Cory Booker Says There's No Chance He'll Run For President In 2016
Associated Press Don't expect to see Newark Mayor Cory Booker's name on the presidential ballot in 2016.
At a campaign stop in New Jersey Thursday, Senate-hopeful Cory Booker told told Politico's Maggie Haberman that he would "unequivocally" rule out any chance of making a bid for the White House in three years — or appearing as the vice presidential nominee.
Booker's name is frequently mentioned on the shortlist of possible Democratic presidential candidates, though the field is often dwarfed speculation of a possible campaign by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton campaign.
Booker is currently campaigning to fill the Senate seat vacated by the death of Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D), and said that if elected he'd want to serve the full six years of his first term. The Democratic primary is in two weeks, and Booker's poll numbers make him look nearly unbeatable.
He's nowhere near as dominant in polling for the Presidential race: July numbers from Public Policy Polling showed him with just 3% support of Democratic primary voters, compared to 52% for Clinton.
Regardless, Booker has been a rising star in the Democratic Party, and his name has rarely been absent from 2016 discussions. The chatter got even louder when his schedule showed a speaking engagement at the University of Iowa that was later canceled.