and state Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-34). Booker leads in recent polls by at least 40 percentage points.

The winners of each party will face each other in the Oct. 16 special general election for the U.S. Senate seat of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg.

The Lonegan campaign also released a 60-second radio spot that also takes shots at Booker on school vouchers, among other issues.

Called "Two Mayors," the ad compares Booker’s record as mayor of Newark – New Jersey’s largest city -- to Lonegan’s tenure as mayor of Bogota, a Bergen County suburban enclave of just more than 8,000.

"Cory Booker's Newark record? Debt up 57 percent, taxes up three times the cost of living and the nation's most expensive school failing and funded by suburban taxpayers," the ad says.

The spot also jabs at Booker for being an "Obama liberal" and criticizing him for being pro-choice and his support of the Affordable Care Act.

"I approve this message because New Jerseyans are fed up with Barack Obama and Cory Booker and their radical left-wing agenda," the ad says.

Minnie Cuebas, an Irvington single mother of three also spoke at Lonegen’s event in Newark Thursday morning. Cuebas read an open letter to Booker, asking him whether he would support the school voucher system if elected to the Senate.

“Now that you are running for the U.S. Senate, I want to know if you will support school vouchers in the U.S. Senate for all children like mine who are trapped in underperforming public schools," Cuebas said.

Cuebas said she moved to Irvington from Newark to escape the city’s school system. She said in an interview later that she would have chosen to send her children to a private school, if given the opportunity.

The Booker campaign said Lonegan's attacks were false.

"It’s disappointing that Mr. Lonegan has chosen to introduce himself to New Jersey by falsely attacking the progress that’s been made in Newark," said Kevin Griffis, a Booker spokesman. "Americans are sick of these sorts of dishonest, partisan attacks. They want people to go to Washington to bring people together and get things done."