Who Will Challenge Booker For Senate? Not Nutley’s Rogers: Report

NUTLEY, NJ — With New Jersey still reeling from a surprisingly close – and bitter – race for the U.S. Senate earlier this month, eyes are already turning to the next election in 2020.

Crickets continue to chirp when talks arise about who might run against Democratic incumbent Cory Booker. And earlier this week, the list of potential candidates got a little smaller when one of Essex County’s most vocal Trump supporters, Nutley Commissioner Steve Rogers, said that he won’t be taking up the fight against Booker.

“I have ruled out running for any political office because I’ll be working for Donald Trump,” Rogers told the New Jersey Globe when asked about a possible U.S. Senate run.

Rogers, a Nutley township commissioner and a leader on President Trump's 2020 Campaign Advisory Board, is helping to spearhead the charge to re-elect the Republican president in a state that's traditionally been viewed as a Democratic party stronghold.

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Much of Rogers' recent campaigning for Trump has come from the Essex County-based offices of the America Winning Coalition, the GOP-boosting political action group that he chairs. It's efforts such as this that earned Rogers a recent appointment as an advisor to the New Jersey Republican State Committee for Make America Great Again (MAGA).

In January, Rogers – an ex-Air Force sergeant, police officer in Nutley and East Orange and former lieutenant commander with the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence – said that he plans to pass on a third term as Nutley commissioner to devote his time to the battle to turn New Jersey red.

• See related article: GOP Leader In Essex County On Frontline Of NJ Trump, MAGA Efforts

Rogers said he’ll help Republican State Chairman Doug Steinhardt recruit a GOP candidate to run against Booker. He said that Antony Ghee, who ran for Congress in the 11th District earlier this year, might be a good choice to take on Booker, the former mayor of Newark and a rumored presidential candidate in 2020.

“I would really look at [Ghee] as a viable candidate,” Rogers told the Globe.

• See related article: 'Young Gun' Republican In NJ-11 Wants Rep. Frelinghuysen's Seat

Who would YOU like to see challenge Cory Booker for a U.S. Senate seat in 2020? Let us know who – and why you think they’ve got the right stuff – in the comments section.

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File Photo: Steve Rogers