Morris County Chooses Steve Lonegan Over Cory Booker

Republican candidate and Tea Party favorite Steve Lonegan came up short against Democrat Cory Booker in the special statewide race to win the right to fill the unexpired term of the late U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg. But Lonegan can comfort himself with the knowledge that he limited Booker's statewide win to about 11 percentage points. And he won handily in Morris County and in Jefferson Township.

Across the county, Lonegan garnered about 57 percent of the vote to Booker's 43 percent, according to unofficial results released late Wednesday night by the Morris County Clerk's Office. In raw numbers so far, Lonegan defeated Booker in Morris, 51,882 to 38,912.

In Jefferson Township, Lonegan defeated his Democratic rival 2,348 to 1,319, or 63.25 percent to 35.53 percent in the unofficial count.  

In the township, county clerk totals show that 27.12 percent of registered voters ventured out to cast a ballot.

As of midnight Thursday, unofficial results show Lonegan wins also in Monmouth and Sussex counties.