Incumbent Democratic Sen. Cory Booker, first elected in a 2013 special election and re-elected in 2014 and 2020, is seeking a third full term in 2026. New Jersey, a densely populated Northeastern state, has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1992, usually by double digits.

In the 2024 presidential election, Kamala Harris carried the state by just under 6 points—the narrowest Democratic margin since 2004 and the closest a Republican has come to winning New Jersey since 1992. The shift reflected strong Republican gains among Hispanic and Italian American voters, particularly in the state’s majority-Hispanic towns, which swung about 25 points to the right. Despite this rightward movement, New Jersey remains a Democratic-leaning state at the federal level, and Booker enters the race as the clear favorite for re-election.